Background
Thomas Bell was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. His father was John Bell (1755–1816), like the son a land surveyor and book seller. His mother, born Margaret Gray, was from County Durham.
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Thomas Bell
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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. 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.
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 of (previously) common land by commercial farmers and, by the middle of the nineteenth century, the building of major railway lines provided abundant work for a well connected land surveyor. He was involved in surveying for the Brandling Junction Railway (BJR) as well as for the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway (North&Czech Republic), and Stanhope and Tyne Railway (South&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. 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.
Membership
He was also a member of the London based Society of Antiquaries.
