Cory Bell

Lieutenant-Colonel William Cory Heward Bell (25 October 1875 – 6 February 1961)[1] was a British Army officer from Wiltshire who fought in two wars, and then became a Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1918 to 1923, and then became a local councillor.

Life

Born in Seend in Wiltshire, Bell was the oldest of the four recorded children of William Heward Bell[2] (1849–1927) and Hannah Taylor Cory (1850–1942). His younger brother Clive (1881–1964) was an art critic associated with the Bloomsbury Group.[3] The family was raised at Cleeve House, Seend, in Wiltshire between Melksham and Devizes,[3] a "monstrosity"[4] of a house expanded with a fortune made in the family's coal mines in Merthyr Tydfil. William senior was High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1912, a director of the Great Western Railway and of Nixon's Navigation Company, and a member of Avon Vale Hunt.[4]

Bell was educated at Westminster School before training at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.[1] He was commissioned in the Royal Horse Artillery in 1895[5] and served in the Second Boer War. He retired from the army in 1911, but rejoined on the outbreak of World War I.[1] He served in France, where he was mentioned in dispatches and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the Croix de Guerre.[2]

Bell was elected at the 1918 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Devizes division of Wiltshire.[6][7] He was re-elected in 1922,[8] but at the 1923 election he was defeated by the Liberal Party candidate Eric Macfadyen.[7]

After his defeat, Bell did not stand for Parliament again.[7] He became a member of Wiltshire County Council,[1] and served as High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1932,[9] became a Deputy Lieutenant of the county in 1952,[10] and also served as a Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire.[1]

Personal

In 1903, Bell married Violet Mary Bowley, the daughter of a Royal Engineers officer.[2] They had two children.[1]

Bell died in Wiltshire on 6 February 1961.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Lt.-Col. W. C. H. Bell". The Times. London: The Times Digital Archive. 8 February 1961. p. 17. Retrieved 21 May 2014. (Subscription required (help)).
  2. 1 2 3 Arthur G. M. Hesilrige, ed. (1922). "Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1922". London. p. 13. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  3. 1 2 "History of Cleeve House". Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  4. 1 2 Susan Sellers, ed. (2010). The Cambridge Companion to Virginia Woolf. Cambridge University Press. p. 23. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "No. 26679". The London Gazette. 12 November 1895. p. 6100.
  6. ↑ "No. 31147". The London Gazette. 28 January 1919. p. 1364.
  7. 1 2 3 Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 496. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  8. ↑ "No. 32775". The London Gazette. 8 December 1922. p. 8711.
  9. ↑ "No. 33809". The London Gazette. 18 March 1932. p. 1855.
  10. ↑ "No. 39661". The London Gazette. 3 October 1952. p. 5214.
  11. ↑ "Index entry for the death of Bell, William C.H. aged 85 registration district Trowbridge Q1 1961". FreeBMD transcription of birth, marriage and death index for England and Wales. ONS. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Basil Peto		 Member of Parliament for Devizes
1918 – 1923 		Succeeded by
Eric Macfadyen
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