Archibald Bell (15 April 1804 – 9 August 1883) was an English-born Australian explorer and politician.
Life and family
Archibald Bell was born on 15 April 1804 in county Hertfordshire, England, the son of
Archibald Bell and Maria (''née'' Kitching), one of ten children. He arrived in
New South Wales
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, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
with his family in July 1807 aboard the ''Young William'', his father being an officer of the New South Wales Corps. Bell married Francis Ann North in 1833 at Windsor; Ann was the daughter of Lieutenant Samuel North, pastoralist and Police Magistrate for Windsor. Bell maintained his activities as a
pastoralist in between explorations of Sydney's north-west.
Exploration
In August 1823 Archibald Bell, aged nineteen years, travelled along the route that would later become the Bell’s Line of Road. Although the mountains had been crossed at Katoomba a decade earlier, there was still no satisfactory route through the mountains from Richmond at this time. On the journey from Richmond to Mount Tomah Bell followed the directions of an Aboriginal woman who had travelled the route. Other sources claim Bell was shown the route by the
Darug
The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much ...
men, Emery and Cogy.
He initially failed to find a safe descent to the west from
Mount Tomah
Mount Tomah is a locality and a mountain that is located in the Blue Mountains region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The locality is known for the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden on the Bells Line of Road.
Description
The villa ...
, but returned a month later and was able to travel into the Hartley valley where he joined up with Cox's road.
[ Bell found the greatest difficulty on the journey “was in the thick part of his way to Tomah, so much so that in one place he was forced to cut his way through three miles”. Bell used the Aboriginal term 'Balcamatta' to describe the country below Mount Tomah where he encountered difficulty proceeding.]John Oxley
John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley (1784 – 25 May 1828)
was an explorer and surveyor of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He served as Surveyor General of New South Wales and is perhaps best known for his two exp ...
instructed his assistant-surveyor Robert Hoddle
Robert Hoddle (21 April 1794 – 24 October 1881)
was a surveyor and artist. He is best known as the surveyor general of the Port Phillip District (later known as the Australian state of Victoria) from 1837 to 1853, especially for creation of ...
to survey Bell's line of road. Hoddle completed the task and his survey report was submitted in November 1823.The Early Days
''Sydney Stock and Station Journal'', 15 October 1920, page 8. The road across the mountains was soon afterwards cleared and formed by convict labour.
[Motor Tour](_blank)
''Maitland Daily Mercury'', 3 November 1939, page 4.
Bell also explored the
Hunter River Hunter River may refer to:
*Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia
*Hunter River (Western Australia)
*Hunter River, New Zealand
*Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada
**Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada
...
and saved the explorers
Howe
Howe may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Howe (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Howe Browne, 2nd Marquess of Sligo (1788–1845), Irish peer and colonial governor
Titles
* Earl Howe, two titles, an ext ...
and
Singleton
Singleton may refer to:
Sciences, technology Mathematics
* Singleton (mathematics), a set with exactly one element
* Singleton field, used in conformal field theory Computing
* Singleton pattern, a design pattern that allows only one instance ...
from starvation. As a reward, he was given a grant of at Patrick's Plains, naming his estate 'Corinda'. He specialized in breeding horses for coaching and hackney horses. He was granted on the Hunter River near Belford in 1839. He had other estates in the Hunter Valley and moved from Corinda to Milgarra at Bunnan near Scone in 1849. In 1859 he bought Pickering at Denman, an freehold estate on the Hunter River. He lived there until his death on 9 August 1883.
Upper Hunter
The Upper Hunter Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires.
The Mayor of the Upper Hunter Shir ...
in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
from 1868 to 1872 and was appointed to the Legislative Council for life in 1879.Bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...
, Mount Bell, the Bell Range and Bells Line of Road
Bells Line of Road is a major road located in New South Wales, Australia, providing an alternative crossing of the Blue Mountains to the Great Western Highway. The eastern terminus of the road is in , 51 km northwest of Sydney, where the road ...
were named after the explorer.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Archibald
1804 births
1883 deaths
Australian explorers
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
People from the Hunter Region
19th-century Australian politicians