Edward William Derrington Bell

Major-General

Edward William Derrington Bell

VC CB
Born(1824-05-18)18 May 1824
Essex, England
Died10 November 1879(1879-11-10) (aged 55)
Belfast, Ireland
Buried
St. Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Kempsey
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch
British Army
Rank
Major-General
Unit23rd Regiment of Foot
Conflicts
Crimean War
Indian Mutiny
AwardsVictoria Cross
Companion of the Order of the Bath
Légion d'honneur (France)
Order of the Medjidie (Ottoman Empire)
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1857; div. 1868)​
  • Charlotte Wadsworth Bartell
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1869)​
Children7

Major-General Edward William Derrington Bell, VC, CB (18 May 1824 – 10 November 1879) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Military career

Bell was the son of General Edward Wells Bell and entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1838 at the age of 14. He was commissioned into the British Army in 1842 and was posted to Canada. He was promoted to captain in December 1848 and, during the Crimean War, was present at the Battles of Alma and Inkerman and the Siege of Sebastopol.[1]

Bell was 30 years old, and a captain in the 23rd Regiment of Foot (later The Royal Welch Fusiliers) during the Crimean War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC).

On 20 September 1854 in the Crimea, at the Battle of Alma, Captain Bell was the first to seize upon and capture one of the enemy's guns which was limbered up and being carried off. He moreover took over the command of his regiment, which he brought out of action, all his senior officers having been killed or wounded.[2]

He was personally presented with the Victoria Cross by Queen Victoria at Southsea Common, Portsmouth, Hants on 2 August 1858.[3]

Bell was also awarded the Legion of Honour by the French, and the Turkish War Medal. Posted to India during the Indian Mutiny in 1857, he was present at the Siege of Lucknow. After India, he commanded the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers for the next 12 years until 1872, achieving the rank of major general in 1868. His last command was in Belfast, where he died in 1879.

Personal life

On 28 May 1857, Bell married the 17 year old[a] Alice Brooke who was 16 years his junior.[4][5][6] The couple had at least 3 children, of which only one survived to adulthood.[5][6][7][8] The marriage was unhappy, and Brooke had an affair with Major Tyssen Sowley Holroyd (1838–1914) in 1865.[5][6] Bell petitioned for a divorce in 1867, which was granted the following year.[5][6][9]

Bell later married[b] Charlotte Wadsworth Bell, a widow, on 3 August 1869[10][11] with whom he had 4 children.[12][13][14][15] On 10 November 1879, Bell died in Belfast aged 55.[11][16] Bell is buried alongside his father at St. Mary the Virgin Churchyard in Kempsey, Worcestershire.

Notes

  1. ↑ Brooke's age was listed as 21 on the couple's marriage certificate.[4]
  2. ↑ Bell is listed as a bachelor on the couple's marriage register.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Edward William Derrington Bell VC, CB". Victoria Cross Online: The Men and Women and their Gallantry Awards on one site. 22 January 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  2. ↑ "No. 21971". The London Gazette. 24 February 1857. p. 659.
  3. ↑ The Victoria Cross and the George Cross: The Complete History - Volume 1 1854-1914, Published by Methuen, London, 2013, ISBN 978-0-413-77218-3, pp. 9–10
  4. 1 2 "Edward William Derington Bell and Alice Brooke". England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973 [database online]. Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 25 May 1857.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Lightman, Bernard (12 July 2018). "Bodington [née Brooke], Alice (1840–1897), popularizer of science". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.109737. Retrieved 22 August 2026. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  6. 1 2 3 4 Creese, Mary R. S. (2004). Ladies in the Laboratory II: West European Women in Science, 1800-1900: A Survey of Their Contributions to Research. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow. pp. 222–223. ISBN 0-8108-4979-8. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
  7. ↑ "No.438 Sydney Graham Bell". London Church of England Parish Registers; Lewisham; Christ Church With Saint Paul, Forest Hill; 1854-1922. London: The London Archives: 55. 15 October 1867.
  8. ↑ "Sydney Graham Bell". England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. 1d (Q4). London: General Register Office: 567. 1867.
  9. ↑ "In Her Majesty's Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes. Bell vs Bell & Holroyd Court Minutes". Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes, later Supreme Court of Judicature: Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Files. Kew, Richmond: The National Archives. 1867–1868.
  10. 1 2 "No.257 Edward William Derrington Bell and Charlotte Wadsworth Davies". Gloucestershire Church of England Parish Registers; Cheltenham; 1869. Gloucester, Gloucestershire: Gloucestershire Archives: 129. 1869.
  11. 1 2 "Bell, Edward William Derrington V.C. D.B.". Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London: Principal Probate Registry: 417. 1879.
  12. ↑ "Caroline Mary Anne Bell". Gloucestershire Church of England Parish Registers; Cheltenham, St Luke; 1855–1876. Gloucester, Gloucestershire: Gloucestershire Archives. 1870.
  13. ↑ "Margaret Irving Bell". England & Wales, Christening Index, 1530–1980 [database online]. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1872.
  14. ↑ "William Edward Derrington Bell". Select Births and Baptisms, 1541–1907 [database online]. Provo: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1874.
  15. ↑ "Katharine Annbella Bell". Ireland, Civil Registration Births Index, 1864–1958 [database online]. 16. Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc: 233. 1875.
  16. ↑ "Edward William Derrington Bell". Quarterly Returns of Deaths in Ireland with Index to Deaths. 1 (Q4). Dublin: General Register Office: 191. 1879.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.