William Bell (1 May 1806 – 4 August 1844) was a businessman and militia officer from

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 ...

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 ...

. William Bell had a twin brother, John and was the son of William Bell, a Presbyterian missionary, who had arrived in Perth from Scotland in 1817. William and his brother both apprenticed in the mercantile trade before forming a partnership and opening a store at Perth in 1828. They also opened a store at Carleton Place with another brother,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

. The aggressive merchandising style at the Perth store caused ill feelings amongst their competition. The most notable reaction was from

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

with whom William had been apprenticed. The bad feeling ultimately divided Perth's Presbyterian congregation where their father was the minister.

References

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
1806 births 1844 deaths Canadian merchants Canadian Presbyterians People from Perth, Ontario Canadian twins {{Canada-business-bio-stub