30th Generation  

161. Major General, Sir, George BELL, K.C.B. [102049] (George¹⁶⁰, WALTER¹⁴⁵, Walter¹⁴⁰, Walter¹³⁵, Henry¹³¹, Edmund¹²⁶, Robert (Sir)¹¹⁵, Edmund (Sir)¹¹⁴, Robert (Sir)¹⁰¹, William⁹⁷, Robert⁹², Edmund⁹⁰, Edmund⁸⁵, George⁶⁶, Alexander⁶⁵, Edmund⁶¹, Alexander⁶⁰, Selim⁵³, Almeric⁴³, Hubert³⁷, Odo²⁹, Leolph²³, Guthrum²¹, Guthlac²⁰, Athelwold¹⁷, Hengist¹², Osrick¹⁰, Reginald⁴, Anlaff¹) was born on 17 Mar 1794 and died in 1877 at age 83.

General Notes: In a Document received attached to an e-Mail from Alan Turner in April 2014, he commences his Story of the Bell Family with the following:
George is one of our more famous ancestors, though few will have heard of him. He was appointed by the Duke of York to the ??? in March 1811 at the age of 17 and accompanied Field Marshall Lord Strafford later the same year to the Peninsular (Spain). He served in the Duke of Wellington's Army, without break, until the end of the war in 1814.
George was first engaged in the action of Arroyo-de-Molinos under the command of Lord Hill, capturing the 34^th Regiment of French Infantry with their Band and Drums, Prince D'Arimburgh, General Lebrun, 40 officers, 1500 men and all their baggage and artillery. Then at the final siege of Badajoz; capture of Fort Napoleon and bridge at Almaraz on the Tagus; retreat from Burgos and Madrid: the battles of Vittoria, Salamanca, Pyrenees, Pass of Maya and Roncesvales; the actions of the 30^th and 31^st of July against D'Erlongs' Corps, near Pampeluna; Battles of the Nivelle, Nieve, Bayonne and St Pier where 5000 men were left hors de combat on one square mile of ground. In this engagement he suffered bruising of his head (a bullet through his hat!). He also fought at the battles of Orthes, Tarbes and Toulouse.
In 1825 George was gazetted once more to a regiment of the line through the good offices of the Duke of York. On April 9, he sailed with his wife and only child, Fanny Louisa, to Ceylon aboard the Warren Hastings, a trading ship of the John Company. The personal cost of passage for the family of three with George travelling free was £240. The name of Warren Hastings, the first Governor General of India, also appears in past history as an uncle of the wife of John White an ancestor of my wife Carol. The trip was not without incident there being both a mutiny and a near shipwreck. He spent several years in Ceylon and the East Indies and served in Ava during the Burmese War until its finale. In 1828 he became Captain. On June 19, 1831 he sailed for England on the "Claudine". Within his memoires he records a chance meeting with his brother Thomas on the beach at Madras, India - neither had been aware of the other's presence in that area and they had not seen each other for some seven years!
George was stationed in Canada for seven years with his regiment and was actively involved during the rebellion of 1837-38, particularly in the capture of St Charles and St Eustache. He commanded the fort and garrison of Couteau-du-Lac where he managed to recover 16, 24-pounder guns from the bottom of the St Lawrence River in mid-winter along with 4,000 rounds of shot that had been sunk in the river by the rebels.

George became Lieut. Colonel of the 1^st Foot on Dec 5, 1843 and served in Gibraltar as commanding officer.

1852 (2 May) he sailed from London to Crete. In 1853 he had to go to London on election business and was involved in a train crash. He suffered injuries to his bridle hand, which took two years to heal. He visited the ruins at Pompeii in March 1854. In 1854-5 he served with the Allied Army in the Crimea commanding the Royal Regiment in the Battles of the Alma and Inkermann as well as the Siege of Sebastopol where he was wounded and honourably mentioned in the dispatches of Lord Raglan, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. Lord Raglan appointed him to a Brigade. George witnessed the very well known and disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade.

In 1855 (Oct 23) George was made Colonel of the 104^th Foot.

On his return to England he became Inspecting Field Officer at Liverpool until 1859 when he became Major-General. From this time he was never employed and he believed that this was because of a letter he wrote to the Times on 12 December 1854 complaining of the deficiencies of the commissariat during the siege of Sebastopol, and begging assistance from England (see following pages).

1861 saw George return to Canada again where he visited Niagara Falls, Montreal and Quebec. He was able to review places that he had previously visited during the 1837-38 rebellion and this seems to have been primarily a vacation but it was followed by travel into the USA where he set out to review the military activities associated with the Civil War. It seems that he spent about a month here visiting, amongst other places, New York which then had a population of just 400,000, and Washington. The highlight was a visit to the White House about which he wrote;
went upstairs and looked about for a stateroom of reception and someone to hand my card. But no one in the shape of an aide-de-camp or messenger to be seen. After some turnings, I saw a lady and a gentleman standing in a hall looking into a room where several people were assembled. I asked where I could find the president. "Oh, that's he, up there writing at the table, with spectacles." So I advanced, free and easy, as is the United States custom, up to his table, to hear him speak, and look well into his dark features. He wore a common loose, white light duster and a pair of big shoes (easy for corns). He is about six feet in height, stoops, is thin and wiry, with black hair and beard, very kindly, and familiar in his manner to all, but a very common-place looking man."

After some time observing events and commenting on the private conference which he described as an "open court" he continued;
got tired of waiting and now handed him my card, saying that I had called to pay my respects, and wish his cause success. He looked at my card and read, Major-General - George - Bell, - CB., - British - Army. Then stretching out his long arm, and a big claw, gave me a shake with, "how is Old England?"
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became Colonel of the 32^nd Foot in 1867 (February 2) and Colonel of the 1^st Foot on 3 August 1868.

For 30 successive years he served in the Royal Regiment, having previously seen much service with the 24^th and 45^th Regiments.

The various medals and awards he earned included the War Medal with Seven Clasps (Badajoz, Vittoria, the Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nieve, Orthes and Toulouse); the Indian Medal for Ava; the Crimean Medal with Three Clasps (Alma, Inkermann, Sebastopol); the Turkish Medal; Companion of the Bath; the Legion d'Honneur; the Imperial Order of the Medjidie from the Sultan: and finally the honour of a K.C.B. (Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath) from the Queen on March 13 1867.

As Colonel and Inspecting Officer in the Northern District he recruited some 20,000 men for the Army.

George became Colonel-in-Chief of the 1^st Regiment of the Line or "Royal Scots".

His appointment to the rank of General was March 8, 1873.

George published a two volume book of memoirs "Rough Notes of an Old Soldier" in 1867. This work was later arranged and edited by Brian Stuart and published as a single volume by G Bell and Sons in 1956 with the title "Soldiers Glory".

The publisher released the last of the normally
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retained "publishers copies" to members of the family and several others were obtained from various sources. The full story, even though largely in diary format, is most fascinating and well worth a read. Several copies appeared to be available on the Internet at the time of my writing up this part of the history and .pdf version of his original memoires is available on the Internet through Google.

George Bell died on July 10, 1877 at 156 Westbourne Terrace, London and is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.

George married Alicia Fitzmonica SCOTT [102050], daughter of James SCOTT [102051] and Unknown, on 12 Dec 1816. Alicia died on 11 Feb 1819 in Montrose Angus Scotland.

Noted events in their marriage were:

• Military Service: a Leiutenant in the 34th Regiment at the time of his Marriage, 12 Dec 1816, Clonmel Co. Tipperary Ireland.

General Notes: In a Document received attached to an e-Mail from Alan Turner in April 2014, he commences his Story of the Bell Family with the following:
She was heiress of James Scott of Ecclesjohn and Coniston and a direct ancestor of Lady Fitzmonica-Scott, lady in waiting to Queen Anne in 1714.

The child from this marriage was:

+ 170 F    i. Frances Louisa BELL [52379] was born in 1817 and died in 1908 at age 91.

George next married Margaret Addison DOUGAL [102071], daughter of Thomas DOUGAL [102073] and Unknown, on 12 Jun 1820 in Montrose Angus Scotland.

162. Henry Nugent BELL [102312] (George¹⁶⁰, WALTER¹⁴⁵, Walter¹⁴⁰, Walter¹³⁵, Henry¹³¹, Edmund¹²⁶, Robert (Sir)¹¹⁵, Edmund (Sir)¹¹⁴, Robert (Sir)¹⁰¹, William⁹⁷, Robert⁹², Edmund⁹⁰, Edmund⁸⁵, George⁶⁶, Alexander⁶⁵, Edmund⁶¹, Alexander⁶⁰, Selim⁵³, Almeric⁴³, Hubert³⁷, Odo²⁹, Leolph²³, Guthrum²¹, Guthlac²⁰, Athelwold¹⁷, Hengist¹², Osrick¹⁰, Reginald⁴, Anlaff¹) was born in 1797.

Henry married someone.

His children were:

   171 F    i. Olivia Zerlina Adelaide BELL [102769] was born on 24 Mar 1820 in London England and died on 4 Aug 1821 in London England at age 1.

   172 F    ii. BELL [102770] was born on 11 Mar 1821 in London England.

165. William BELL [102314] (George¹⁶⁰, WALTER¹⁴⁵, Walter¹⁴⁰, Walter¹³⁵, Henry¹³¹, Edmund¹²⁶, Robert (Sir)¹¹⁵, Edmund (Sir)¹¹⁴, Robert (Sir)¹⁰¹, William⁹⁷, Robert⁹², Edmund⁹⁰, Edmund⁸⁵, George⁶⁶, Alexander⁶⁵, Edmund⁶¹, Alexander⁶⁰, Selim⁵³, Almeric⁴³, Hubert³⁷, Odo²⁹, Leolph²³, Guthrum²¹, Guthlac²⁰, Athelwold¹⁷, Hengist¹², Osrick¹⁰, Reginald⁴, Anlaff¹) was born Cir. 1800.

William married someone.

His child was:

   173 F    i. BELL [102771] was born on 23 Feb 1826 in Enniskillen Co. Fermanagh Ireland.

General Notes: In a Document received from Alan Turner in April 2014, an extract from a Local Newspaper contained the following:
On Thursday last at Bellview, near this town, Mrs Bell, wife of William Bell, Esq., of Cavan, was suddenly taken ill of premature labour and delivered of a daughter which although not within two months of maturity is likely to live. Mrs. B. we are happy to state is also doing well.