PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF MARK ROGERS.

	THE EAST INDIAMAN ‘YORK’ ON WHICH JAMES BELL WAS TRANSPORTED.
	JAMES BELL TICKET OF LEAVE.
	NORMAN BELL SON OF JAMES BELL AND WILHELLMINA MCLEOD.
	CHRISTINA AND ELIZABETH BELL ON THE TWEED RIVER.
	CHRISTINA AND HER HUSBAND JOHN QUIRK.
	GRANNY BELL – MARY ANN MCNEILL.
	NORMAN BELL, BROTHER OF JOHN AND BROTHER-IN-LAW TO MARY ANN (GRANNY).
	WILHELLMINA BELL LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION.

MY THANKS ALSO TO THOSE GENEROUS CONTRIBUTORS WHO PREFER NOT TO BE NAMED ONLINE.

MEMORIAM CARD FOR WILHELMINA BELL

WILHELMINA – FORMERLY MCLEOD. MOTHER OF JOHN BELL. 

Alphabetical Lists of persons employed in the N.S.W. Railways and Tramways on 31-12-1902

http://home.iprimus.com.au/bexleyboy/1902/index.html    

Look for the names WILLIAM BELL and GEORGE READY. 

TRAVELLING THE MID NORTH COAST

MCLEOD ON CONDONG PLAINS

So far we have placed John and Normal Bell with their families on the TWEED RIVER. We also have their sister Wilhelmina who married GEORGE DINSEY. There is a MR BELL christian name unknown supervising at ABBOTSFORD MILL( I don’t yet know which mill that was. ) Now a JOHN MCLEOD appears and McLeod is the maiden name of the mother WILHELMINA who came on the JAMES MORAN in 1839. She had other children with her whose names I don’t as yet have.

WANTED to Let, on Clearing Leases, Seven FARMS, of from forty to fifty acres each; fine scrub land; river frontage, Tweed River ¡ eight miles from the Heads. Apply to Mr. JOHN M’LEOD, Condong Plains, Tweed River ; or E. W. S. HAYLEY, Southgate, Clarence River. 2575

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1295006

The Brisbane Courier Friday 30 August 1872, page 1.

This is 3 years after JOHN BELL acquires his land and 6 years before he married MARY ANN MCNEIL.

 

And in 1881;

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article919217 he Brisbane Courier Saturday 30 April 1881, page 5 “Unique” writes from the Tweed River: ” On the evening of Easter Monday the rather monotonous course of life on the Tweed was broken by a ball given by the employes of the C.S.R. Company, and which, under the kind auspices of Mr. and Mrs Isaacs, bids fair to become one of the annual events of the neighbourhood. A range of the barracks had been prepared for the festive occasion, and, although the weather was unpropitious, a goodly array of the votaries of Terpsichore assembled. The room had  been most effectively decorated by the hands of f$air neighbours-wreaths, crowns, and pendants of varied colours relieved tbe sombre green of the foliage with which the walls and roof had been profusely ornamented, and with the brilliancy of the lights and the bright eyes and flowing drapery of the ladies, combined to produce a tout ensemble seldom seen in the neighbourhood. Dancing commenced at 8 o’clock to the enlivening strains of three musicians, and dance succeeded dance in rapid succession till long past the small hours of the morning. At a late hour the party broke up with many expressions of pleasure on the part of the hosts that their guests had been sufficiently enterprising to brave such stormy weather, and of hope that on a future occasion Condong might again be honoured by their presence.

THE COTTAGE BILAMBIL 2008

James had been born to John and Mary Ann by this time and Norman was born in 1881.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3429862 FROM BRISBANE COURIER THURSDAY MAY 8 . In 1884, Mr T Steel from the CONDONG MILL sent a large series of animals to the QUEENSLAND MUSEUM for nomenaclature.and two of those were included in science and named as follows;

1. a tree frog resembling in coloration an American  species. Now named HYLA FENESTRATA and
2. a fish of the GENUS GALAXUS which was to be described as GALAXIAS BREVIANALUS

The ABBOTSFORD MILL I find in the BRISBANE COURIER 5 AUGUST 1882 was erected near the JUNCTION – the village now called TUMBULGUM. This one did not belong to the massive COLONIAL SUGAR REFINING COMPANY to which CONDONG belonged. It belonged to PRINGLE, SHANKY and CO. Small but enterprising beginners.  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3412851

 

IN 1886 the schooner CONDONG, of the TWEED RIVER, was carrying logs of beech, cedar and pine into BRISBANE. In the same year a general servant was wanted for the CONDONG MILL at 15s per week.

IN 1889 E DOWLING of Condong won 900 pounds in the  TATTERSALLS MELBOURNE- CUP SWEEPS.

And in 1892, the BELLS went south to LAURIETON. Some of the family remained. Wilhelmina Dinsey for one.

AND FROM TUMBULGUM, where I lived from 2002-2005;

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3701412

The Brisbane Courier Tuesday 12 September 1899,

A correspondent of a New South Wales
top-country paper questions whether the
Hunter district is entitled to the credit of
producing the largest pumpkins. He says :
-” I read an account of prolific pumpkins
in the Hunter. The Hunter may be a won-
derful place for pumpkins, but a neighbour
of mine, at Tumbulgum, lost a sow not long

since. He searched everywhere for several
days without success, and at last came to
the conclusion that she was dead.- But one
day, while riding across his farm, he no-

ticed something peculiar about one of his
pumpkins. He rode over to see, and was
surprised to find his sow. She had eaten
her way into the pumpkin, made a bed, and
had a litter of thirteen young ones all inside
the pumpkin

 

the DEATH OF GEORGE DINSEY http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3963005

BELLINGER BITS AND PIECES

http://electronicquill.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/odds-and-ends-on-a-sunday/

 

Joyce and Bruce Sanders honeymooned in Urunga at the mouth of the Bellinger River in 1848. In the 1970s Lynne,Susan and Jon as well as Joyce and Bruce and Susan’s daughter Josefine relocated from Belmore in Sydney to Urunga. The Bellinger then became home to children, grandchildren and husbands. Susan married into the POMROY family of URUNGA and Lynne married into the BRAITHWAITE family of Bellingen.

For today – odds and ends of BELLINGEN in the NLA.

http://electronicquill.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/odds-and-ends-on-a-sunday/

THE TWEED BETWEEN 1869 AND 1892

SOMEWHERE IN THIS PERIOD JOHN BELL SUSTAINED THE INJURIES THAT TOOK THEM SOUTH TO LAURIETON. WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM ? “THEY” SAY IT WAS AN ACCIDENT IN THE CANE.

1872 http://www.family.joint.net.au/indexnew.php?mid=1&cid=43

DISTANCE 566 MILES NORTH OF SYDNEY
MAIL CLOSES AT GENERAL POST BY CLARENCE RIVER STEAMERS, AND BY SAILING VESSELS
AS OPPORTUNITY OFFERS
MAIL ARRIVES AT POST TOWN SUNDAY 4 P.M. AND BY SAILING VESSELS AS OPPORTUNITY
OFFERS
MAIL LEAVES FOR SYDNEY TUESDAY 8 A.M. AND BY SAILING VESSELS AS OPPORTUNITY
OFFERS
MAIL ARRIVES AT SYDNEY BY CLARENCE AND RICHMOND RIVER STEAMERS, AND BY SAILING
VESSELS

ROUTE  BY CLARENCE AND RICHMOND RIVER STEAMERS, KYNNUMBOON.

INCLUDES NORMAN AND JOHN BELL AT KYNNUMBOON.

from the BRISBANE COURIER TUESDAY 25 DECEMBER 1877 page 6

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1368785

The heat had been intense but was now intermittent with a sky ominously overcast. They had had showers and a thunderstorm had passed over.

The sugar mill mentioned in this article is called the ABBOTSFORD SUGAR MILL but I haven’t so far found another reference to it. Certainly the only Mill on the Tweed now is the CONDONG mill. Down at the TWEED HISTORICAL SOCIETY, there is an image of BELL’s Wharf which I shall purchase next time I am there. When I first looked, I didn’t realise the presence of the Bells in this area. The article in the BRISBANE COURIER of 1877, speaks of field operations and crushing going on ‘ merrily’. They have a complement of 20-25 men and in the field they are supervised by Mr Byrne and in the crushing by MR BELL. I shall approach the Murwillumbah Hospital one day and see whether they have any records that might explain the ‘accident’ which invalided John Bell. This Mr Bell at the mill might or might not be John. It is a year before his marriage to Mary Ann McNeil. There may well have been other Bells here  but Norman is not likely to be one of them because his children are being born down south by then. 

There was also an ascent being made to the top of MT WARNING to have a display of fireworks on the summit for CHRISTMAS. We seem to be somewhat lacking in vision in 2008. They were making a picnic party of the excursion with several gentlemen from Brisbane expected to attend.

The COLONIAL SUGAR REFINING COMPANY was acquiring land for extensions.

Two public schools are noted; MURWILLUMBAH and JUNCTION.

 

In 1879 and 1881, Tenders were taken for the conveyance of the MAILS

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article899633 The Brisbane Courier Saturday 16 August 1879, page 3. Nerang Creek and Murwillumbah, to Mudgeraba and Tallebudgera, by horse, twice a week, for one or two years.   and http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article819901 The Maitland Mercury… Saturday 17 September 1881, page 3 Lismore and Kynnumboon or Murwillumbah, once a week. 3. Lismore and Tirrania, once a week. 84. Lismore, Wollongbar, Alstonville, and BallinB, once a week. 85. Kynnumboon or Murwillumbah, and Tumbulgum three times a week.
In 1882 JOHN WAUGH was manager of the COMMERCIAL BANK in MURWILLUMBAH.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3453268 The Brisbane Courier Wednesday 25 November 1885, page 3 Constable Biffin, of the New South Wales police, deposed to the arrest and search of prisoner at Murwillumbah, on the 22nd Sep-tember. He deposed to the jewellery produced being that found by him in prisoner’s boxes. READ ON FOR A FELONY IN INSOLVENCY AND YOUNG ADOLPH GROSSMAN	IN 1887 A ROYAL MAIL COACH ran from TALLEDBUDGERA TO MURWILLUMBAH daily except for MONDAYS at 7 am. and one from MURWILLUMBAH TO TALLEBUDGERA daily except for MONDAYS at 12.30pm. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3461689
TWEED ROADS, &c http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1332348	IN 1889, MRS BLEKINSOP’s EMPLOYMENT AGENCY in BRISBANE was seeking a cook and a laundress for an hotel in MURWILLUMBAH http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3492278 The Brisbane Courier Monday 11 February 1889, page 2.
1889 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3494704 The Brisbane Courier Wednesday 10 April 1889, page 4 Customs officer R. B. Downie, stationed at Tallebudgera, reports to the Collector of Customs, under date 4th April, that during last month he patrolled the border from the Murwillumbah Crossing to the Tweed River Heads. The roads, especially between Talle- budgera and the border, are in a very bad state from the recent heavy rains. During the month there arrived by coaoh from New South Wales five passengers, while seven passengers left for New South Wales during the same period. A good number of swagmen have been going over to the Tweed in search of work. The country in the neighbourhood of Tallebudgera is looking exceedingly well, and there is plenty of grass and water.
1891 JANE HARRISON v JOHN HARRISON he Brisbane Courier Thursday 19 March 1891, page 3 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3523756

 

_______________________________

GoldCoastHistory 1851 – 1900  http://www.goldcoast.com.au/about-gold-coast/gold-coast-history-2.html

Joshua Bray – (1838-1918) http://www.tweedhistory.org.au/murwillumbah/bray.shtml

ABSTRACT In March 1864 Samuel returned with his wife and child, shortly after them Joshua Bray joined them and they became partners. In 1865 Joshua returned to Tumut and became engaged to Rosalie (called Gertrude). He returned to the Tweed with a carpenter who built him a house of pit saw timber, Joshua named the house, ‘Kynnumboon’, an Aboriginal name for the land on which it was built. Joshua and Gertrude were married in Armidale NSW, they then went by gig to Singleton, train to Newcastle and boat to Sydney for a short honeymoon. They returned to the Tweed going by boat to Brisbane, Qld. and then rode down to the Tweed on horseback.

NEW SOUTH WALES SHIPWRECKS http://oceans1.customer.netspace.net.au/nsw-wrecks.html

Byron. Wooden screw steamship, 145/99 tons. #101024. Built at Terrigal, NSW, 1891, as a schooner; reg. Sydney, 75/1891. Lbd 96.2 x 20.4 x 8.1 ft. Sprang a leak in a gale and abandoned off Lake Macquarie, off Nine Mile Beach, Red Head, NSW, 24 May 1896. The Newcastle lifeboat rescued the crew. See also topsail schooner Condong and barquentine Karoola lost in the same gale.  [LN - 99 tons],[ASR],[MR],[SAN],[BNN]
@ Wrecksite known, south-east of Redhead Point.

NEW SOUTH WALES SHIPWRECKS http://oceans1.customer.customer.netspace.net.au/nsw-main.html

_______________________________

Murwillumbah http://www.smh.com.au/news/New-South-Wales/Murwillumbah/2005/02/17/1108500197934.html

ABSTRACT

Sugarcane was first grown in the valley in 1869 as free selectors began to take up land. However, two years later, a visitor noted that the river was covered on both sides by dense scrub with but a few dispersed dwellings. One of the selectors – Joshua Bray (the future police magistrate) – is said to have adopted the name ‘Murwillumbah’ from the local Aborigines. It is thought to describe either a good place for camping beside the river or a good place to catch possums.

The townsite was surveyed in 1872. The post office was transferred from Kynnumboon (just to the north) in 1877, the school was transferred from Tumbulgum in 1878, a courthouse was built and the first bank was established in 1880. The first sugar mill in the area also opened in 1880. A ferry service replaced the punt in 1888. However, settlement remained limited until the railway arrived in 1894 from Lismore via Mullumbimby

Cane Farming – Getting Established http://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/Museum/History/Content/sugar1.aspx

 

Sunshine Sugar http://www.sunshinesugar.com.au/sust_energy.htm

 

Cane cutter knife c.1950s http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/objectsthroughtime/caneknife/

 

TWEED RIVER MANAGEMENT PLAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE

November 1998 http://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/Waterways/pdfs/rm_bankmanagementplan.htm

 

Kynnumboon Bridge, Queensland Rd,Murwillumbahhttp://www.aussieheritage.com.au/listings/nsw/Murwillumbah/KynnumboonBridge/5422

 

THE NORTH COAST TRAIN LINE AS IT ONCE WAS 

Casino – Old Casino 6/11/1905
Old Casino – Lismore 19/10/1903
Lismore – Mullumbimby 15/5/1894
Mullumbimby – Murwillumbah 24/12/1894
Murwillumbah – Condong 24/12/1894

http://fang.omni.com.au/trains/Murbah.html 

 

Australia’s sugar industry

By Robert F. McKillop

http://www.lrrsa.org.au/LRR_SGRa.htm

 

 

 

BACK ON THE TWEED RIVER

 

WHATEVER it was the BELLs were doing, they are listed as landholders from 1869-1890 , Norman and Agnes have JANET LAURIE and WILLIMINA here in 1871 and 1872, JOHN and MARY ANN have children on the Tweed between 1879 and 1890 and at least JANET LAURIE marries in Murwillumbah in 1898.

JAMES and WILHELLMINA BELL’s children  are listed at the time of Wilhelmina’s death 2 March 1903 as;

NAME	AGE	COMMENTS ON NSW BDM LISTINGS
MARY(LAURIE)	57	MARY’s marriage is listed as 1866 to ALEXANDER J  LAWRIE in DUNGOG . DOD Stroud 1918
WILHELMINA(DINSEY)	56	MARRIES GEORGE DINSEY IN 1865 IN DUNGOG. This would indicate that Wilhelmina was Mrs Dinsey by the time the Bells moved north. Dinsey Creek is between Condong and Tumbulgum. She dies in 1911 in Murwillumbah.
NORMAN	54	Married AGNES in 1870 at DUNGOG
JOHN	52	Marries MARY ANN MCNEIL in 1878 at TAREE
MARGARET(MCEACHRAN)	50	Listed as an 1880 marriage to  MACEACHRAN JOHN IN LISMORE Death recorded in 1920 at MURRUMBURRAH.
ELIZABETH(WALKER)	48	I cannot find a WALKER marrying a BELL as yet but ELIZABETH WALKER does die in 1948 in GLOUCESTER.
CHRISTINA(QUIRK)	47	Nor for CHRISTINA as yet but I do have her death In Murwillumbah in 1944 so she was a Tweed woman.

 

 

JOHN and MARY ANN’s 9 children with places and years of birth;

JAMES
1879
TWEED RIVER

NORMAN
1881
TWEED RIVER

ANNE MCLEOD
1883
TWEED RIVER in 1918 married STANLEY WITCHARD in TAREE.

JANET
1885
TWEED RIVER

LESLIE DONALD RAYMOND
1887
TWEED RIVER

MARY HENRIETTA
1890
MURWILLUMBAH married THOMAS MCLENNAN IN TAREE 1914

ROY MCNEIL
1895
LAURIETON

WILHELMINA ELIZABETH
1897
LAURIETON

WILLIAM ALLEN MARRIED JESSIE SARAH READY

 

CONNECTIONS FROM MURWILLUMBAH AND THE TWEED – BELLS, BIGNELLS, LAURIES AND MORE

NORMAN BELL was the older brother of JOHN BELL wife of MARY ANN MCNEIL. They had adjoining land at CONDONG on the TWEED.

Their parents were JAMES AND WILHELMINA as noted elsewhere. James was the housebreaker transported from Glasgow in 1831 on the YORK and WILHELMINA was the daughter of WILLIAM MCLEOD and JANET MACKAY who came on the JAMES MORAN in 1839. They married in 1839 at MAITLAND when WILHELMINA was 17 years old. Check in the search engine to the right for further details. It appears at this time that the Mcleods and Mackays came as a result of the ruthless clearances of the Sutherland Shires in the HIGHLANDS of Scotland. In the 1860s the BELL boys have land on the TWEED. The NSW BDM records indicate that their father JAMES died in 1859( to be verified). I do not know what brought the boys ( and perhaps more members of their family north from the Maitland Area). Land is also indicated to belong to WILHELLMINA BELL – mother ? sister ? daughter ?

NORMAN BELL was born 1845 and died 15 June 1924 . He is buried in BARRINGTON CEMETERY. His occupations are listed at TWEED RIVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY as farmer/grazier. Whilst on Tweed he was resident at CONDONG. Norman married in 1870 at DUNGOG NSW. His wife was AGNES FRASER HIGGINS and her mother was JANET LAURIE. As my mother used to tell me the BELLS and the LAURIES were ‘tied in somehow”. Her father was JOHN HIGGINS. Agnes Higgins was born at Pt Stephens in 1846 and died in CHATSWOOD, SYDNEY in 1929.

Their children;

names	birthdate and place	marriage date and spouse	death date and place
JANET LAURIE	1871 TWEED RIVER	1898 GEORGE BIGNELL MURWILLUMBAH
WILLIMINA A	1872 TWEED RIVER	JOHN A. GUNN COPELAND 1895	1911 STROUD NSW
JAMES WALTER	1874 PORT STEPHENS		15-8-1886 NSW
AGNES MARY	1876 PORT STEPHENS	GORDON A D CLARK STROUD 1915
ELIZABETH J	1878 PORT STEPHENS	JOHN STACE	PORT STEPHENS 1903
MARGARET CHRISTINA	1881 BARRINGTON	THOMAS FARLEY CRICK SYDNEY 1907
MARY HENRIETTA	1883 COPELAND	WILLIAM JAMES MARTIN STROUD 1907	22-8-1938 KRAMBACH NSW
JOHN JAMES	1889 COPELAND		1923 BARRINGTON
NOREINE F	1893 COPELAND

From these dates it appears Norman left the Tweed district by the early 1870s whereas John’s Children are born on Tweed between 1879 and 1890 with the youngest being born at Laurieton in the early 90s. Hmm. A rethink required again.

THE INFORMATION I HAVE IS THAT NO 49 IS JOHN BELL’S LAND . ( YET TO BE VERIFIED AS ONE MAP INDICATES CONDONG AND ONE IS FURTHER ALONG NEAR STOTTS CREEK)

 

_____________________________________________________________

GEORGE  BIGNELL. IN 1898 AT MURWILLUMBAH MARRIED JANET LAURIE BELL DAUGHTER OF NORMAN BELL WHO WAS BROTHER OF JOHN BELL, GRANNY’S HUSBAND.  http://www.aif.adfa.edu.au:8080/showPerson?pid=22518

 

______________________________________________________________

FROM THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA HISTORIC NEWSPAPERS

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1368785 There is mention of a MR BELL managing the ABBOTSFORD SUGAR MILL on the TWEED.

 

_______________________________________________________________

MURWILLUMBAH LINKS

http://www.mit.edu/~dfm/genealogy/sercombe.html Sercombe Families

GRANNY BELL IN LAURIETON 1892 – NOV 5 1935

JOHN BELL WAS INJURED IN A CANE ACCIDENT -so we are told- on the Tweed. By 1892 the land at Condong is no longer in his name and John becomes known only as the INVALID MR BELL. The Bells then move to LAURIETON and Granny lives there till her death on Nov 5 1935.

THE CHILDREN OF JOHN AND MARY ANN BELL :

NAME	DOB	PLACE OF BIRTH
JAMES	1879	TWEED RIVER
NORMAN	1881	TWEED RIVER
ANNE MCLEOD	1883	TWEED RIVER
JANET	1885	TWEED RIVER
LESLIE DONALD RAYMOND	1887	TWEED RIVER
MARY HENRIETTA	1890	MURWILLUMBAH
ROY MCNEIL	1895	LAURIETON
WILHELMINA ELIZABETH	1897	LAURIETON
WILLIAM ALLEN	1898	LAURIETON

 

_____________________________________

LINKS TO THE BELLS IN LAURIETON.

SON OF JOHN AND MARY ANN BELL ( GRANNY).

ROY MCNEIL BELL.

Regimental number
1785

Religion
Presbyterian

Occupation
Baker

Address
Laurieton PO, Laurieton, New South Wales

Marital status
Single

Age at embarkation
20

Next of kin
Father, John Bell, Laurieton, New South Wales

Enlistment date
14 March 1916

Rank on enlistment
Private

Unit name
34th Battalion, 2nd Reinforcement

AWM Embarkation Roll number
23/51/2

Embarkation details
Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A15 Port Sydney on 4 September 1916

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

 

LAURIETON IN THE 1890s

Marshalls of Laurieton – A Family Who Gave More Than Most for King and Country http://www.alchin.info/volume5/volume5_007_sawyers_east_indoa_docks_descendants_william_alchin.html

 

On 5th November 1891, James STACE who was 67, died in the De Frains Timber Mill at Laurieton. Twelve (12) years later, Mary also passed away with the couple buried at Laurieton Cemetery.

http://www.whatismyname.zoomshare.com/2.html

 

Sussex to New South Wales:
- the Fairhall Family

http://www.fairhall.id.au/families/web/p391.htm

 

John Flynn http://www.midcoast.com.au/~rotohous/john.htm

 

WAUCHOPE PUBLIC SCHOOL http://www.bebo.com/Blog.jsp?MemberId=4044601510