Geograph - photograph every grid square

The two stones being described here are the pink granite Celtic cross that is in shade on the left, and the sunlit stone to its right. They are within a few feet of the NS4076 : The White Memorial. At the far right is the back of a memorial to Robert Lang, bootmaker, and his family; beside it, but out of shot to the right, is a smaller memorial for Ann Lang.

For the earlier generations of the Bell family described here, see the NS3975 : Gravestone of John Bell, which is not located in this cemetery, but in the older burial ground alongside the parish church. In 2015, I received an email enquiry about that John Bell and his ancestors. I subsequently incorporated some of the information that I unearthed into the description for that picture, and some into the present item, in the hope that these details will be useful to any other members of the same family who are interested in their ancestors.

The pink granite Celtic cross on the left bears the following inscription: "In memory of Elizabeth Watson, wife of John Bell, born 1812 died 1847. / Also Louisa Hamilton his wife, born 1826, died 1897. / Also the above John Bell, born 7th June 1803, died 2nd May 1899".

This John Bell is the one I describe as John Bell (III) at NS3975 : Gravestone of John Bell. He was referred to in Donald MacLeod's "Dumbarton Ancient and Modern" (1893) as "our much revered oldest inhabitant, Mr John Bell of Clydeview"; for biographical details of John (III) Bell, see the link just given.

He was the eldest son of the John Bell (II) who is named on that gravestone, and who died when the steamship "Comet" (second of that name), on which he was travelling, was struck by the "Ayr" off Kempock Point, Gourock, in 1825, with the loss of 70 lives.

The sunlit stone on the right bears the following inscription:

"Sacred to the memory of Mary Lang, widow of John Bell, Dumbarton, who died 24 December 1859, aged 81 years, and of George, their son, who died on board ship Three Bells, near the Cape of Good Hope, 25 September 1864, aged 55 years. Thomas, their son, who died at Maryville, Dumbarton, 26 January 1873, aged 56 years."

[As I mentioned above, the stones just to the right are memorials to members of the Lang family, but their juxtaposition here in the cemetery may be coincidental; as far as I know, they are not the Langs of Chapelton who are related by marriage to the Bells.]

According to "The God's Acres of Dumbarton" (Donald MacLeod, 1888), this Thomas Bell was the fourth son of John Bell, flesher, Dumbarton, and his wife Mary Lang. He was born in Dumbarton in 1817, educated at the town's Burgh Academy, and was apprenticed to Dumbarton draper James Harris. With his brother George, Thomas carried on business in Port-Glasgow in the firm G & T Bell, drapers, from 1835 until 1851, at which time Thomas left to carry on a drapery business in Dumbarton. He never married. In 1872, he took on Andrew Blair as a business partner, the firm being called Bell & Blair (I can add that Andrew Blair died 28th December 1928, in his 82nd year; this is, of course, long after the time of the "God's Acres" book).

There were several successive generations of John Bells, but Thomas was the fourth (surviving) son of the one whom I refer to as John Bell (II), the one who drowned when the Comet was struck in 1825. The Mary Lang whom he married was of the Langs of Chapelton, who, though noteworthy in themselves, were also related by marriage to many other prominent Dumbarton families (for another example, see NS3975 : Gravestone of Captain James Lang).

The gravestone shown on the right in the present photograph also mentions George, who was the third (surviving) son of John Bell (II). The inscription states that he died on board the ship "Three Bells". The name of the ship is no coincidence; it was named after three men surnamed Bell, two of them members of the family being discussed here, the other no relation, but merely having the same surname.

The following passage from Section XVII, "Woodyard as at 1850", in Donald MacLeod's "Dumbarton Ancient and Modern" (1893) explains: "The vessel shown in the picture, beginning at the left of it, is the sailing ship 'Three Bells', which belonged to Mr John Bell (the present Lord Provost of Glasgow's father), and Messrs William and Finlay Bell, fleshers, Glasgow (brothers of our townsman, Mr John Bell of Clydeview). The above named John Bell was no relation of the others."

The obituary of this Mr John Bell (in the Lennox Herald issue of March 5 1881), though not bearing directly on the Bell family being discussed here, to which he was unrelated, nevertheless provides more details about the ship "Three Bells", and about a noteworthy rescue in which it was involved, and is worth quoting from for that reason. Note that the death of George on board the "Three Bells" is not related to that rescue, which occurred several years earlier. Below, I quote part of the obituary, but I have omitted four stanzas of a poem that are quoted there (for anyone who wishes to read it elsewhere, the poem, written by J G Whittier, is called "The Three Bells"):

"Mr John Bell, of Summerhill, Shandon, died at his residence at two o'clock in Friday morning of last week. Mr Bell was the senior partner of the firm of Messrs John Bell & Sons, shipping butchers, Glasgow. He commenced business in 1827 in the premises still occupied by the firm, .... In 1850, Mr Bell, along with two friends of the same name, had built to their order the largest iron ship then afloat. It was named the Three Bells, and Mr J G Whittier has celebrated in verse an incident which occurred in connection with this vessel. In one of her voyages, under the command of Captain Crighton, she came upon the San Francisco, a United States transport, conveying troops, in a sinking condition. Being unable to approach the vessel owing to the storm and darkness, Captain Crighton kept by it till morning, continuously shouting to those on board to 'Hold on; I'll stand by you'. It is this incident that Mr Whittier celebrates. After narrating the agony of the terror-stricken crew, and the relief afforded by the oft-repeated signals and kindly greetings of the Three Bells, the poem thus proceeds:-

[Four stanzas of a poem omitted]

Curiously enough, some ten years after, when Captain Crighton was being presented with a medal in Charleston, six of the soldiers in the fort were men whom he had saved on the occasion commemorated in the poem. In 1854 Mr Bell built another ship, which he named the John Bell. It was afterwards purchased by the Messrs Allan, and now forms one of their well-known line under the name of St Patrick. After this Mr Bell gave up shipowning in his own name, though he still retained connection with shipping in other ways."

(As noted above, this John Bell was unrelated to the family being discussed here. He went on to import cattle from America, and his firm, "John Bell & Sons, American Meat and Cattle Agents", was based at 6 Union Street, Glasgow, but also had offices in London and in Liverpool.)

- - • - -

A little way from here, and about midway between NS4076 : The White Memorial and the statue of John Proudfoot (NS4076 : The John Proudfoot Memorial), both easily recognisable features, are three stones for other members of the Bell family: there are two upright stones, and a recumbent plaque between them. I have not depicted them separately on this site, but their details are given below. They are all related in different ways to ex-Bailie George Bell, who (I believe) was the son of William Bell. George was therefore: the grandson of John Bell (I); the nephew of John Bell (II) who died in 1825 when the Comet was struck; and the cousin of John Bell (III) of Clydeview who died in 1899 (see the generations listed at the end of NS3975 : Gravestone of John Bell, which may make the relationships a little clearer).

The more easterly of the two upright stones has the following inscription:

"In memory of George Bell, who entered the service of Archibald McMillan & Son, Shipbuilders, Dumbarton, as Foreman Blacksmith in the year 1836, and, after 54 years of faithful and highly valued service retired in 1890. He was much esteemed as a personal friend by his employers who have erected this monument to his memory. Born 13th December 1816, died 5th October 1903." (The published MI records(*) are in error here, and have 1819 for 1816.)

[(*) My comments above refer specifically to the "Dunbartonshire" MI records published in 1969; revised editions may have been issued since then.]

The other upright stone, just to its west, reads:

"Erected by George and Elizabeth Bell in memory of their children, Jane who died 3rd July 1846, aged one year and four months. Isabella, died 26 November 1849 aged two years and four months.
Years since have roll'd, and time hath lent // Its balm to Nature's smart // But none hath filled their first fond place // Within their parents' heart.
Elizabeth Scott, beloved wife of George Bell, who died 4th June 1898, in her eighty-third year."

Between them is plaque resting on the ground; it was placed there by George's fellow lodge-members (of the Dumbarton branch of the Independent Order of Oddfellows):

"A tribute from the Oddfellows of Dumbarton District [M.U.] / To the memory of George Bell P.P.G.M. / A most worthy and beloved brother / who for (6)3 years laboured / for the welfare of his lodge / district and order / Dumbarton / November 2(6)th 1904."

(The second digit of the date in November 1904 when this plaque was installed is hard to make out, but it seems to read November 26th; this is also the most plausible reading on the grounds that such a ceremony would probably take place on a Saturday.)

P.P.G.M.: Past Provincial Grand Master.
M.U.: Manchester Unity.

The same George Bell is named on NS4075 : The Oddfellows' Monument, which was erected in 1900.