Andrew Bell (5 September 1803 – 27 September 1856) was a Presbyterian minister who was born in London, England, moved to Scotland and emigrated to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

with his family in 1817. Bell and his family settled at

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

where his father was a minister. He studied under his father until 1823 and then pursued divinity courses in Scotland. He returned to Upper Canada in 1826, his formal studies not completed. Bell had a successful career within the Presbyterian Church. However, some of his most important contributions to Canada came through his hobby, geology. He served on an advisory committee of the

Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada was the elected part of the legislature for the province of Upper Canada, functioning as the lower house in the Parliament of Upper Canada. Its legislative power was subject to veto by the appointed Lis ...

where he helped shape the work of the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the en ...

and, more particularly, the work of

William Edmond Logan Sir William Edmond Logan, FRSE FRS FGS (20 April 1798 – 22 June 1875), was a Canadian-born geologist and the founder and first director of the Geological Survey of Canada. Life William Edmond Logan was born into a well-to-do Montreal family ...

, who had helped establish that body. His son, Robert Bell, became the director of the survey at a later date.

References

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
Amateur geologists Canadian Presbyterian ministers Geological Survey of Canada 1803 births 1856 deaths {{geologist-stub