Geoffrey Foxall Bell (16 April 1896 – 17 January 1984) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and educationalist. He was a right-handed batsman who played first-class cricket for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He won the Military Cross during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and became headmaster of two schools.

Early life

Bell was born in

Stapenhill Stapenhill is a suburban village and civil parish in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire in the United Kingdom, UK. It was a small village owned by Nigel of Stafford as far back as 1086, however, this ancient parish area has long since been surroun ...

, Derbyshire and was related to the Evershed brewing family. He made his first County Championship appearance in 1914, though his cricketing career was summarily halted by the First World War. In 1915, he was commissioned in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

in 1919.

Career

After the war he went to study at

, and returned to the arena of first-class cricket playing for the University in 1919. He played his first of seven games, most of which were against assembled elevens such as the Gentlemen of England and HDG Leveson-Gower's XI. Bell made his return appearance for Derbyshire towards the back end of the 1919 season, their ninth place in the season's table something of a false hope for times to come. Bell made his final three appearances for Derbyshire during the 1920 season, finishing with a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

in his first appearance, though his form improved in the first innings of his next game and, although the final game of his season saw him achieve an innings of 11, before getting out, he found himself dropped from the team, never to make another first-class appearance. After university, he became a schoolmaster and in 1927 became headmaster of

Trent College Trent College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school located in Long Eaton, Derbyshire between Nottingham and Derby. Founded in 1868 as a local ’middle class alternative’ to the more famous public schools, it is now a coedu ...

where he was held in high regard by the boys and was seen as a forward-thinking man. During his time, the Warner Library was opened in 1929 and the Cricket Pavilion in 1933. In 1936 he went on to become headmaster of

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate ...

, succeeding J. A. H. Johnston, and was seen there as an austere but respected figurehead. In 1954 he decided to leave teaching and Highgate while he was still enjoying it, so he took an early pension and bought six acres in Hampshire where he planted an orchard and built a house and a simple fruit store on it. He made a living and employed several workers.Geoffrey Bell ''Establishing a Fruit Garden'' Stanley Paul & Co, 1963 He died in

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south west Surrey, England, around south west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill, they comprise the civil parish of Haslemere i ...

Personal life

Bell's cousins,

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Wallis and

Frank Evershed Frank Evershed (6 September 1866 – 29 June 1954)
Scrum.com was an English

, were all first-class cricketers for Derbyshire during the back end of the nineteenth century, while

William Evershed William Evershed (25 November 1818 – 24 November 1887) was an English first-class cricketer who made his debut for Hampshire against Petworth in 1845. Evershed represented Hampshire against the same opposition again in the same season. In 18 ...

also played first-class cricket in first half of the 20th century.

Publications

*Establishing a Fruit Garden (1963) *Seven Old Testament Figures (1968)

References

External links

Geoffrey Bell
at Cricket Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Geoffrey 1896 births 1984 deaths English cricketers Derbyshire cricketers Headmasters of Highgate School Oxford University cricketers Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Field Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I Gentlemen of England cricketers Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford People educated at Repton School