Jonathan Bell - Rangiora, Canterbury

[barcroftlad]

Hi Mensor,
Sorry to take so long but I did think one of my sisters in law might be getting in touch. However, today I received a package from Canada with a heap of info on both sides of the family and in reference to your posts above, one page is devoted to the Bells going back to the marriage of Jonathan Bell and Elizabeth Lowe. This shows 5 children to them, William married Ann Harvey, Ann m. John Smith, Jonathan m. Eliza Deal (14 children), Lucy m. Edmund Land, Elizabeth m. ? Brady (9 children inc. twins). So we are on the same family.
In my wife's line, Jonathan and Eliza , had Cyril Edwin Bell, my wife's grandfather, he married Maude Jones, and they had one son, Noel Herbert Cyril, my late father in law. Cyril was badly wounded and gassed in France in WW1 but came home thank goodness although his quality of life was diminished.
There is another page showing Jonathan's father Jonathan (1769) with two sisters Priscilla (1751-1832) and Catherine, and their parents Catherine Barclay m. David Bell of Stamford and in brackets, maybe Daniel Bell of Tottenham. This latter page is in the handwriting of my late father in law and I can work it back to being written in either 1964 or 65, just before I came into the family. I hope all this makes sense. I am just coming to grips with it. Cheers.

[wasaking]

Hello Michael,
I"m not sure if you are still around and looking for information on the NZ BELLS.   I am descended from William Bell, the mystery man who has been described as the brother of Jonathan Bell, from Foston Farm England.   I saw this post some time ago, and it has led to some head scratching because you did not mention William.
   
In 1851 William and his Sister Ann are recorded as passengers on the Sir George Pollock to Lyttleton.   The Lyttelton Times reports that William set himself up in Ferry Road as a farmer and Ann returned to England to report on conditions to her brother Jonathan.   I Think they must have meant her Father.  When the family emigrated on the Caroline Agnes in 1855 the passenger list shows Jonathan Bell, 54, labourer: Elizabeth Bell, 52, wife: Lucy Bell, 20, daughter: Elizabeth Bell, 18, daughter: and Jonathan Bell, 10, son.  It is unlikely that she would be reporting back to a 10 year old boy.

Before 1875 BDM registration was not compulsory, and those that were registered were pretty rudimentary with just the Bride and Grooms names, plus the date of their marriage in many cases.

When William Bell died suddenly in 1884 at Foston Farm, his death was reported in the Lyttelton Times and an autopsy was carried out.   This determined that he died of a stroke, and because there was an autopsy his death certificate contained more details that would normally occur in this historical error.    So from the death certificate we can see that he was the oldest son of Jonathan Bell and Elizabeth Bell (born Lowe).  It also states that he was 59 years old, born at Foston Lincolnshire England, was married to Ann Harvey and they had a daughter, 28, (my ancestor) and a son, 26.
Williams's Death Certificate is 1884004857.

William and Ann are buried in the Church of England Cemetery, Rangiora in unmarked graves on the other side of the path to the monument erected to the early settlers of Rangiora, which is over the graves of his parents.
   
Hope this helps. Does fill in any of the gaps in your family jigsaw?  I am going to add what you said to what I know, and see if it works for William's descendants here.

[wasaking]

It's 2014 and I have just found this site after googling William Bell (my ancestor) and Jonathan Bell (his brother).   I too am from Canterbury, and am looking to learn some more about the Bells of Rangiora.    I have William Bells death certificate (he died at Foston Farm 1884) and have got as far back as Elizabeth Lowe - his mother and Jonathan senior's wife...and I am sure they go back a bit further than that.   Also a good source for information is paperspast if you have approx. dates.

I am still trying to work how to use this site and get in touch with people in the forum, so hope you get this.

[wasaking]

Hello Mensor,
It's late, 2014, and I have just read your post re the Bells of Rangiora.   I am a descendant of the William Bell/Ann Harvey union and currently live in Christchurch, NZ - where William and Ann met and married in 1855.  It was interesting to hear about Cyril Edwin Bell - very little is know about him, apart from the fact that like his brother Charles William he was mayor of Rangiora.

You mentioned seeing a page where Jonathan (1769) had two sisters Priscilla and Catherine and that their parents were Catherine Barclay and David Bell of Stamford or Daniel Bell of Tottenham. If you have not seen it "The Descendants of John Bell" mention a Jonathan Bell with sisters Priscilla and Catherine on page 277.  The same page states that there were 10 children, and then goes on to list eleven....I'm obviously not the only one who is confused.   I don't know if this is the same family or not. 

I have been given 1798 for the birth date of Jonathan Bell snr., but if he was 54 when he arrived in Lyttelton on the Caroline Agnes this does seem right.
 
Just when I think I have it sorted something else pops up. 

[stclemens]

I'm an Aussie not a Rangioran,  but we may have a connection...

I have a Bell ancestor married in 1755 in Westborough (a couple of miles from Foston). (Possibly a brother of William who married in 1749 in nearby Claypole).

He is Jonathan Bell, and his great grandson Norris ended up in Wellington around 1874. Several of his descendants remain in NZ from Whangarei to Christchurch.

My line goes Jonathan~1730 William1756 Thomas1797 Norris1841.

Tantalizing isn't it ?

KeithCanberra

[stclemens]

Hi, KeithCanberra again.

It seems Jonathan1708, born in South Collingham to Sarah Bell, is the common ancestor.
He married Anne Wells in Clarborough in 1733, and there they had Jonathan1733 and John1736 (as well as Elizabeth1739 and Mary1749).

Jonathan1733 married Anne Parker in 1755 in Westborough where they had William1756 +8 others.
John1736 and Mary Kircheval/Kirchefell had William1756 and 5 others in Kilvington from 1749-61.
 
The William1756's produced Thomas1797 in Waddington - and Jonathan1798 in East Allington respectively ... and the rest is history!

Kilvington is in Nottinghamshire close to Westborough and East Allington (and to Foston).
All are just South of Newark-on-Trent while South Collingham is just North.

[MorganBell]

Hi all,

It's now 2021 and I've fallen into a rabbit hole of research after a local historian has uncovered a lot of info regarding the Bells that relate back to Rangiora, aka my hometown.

The youngest Jonathan was my great, great, great grandfather. I live around 100m from where the farm would have once been, the station masters house from when the railway went through there was recently sold after being restored hence all the info has come back up again.

There's quite a bit on the family in local Rangiora Facebook pages and also some belongings in the local museum, I believe my nana also has the original tickets from the ship when they emigrated.

I have some screenshots of the original land plans and also a picture of the cottage that was first on the site but I can't work out how to resize them.for this site unfortunately, if you search me on Facebook (name above and town Rangiora) then I can send them through there if anybody is interested

[sarah]

for help on how to re-size your images

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,372537.0.html

Regards

Sarah