Johnson / Bryans Families

Tracing the ancestry of Pamela Murdoch Bryans and Maurice Alan Johnson

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Thomas Bell

Ironmaster
Male 1784 - 1845  (61 years)

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  • Name Thomas Bell 
    Relationshipwith Marion Murdoch Johnson
    Gender Male 
    Birth 5 Mar 1784  Carlisle, Cumberland, England, Kingdom of Great Britain Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2] 
    Baptism 5 Mar 1784  Wreay, Cumberland, England, Kingdom of Great Britain Find all individuals with events at this location  [3] 
    • Christ Church
    Census 1841  2 Picton Place, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location  [4] 
    Occupation Ironmaster 
    WWW https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Thomas_Bell_(1774-1845) 
    Death 20 Apr 1845  [5] 
    Burial Aft 20 Apr 1845  Old Jesmond General Cemetery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location  [6] 
    Siblings 3 brothers and 4 sisters 
    Last Modified 15 Mar 2021 

    Father Isaac Bell
              b. Abt 1753  
              d. 31 Mar 1830, St Mary, Wreay, Cumberland, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 77 years) 
    Mother Grace Slack
              b. Abt 1754  
              d. Abt 1828 (Age ~ 74 years) 
    Marriage 16 Nov 1783  Hesket-in-the-Forest, Cumberland, England, Kingdom of Great Britain Find all individuals with events at this location  [7, 8] 

    Wife Catherine Lowthian
              b. Abt 1788  
              d. 11 Sep 1875, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 87 years) 
    Marriage 30 Mar 1815  Carlisle, Cumberland, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location  [9] 
    Type: St Cuthbert 
    Age at Marriage Thomas was 31 years old - Catherine was ~ 27 years old. 
    Children 
     1. 1st Baronet Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell
              b. 15 Feb 1816, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 20 Dec 1904, Northallerton, Hambleton, Yorkshire North Riding, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 88 years)
     2. Thomas Bell
              b. 1817  
              d. 1894 (Age 77 years)
     3. John Bell
              b. 1818  
              d. 1888 (Age 70 years)
     4. Mary Grace Bell
              b. Abt 1820
     5. Catherine Bell
              b. Abt 1822
     6. William Bell
              b. Aug 1825  
              d. 14 Jun 1826 (Age ~ 0 years)
     7. Sarah Bell
              b. Abt 1826
     8. Henry Bell
              b. Abt 1829
     9. Hugh Bell
              b. Abt 1830
    Last Modified 10 May 2020 

  • Notes 
    • Early Life
      Thomas Bell was the son of Isaac Bell and Grace Slack; he was born in 1784 and baptised on the 5th of March at Wreay, south of Carlisle.

      Career & Family Life
      According to Grace's Guide, in 1808 Thomas Bell moved to Newcastle to enter the service of Messrs. Losh and Co., merchants, who were then branching out into the manufacture of both alkali and iron. Subsequently he became a member of the firm, which became known as Losh, Wilson and Bell, of the Walker Ironworks, Tyneside.

      He is listed as "Merchant" in the 1841 census and was made Alderman of Newcastle.

      Thomas married Catherine Lowthian on the 30th of March 1815, in Carlisle. They had nine children:
      1. Isaac Lowthian born 1816, later Baronet, who married Margaret Pattinson, daughter of the renowned chemist Hugh Lee Pattinson
      2. Thomas, born 1817
      3. John, born 1818
      4. Mary Grace, born c. 1820
      5. Catherine, born c. 1822
      6. William, born 1825 but who died less than a year later
      7. Sara, born c. 1826
      8. Henry, born c. 1829
      9. Hugh, born c. 1830


      Death
      Thomas died on the 20th April 1845 and was buried at Old Jesmond General Cemetery in Newcastle. His memorial tombstone reads:
      In Memory of
      THOMAS BELL
      Ironmaster of Picton Place in this town
      who died April 20 1845 aged 61 years
      WILLIAM
      son of the Above Thomas Bell
      died 14th June 1826 aged 10 months and lies interred in the burial ground of St Andrew's church
      CATHERINE
      daughter of Isaac and Mary Lowthian of Newbiggin, near Carlisle and wife of Thomas Bell
      died 11th September 1875 in her 89th year.


      Footnotes
      [1] Burke's Peerage, 107th Edition (2001), page 331

      Getting the right Thomas Bell
      I originally had two possiblities for who Thomas Bell was:

      1. Son of Isaac Bell and Grace, baptised 5 March 1784 at Wreay, south of Carlisle.
      2. Son of Thomas Bell and Mary, baptised 19 Sep 1784 at Christ Church, Tynemouth

      Given that Thomas married a Carlisle girl, I lean to the former option. Note that this baptismal date also corresponds exactly with the birth date given by Burke in Burke's Peerage1. In further support, Thomas and Catherine's first daughter was called Mary Grace; Mary was the name of Catherine Lowthian's mother's, Thomas Bell's mother was called Grace. In final support, a correspondent (10 Mar 2022) pointed out to me that the Losh family - with whom Thomas entered into business in Newcastle - were from Wreay and that Thomas Bell and his family are mentioned in "The Pinecone" by Jenny Uglow - a biography of Sarah Losh.

      Grace's Guide introduces another wrinkle: "Born in Lowhurst, Cumberland in 1774". I've no idea where they get this option from as I can find no baptismal records for that year in a place called Lowhurst. However, there is a place called Low Hurst Wood, that is very close to Wreay (see above)...I think this refers to the same place as the first record above and somehow Grace's introduced an error in the birth date (writing 1774 in stead of 1784). The vast majority of Ancestry trees have Thomas born in 1774 in Lowhurst, but with no sources so I've no idea on what basis they have decided that. They all give his birth as 5 March 1774, so I presume they all just copied off each other, perhaps influenced by the Grace's typo (or perhaps Grace's typo came originally from Ancestry?).

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 5 Mar 1784 - Carlisle, Cumberland, England, Kingdom of Great Britain Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBaptism - 5 Mar 1784 - Wreay, Cumberland, England, Kingdom of Great Britain Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - Type: St Cuthbert - 30 Mar 1815 - Carlisle, Cumberland, England, United Kingdom Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsCensus - 1841 - 2 Picton Place, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - Aft 20 Apr 1845 - Old Jesmond General Cemetery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Headstones
    Thomas Bell gravestone    		Thomas Bell gravestone
    https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/186824224/catherine-bell

  • Sources 
    1. [S0121] Ancestry, England, Select Births & Christenings 1538-1975, (ancestry.com), 5 Mar 1784, Thomas Bell; FHL 252821 (nb this record is no longer on FamilySearch).

    2. [S0399] ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage (107th Edition), (2003, Wilmington (Delaware)), 2003, Bell, Baronet; Page 331.

    3. [S0342] FindMyPast, England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975, (findmypast.co.uk), 5 Mar 1784, Thomas Bell.

    4. [S0130] Ancestry, 1841 England Census, (ancestry.co.uk), 1841, Bell; Class: HO107; Piece: 847; Book: 1; Civil Parish: St Andrew; County: Northumberland; Enumeration District: 2; Folio: 35; Page: 24; Line: 7; GSU roll: 438898.

    5. [S0046] findagrave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/186824224/catherine-bell.

    6. [S0046] findagrave, Catherine Bell; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/186824224/catherine-bell.

    7. [S0309] FamilySearch, England Marriages, 1538–1973, (familysearch.org), 16 Nov 1783, Bell / Slack; (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NKBX-VLW : 13 March 2020), Isaac Bell, 1783.

    8. [S0170] Ancestry, England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973, (ancestry.co.uk), 16 Nov 1783, Bell / Slack; FHL Film Number 1472062.

    9. [S0309] FamilySearch, England Marriages, 1538–1973, (familysearch.org), 30 Mar 1815, Thomas Bell; (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NKB2-W2W : 11 March 2020), Thomas Bell, 1815.