George W Bell left Plymouth for Albany in 1895 - but what did he do?

[cando]

Wivenhoe we are NOT permitted to transcribe 1911 census info.

am really interested in what he did in Australia and when he came back to England.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_in_Western_Australia#Gold

Unless he did something newsworthy I doubt you will find anything.

Cando

Moderator comment: Graham, the op, can openly post 1911 census information he has found in the 1911 census as it is his family and he has paid for his research. The other chatters here may not post information from the 1911 census that is not pertinent to their family

[grahamsittee]

Hi wivenhoe,

Thanks for looking at this.

Rather odd to be living in Plymouth and describing yourself as a gold prospector...suggests he is back from....somewhere...just for a visit?.

He might have been back in England a month after the 1901 census....who knows?

I think that after his wife died he intended to emigrate. No way of knowing for sure other than he does not come from an income group who would have the cash to just take a trip.
As he was living with his mother and youngest son in 1911, I suspect that he had not been back long. He had not found a job or he probably would have stated that rather than gold prospector.

It is also possible that as he died just 3 or 4 years later he could have returned due to bad health.

What happened to George after 1911. Did he marry again, die in England?

No, he did not remarry and died in 1914.

If we could find the vessel he left Australia on it would help but I have had no luck.

Many thanks for your input.
Graham

[grahamsittee]

Hi Cando,

Thanks for the link. It seems that there certainly was a gold rush at the time.

I was hoping that I could at least find the ship he returned on.

Thanks for your input and putting me straight on not transcribing.
Graham

[wivenhoe]

Sorry, I forgot it was 1911 census.

"...until 1911 when he is back in Plymouth, Devon living with his mother and his children and describes himself as Gold Prospector!"

                            This is not correct.



COLLACOTT Victoria, 6 Bath St Plymouth, widow, d 16 Jan 1912.......to William Richard COLLACOTT, chief engine room artificer, RN .......249 pounds.

If George, gold prospector, is visiting Plymouth, his mother's Will might name him, and give his location.

[John Bell]

Hi Graham.
Could this be your man?

Inward passenger list.
A  list of crew and passengers arriving on the Peterborough of Greenock from the Port of London to Sydney, New South Wales. February 11, 1885.

Seamen’s name: George Wilson Bell. Age: 20. Apprentice. Of what nation: Liverpool.

[wivenhoe]

Our letters crossed here.

Do you mean that you have accounted for son George.......you know where and when he died?

If not, then he might have joined his father prospecting?

If George is middle-aged (by life expectancy of the times), living with your mother, why would he be described as a gold prospector?   

[wivenhoe]

What do you know about the date and place of death of George W BELL, b. 1865, alive 1911, and son George  BELL, dead at 1911.

[grahamsittee]

Hi Wivenhoe,

Many thanks for taking the time to look at this.

"...until 1911 when he is back in Plymouth, Devon living with his mother and his children and describes himself as Gold Prospector!"

                            This is not correct.

Not sure why you say this is not correct. He was in Plymouth in 1911 as I described. It is true that he may have returned anytime between 1901 (because i do not find him in England) and 1911.

Do you mean that you have accounted for son George.......you know where and when he died?

If George is middle-aged (by life expectancy of the times), living with your mother, why would he be described as a gold prospector?   

Yes, I know that George the son died in 1915 in England, the year after his father.

They certainly all died young.

Again many thanks for the trouble and for the thought about the will. I had not looked at this. Although it does not help with George it does give me some thing new about his step brother.
Graham

[grahamsittee]

Hi John,

Inward passenger list.
A  list of crew and passengers arriving on the Peterborough of Greenock from the Port of London to Sydney, New South Wales. February 11, 1885.

Seamen’s name: George Wilson Bell. Age: 20. Apprentice. Of what nation: Liverpool.

Not what I was expecting as it predates his trip as a passenger (he was not crew in 1894) to Australia. The age and name is correct.

Also the dates work. I know where he was in 1881 age 16 and 1887 when he married and 1891 when he was an innkeeper. It is quite probable that he was at sea 1881 to at least 1887.

Do you have him on any other voyages?

Many thanks for taking the time with this.

Graham