Thomas Bell (16 December 1785 – 30 April 1860) was a

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

and book seller. He was also a prodigious collector of books, having accumulated more than 15,000 volumes by the time he died. These were auctioned off later the same year.

Life

Thomas Bell was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. His father was John Bell (1755–1816), like the son a

and book seller. His mother, born Margaret Gray, was from

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. Thomas Bell had a brother, John Bell (1783–1864), two years older than he was, and whose life would in some respects follow a parallel course to his own. On leaving school both John and Thomas Bell worked with their father in the latter's book selling business along Union Street, later joined by a third brother, James Maddison Bell. Eventually the brothers took over the business from their father, but in the meantime John Bell (1783–1864) moved out in 1803 to set up in business on his own, which evidently left their father's business increasingly dependent on Thomas Bell who also increasingly took over his father's

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

work. Later in his life, especially after his father's death, Thomas Bell became one of the principal land surveyors of his time and place, numbering among his clients, the Dukes of Northumberland and the Earls of Strathmore. The ongoing

enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

of (previously)

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

by commercial farmers and, by the middle of the nineteenth century, the building of major railway lines provided abundant work for a well connected

. He was involved in surveying for the

Brandling Junction Railway The Brandling Junction Railway was an early railway in County Durham, England. It took over the Tanfield Waggonway of 1725 that was built to bring coal from Tanfield to staiths on the River Tyne at Dunston. The Brandling Junction Railway itself ...

(BJR) as well as for the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway (N&CR), and Stanhope and Tyne Railway (S&TR) lines. Bell was a collector of books. His particular interests included his own region, including both topography and genealogy. Although he was not himself a prolific author (he wrote one children's book), he did accumulate various manuscript researches on matters which interested him. He was able to provide much practical help to John Hodgson with the latter's well regarded '' History of Northumberland''. In June 1813 Thomas Bell joined the

Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, the oldest provincial antiquarian society in England, was founded in 1813. It is a registered charity under English law. It has had a long-standing interest in the archaeology of the north-east ...

. He was also a member of the London-based Society of Antiquaries. Thomas Bell died at 16 Cumberland Tow in Newcastle on 30 April 1860. His body was placed in the family plot in the "old cemetery" at Jesmond.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Thomas English booksellers English antiquarians English surveyors 1785 births 1860 deaths People from Newcastle upon Tyne 19th-century British businesspeople