Collection search - William Moodie Bell fonds [textual record]

Record information – Brief
1
William Moodie Bell fonds [textual record]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

1772, 1800-1838.

Reference:

R4148-0-0-E, MG24-F3

Type of material:

Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

102318

Context of this record:

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William Moodie Bell fonds
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Record information – Details
Fonds includes:

3 lower level description(s)
View lower level description(s)

Date(s):

1772, 1800-1838.

Place of creation:

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent:

6.1 cm of textual records some photocopies.

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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Fonds consists of correspondence, 1772, 1800-1836, and letterbook, 1804-1838, of William Moodie Bell (1777-1837). Subjects discussed include: Bell's work as master builder at the Amherstbourg and Kingston naval dockyards; efforts to obtain a pension and compensation for his war losses; purchases and management of lands in Upper and Lower Canada; a sketch and specifications for vessels to be built by Bell; accounts; legal disputes with his brother John Bell (1779-1841); orders for clothes and farm equipment from Scotland; the education of his son John in Scotland; and miscellaneous matters of personal interest.

Provenance:

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Bell, William Moodie, 1777-1837

Biography/Administrative history:

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Bell, William Moodie, 1777-1837 : William Moodie Bell (1777-1837) was the son of John Bell and his wife Ann, née Stenhouse. He was born on 9 January and baptized on 12 January 1777 in the parish of Aberdour, near Kirkcaldy in Fifeshire, Scotland. He entered the employ of the Provincial Marine as a naval shipwright and began his career at Amherstburg, Upper Canada, in June 1799. There he designed and built vessels for the Great Lakes service. Many of these were lost in 1813 at the Battle of Lake Erie, after which he was evacuated from Amherstburg, at the time of the retreat from the Western District, and served thereafter at the Kingston dockyard. The Admiralty's appointment of Thomas Strickland as master builder in Upper Canada displaced Bell from that position, but in 1814 he was appointed as Strickland's assistant. Upon Strickland's death in 1815, Bell became acting master builder in Upper Canada until the end of 1816, when the establishment at Kingston was reduced and Bell returned to Scotland.

Having succeeded in obtaining a government pension, Bell returned to Canada, where he seems to have considered going into partnership with his brother John Bell (1779-1841) and a French Canadian shipbuilder, François Romain, at Quebec, before settling down as a farmer at Little River, Lower Canada.

By his first wife, Ruth Devonport, he had at least one daughter, Elizabeth, who married James Cullen. His second wife, Jessie Inglis, bore him four sons, of whom John, the eldest, became a farmer at Amherstburg, where his father had acquired property during his years as master builder there. William Bell died and was buried at Quebec, 9 September 1837.

Finding aid:

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Textual record (Paper) Finding Aid provides the whole collection with an indexed calendar which integrates the material in files 1 and 2 in a single list. MSS1721 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000000328.pdf

Additional information:

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General note:

A small collection of Bell's correspondence was acquired in 1937. Some additions to the correspondence, which are asterisked in the list of descriptions for file 1 provided in the finding aid, were acquired in 1938, together with Bell's letterbook, 1800-1838.
In July 1987, Bell's memorial of 10 June 1818 (file 1, page 96) was found to be missing, and Dr. W.A.B. Douglas of the Directorate of History in the Department of National Defence, Ottawa, Ontario, kindly supplied a photocopy of his notes taken previously from the original. Two returns of provisions, 1772, which were with the correspondence acquired in 1938, appear to have no connection with Bell.

Availability of other formats note:

Also available on 35 mm reel H-1956.
Subject heading:

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Ships, Wooden - Canada, 1804-1838 Lachlan McDonnell, 1800-1826, 1836

Parental overprotection - Canada, 1804-1838

William Moodie Bell - Finance, Personal, 1804-1838

United States - History - War of 1812 - Campaigns, 1800-1826, 1836

Kingston (Ont.) - Shipbuilding, 1800-1826

Scotland - Education, 1800-1826

William Moodie Bell - Correspondence, 1772-1826

Land tenure - Upper Canada, 1800-1826

Land tenure - Lower Canada, 1800-1826

Shipbuilding - Ontario, 1800-1826

Legal documents - Ontario, 1779-1841

Canada War of 1812

Canada 1812, Guerre de
Source:

Private

Former archival reference no.:

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MG24-F3
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Conditions of access:

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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Finding aid box [FA 1721] 131

[Consultation 10 Closed]

Terms of use:

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The complete collection has been microfilmed on reel H-1956. Researchers must use the microfilm. The collection has been withdrawn from circulation.

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Date modified:: 2024-07-24