Cecil Walker Bell

Cecil Walker Bell

1868 - 1947

A solicitor by profession, Cecil Walker Bell was a member of an old established family of lawyers which practised in Bourne for over 100 years. He was also a part-time soldier who was proud of his army commission.

The influential legal firm which played such an important part in the life of the town was founded in 1820 by William David Bell who had offices and a house at No 18 West Street, a property that still bears stone plaques built into the rear and side walls with the initials WDB and the dates 1834 and 1847, the years of construction and a later extension. He was born at Uppingham, Rutland, and moved to Bourne in 1820 to establish the family law firm, becoming the first clerk to the Board of Guardians in 1834 and later Registrar of the County Court.

He died in 1857 at the age of 59. By then the business was being run by his son, James Leonard Bell, who was living at Bourne House in West Street, a property he eventually bought as a family home from the estate of John Lely Ostler in 1861 for £800. But in 1890, ill health forced James to hand over the business to his son, Cecil Walker Bell, then aged 22, and like them, he eventually held many of the leading public legal posts in the town, including that of coroner for South Lincolnshire, being appointed in 1925.

WDB plaque

Stone date plaques built into the walls of 18 West Street remembering William David Bell

WDB plaque

He commanded H Company, the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, the Lincolnshire Regiment, for 11 years, joining the unit in 1895 when he was gazetted a second lieutenant, becoming a first lieutenant the following year, then captain in 1899 and he was promoted to major in 1906 when he was replaced because his rank was too high for that of a company commander. He was proud of his commission and preferred to be known as Major Bell for the rest of his life, serving as recruiting officer for the Bourne, Spalding, Holbeach and Long Sutton areas during the Great War of 1914-18.

Cecil Bell was also popular with his men as was demonstrated at the annual dinner of H Company held at the Corn Exchange on Friday 28th September 1906, an event which coincided with his promotion to major and the announcement of his forthcoming marriage on October 6th, when he was presented with a pair of silver candlesticks on behalf of the NCOs and men. The following Tuesday, another presentation to mark his marriage was made by members of the Bourne Institute when he was given a standard lamp and tributes were paid to his role in helping with the formation and running of the organisation, either as a member of the committee or as the honorary secretary.

His other appointments during his career included those of clerk to Bourne Rural District Council, the Bourne sub-committee of Kesteven Local Pension Committee, the Board of Guardians and Assessment Committee, the School Attendance Committee, the Bourne, South Fen and Thurlby Fen Pastures Drainage Trustees, Superintendent Registrar for Bourne, correspondent to Bourne Education Committee, secretary of the Corn Exchange and the Bourne Gas and Coke Company, Registrar and High Bailiff for the County Court, and clerk to South Kesteven Rural District Council. He was also one of the first governors of Bourne Grammar School and was appointed a trustee of the Butterfield Hospital in 1921.

The list of appointments, similarly held by his father and grandfather, is indicative of the varied demands which might be made on a man with specialised professional training in a small town community at that time and also illustrates the rapid growth of public bodies at local level in Victorian and Edwardian England.

A legal letterhead from Cecil Bell's law practice in Bourne dated February 1908. It is interesting to note that his offices were on the telephone at that time although the number indicates that he was one of only a few with such a modern facility.

Bell letterhead

From boyhood, Cecil Bell had wanted to go into the church but circumstances prevented it and he became a lawyer, eventually joining the family firm. He lived at Bourne House, No 46 West Street, the family home since 1830, having spent his entire life in the town and apart from his professional involvement, he was actively connected with the Abbey Church, where he sang with the choir for 40 years until he resigned at Christmas 1932 when the vicar, Canon John Grinter, gave him written notice after a dispute. From 1914, he was a member of the Diocesan Conference and for 12 years served on the Diocesan Trust and Board of Finance as well as being involved with the work of several diocesan committees. Major Bell was a lay reader at the Abbey Church and was elected people’s warden in January 1933.

An indication of the high esteem in which the Bell family were held in the town came at a meeting of the Bourne Union on Thursday 24th March 1892. Cecil Bell's father, James Leonard Bell, had retired as Clerk to the Board of Guardians two years before and as his son was still studying to be a solicitor, there was a tacit understanding that he would be appointed as soon as he qualified, which he had done by this time. Mr Alexander Farr, a solicitor with the family firm who had been appointed clerk during the interim period, was resigning and Mr W Hayes proposed that Cecil Bell be elected to replace him. "By his industry, courtesy and ability, he is eminently situated for the position", he said. His motion was seconded by Mr Bacon who said: "I am confident that we will find Mr Bell excellently qualified to conduct our business." Cecil Bell was unanimously elected and made a suitable reply, thanking members for placing him in the position that had been occupied by both his father and grandfather. "I hope that I will be able to fulfil my duties as ably as they have done," he said.

This post was a particularly lucrative one with a salary of £115 a year, plus an additional £50 for the clerkship to the Sanitary Authority, £50 for the clerkship to the Assessment Committee and £15 for the School Attendance Committee, making a total annual salary of £230 [£15,000 at today's values], for what was, in effect, a part time job. It is also worth remembering that Mr Thomas Lawrance, chairman of the Board of Guardians, who conducted the meeting, was in fact his first cousin.

An interest in youth activities led to his appointment as a District Commissioner for Scouts and a vice-chairman of the Bourne and district Scout Association. Cecil Bell was also a talented musician and singer, frequently appearing on stage during concerts and other entertainments in the town, and in 1924 he was honorary musical conductor for the Bourne Amateur Operatic Society. In the same year, he was elected as a member of the Diocesan branch of the Church Music Society, serving for a spell on its committee. The Bourne Operatic Society was also one of his great interests, directing and conducting many musical productions such as Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeoman of the Guard which was presented at the Corn Exchange on Wednesday 20th April 1892, an ambitious attempt by local amateurs but one that was received with great enthusiasm.

The affection he felt for his home town was always apparent, especially so when he addressed the Bourne Institute after the wedding presentation on Tuesday 2nd October 1906 when he said: "I have always been struck by the happy family feeling that generally exists in Bourne and which I have noticed is absent from so many other places that I have visited. Life in such small towns is only worth living by all being good friends and neighbours."

But his words were to prove ironic because following a libel hearing in June 1933, when he was sued for damages by the vicar, he resigned as people’s warden and never again went to the Abbey Church, preferring to worship with the non-conformist communities in the town, mainly at the Methodist Chapel. In his declining years, he left Bourne in 1940 and never returned, retiring to Eastbourne where he died on Friday 7th February 1947, aged 78, leaving a widow, a son and a daughter. Both children were qualified solicitors, his son, Colonel F C L Bell, also having a distinguished career during the Second World War and his daughter, Mrs B Holm, then living in the United States, had in 1931, as Miss Edith Elfrida Mary Bell, become the only lady solicitor in Lincolnshire by passing the final examination of the Law Society.

Bourne House had already been sold to Kesteven District Council who turned it into a children’s hostel but the property later changed hands again and in 1988 was sold to developers who converted it into a complex of retirement bungalows and flats for the elderly in which use it continues today.

THE DEATH OF JAMES LEONARD BELL

Cecil Walker Bell's father died at his home in West Street on Tuesday 1st July 1890 after a period of illness. The Stamford Mercury reported his passing as follows:

Mr Bell has practised as a solicitor in Bourne since the death of his father in 1857. He occupied many public appointments including that of Registrar to the County Court for the Bourne district and clerk to the Board of Guardians. He held these offices conjointly for upwards of thirty years and ably discharged the duties connected therewith until a comparatively recent date. The esteem in which he was held was practically manifested at the meeting of the Board of Guardians a fortnight ago when a hearty vote of thanks was unanimously accorded Mr Bell for the excellent manner in which he had discharged his duties during his long tenure of office. This was accompanied by a message of condolence, proposed by the chairman, Mr Thomas Lawrance, in sympathetic terms. Mr Bell had also filled the offices of clerk to the Bourne, Thurlby, Bytham, Corby and Billingborough school boards, having held that of Bourne since the formation of the board. Among the other public positions he had occupied were those of clerk to the Sanitary, Assessment and School Attendance Committee of the Bourne Union, South Fen Drainage Trust, Bourne Gas Company, Burial Board, and Steward of the Bourne Abbot's Manor. Mr Bell's mother was sister to the late Thomas M Lawrance Esq of Dunsby Hall, and he was therefore cousin to Mr Justice Lawrance. Mr Bell married the daughter of the Rev W E Chapman who was for many years Vicar of Edenham and chaplain at Grimsthorpe Castle. A most painful incident occurred at the wedding breakfast. As the bride's father was offering his congratulations, he suddenly fell down and expired. Mr Bell was of a most genial and kindly disposition and his loss will be keenly felt. On all sides, the greatest sympathy is expressed for the bereaved widow and family.

THE FAMILY GRAVE

Cecil Walker Bell's father and grandfather are buried in the family grave in the town cemetery at Bourne, marked by an imposing stone obelisk inscribed around the base.
It records the names of William David Bell (born 1798) who was buried on 11th May 1859 at the age of 59, and his wife Susannah who died in November 1893, aged 92.
Their son, James Leonard Bell, born 29th December 1830, died on 1st July 1890, also at the age of 59, and his wife, Mary Arabella Bell (née Morley), born 18th August 1830, died on 5th February 1908, at the age of 77. Cecil Bell died at Eastbourne, Sussex, in 1947, aged 78, and is buried there.

The Bell family grave

REVISED JANUARY 2013