Bell Family collections
By Marg Powell, Specialist Library Technician, Metadata | 30 September 2024
Postcard of Hereford cattle on Coochin Coochin Station, near Boonah, c1909. Copied and digitised from an Empire postcard. Negative number: 204673. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
Original material collections - The Bell Family
Gertrude Norton married James Bell in 1875, and lived at Camboon Station until 1883 when they also bought the 8900ha property, Coochin Coochin near Boonah, on the traditional lands of the Yuggera Ugarapul people.
These collections provide an intimate picture of the lives of the Bell family of Coochin Coochin and Camboon Stations.
Art works | Diaries | Greeting cards Letters | Manuscripts | Photographs and albums | Scrapbooks | Realia
James and Gertude Bell
James Bell established a celebrated Hereford stud, and Gertrude while raising 8 children, established Coochin's famous gardens. They hosted annual garden parties and entertained many notables, celebrities, sportsmen and royalty.
James suffered a number of strokes and died in 1903. Left a widow at age 48, Gertrude and her children took over the management of the two properties.
During the First World War, Gertrude and her daughters maintained accommodation in London for sons Bertram, Victor & Archie, who were serving in Europe, and volunteered their time to assist wounded servicemen in England and France.
Coochin Coochin homestead and property, 2013. Photograph: © Peter Law, 29211-0001-0003, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
The Bells entertained many notable people including: Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) and Lieutenant (later Lord) Louis Mountbatten in 1920; Agatha Christie and her husband, 1922; Sir Laurence Olivier and his wife Vivien Leigh, in 1948; the Queen Mother in 1958.
Standing at the centre of the group, is Aileen Bell with their guest Edward, the Prince of Wales. Seated, at left on the steps of the veranda is Gertrude Bell, alongside her son Bertram, Coochin Coochin Homestead, April 1920.
Item 35 Photograph Album, 1922-1925 / Image number: M780-0035-0032 / M 780 Bell Family Papers, John Oxley Library
Brothers: Archie, Ernest, Victor, Francis & Bertram
James 'Archie' Bell (1877-1928) served with the 4th Mechanical Transport Coy, AIF, he married Ethel Young.
Ernest Bell MLA (1880-1930) married Pauline Taylor, they built their home 'Aroo' on part of the Coochin estate.
Victor Bell, OBE (1886-1936) married Gwenda Campbell Riley. An RAF pilot during the war, he later managed Camboon.
Francis 'Frich' Bell (1883-1961) married Fredericka Darvall, they built 'Kooroomba' on part of the Coochin estate.
Bertram 'Bert' Bell, DSO, DSC & Croix De Guerre (1893-1941) also a pilot with the RAF, married Adeline Barnes and resided at 'Aroo'.
Sisters: Una, Enid and Aileen
Una Bell (1885-1959) educated at Abbotsleigh Anglican boarding school for girls in North Sydney, volunteered with her sisters in London hospitals, during the First World War.
Enid Bell (1889-1965) was an avid author and set down much of the Bell family history, she also recorded the stories of the Yuggera Ugarapul people, traditional owners of the Coochin Valley.
Aileen Bell (1891-1961) travelled extensively between the wars, often staying with acquaintances she had met at Coochin. She recorded her stories in the extensive diaries held in the collection.
The three sisters lived together at Coochin Coochin Station and remained unmarried.
Aileen Bell with Edward, the Prince of Wales, riding at Coochin Coochin Station, 1920.
Item 35 Photograph Album, 1922-1925 / Image number: M780-0035-0014 / M 780 Bell Family Papers, John Oxley Library
Related collections ...
- M 780 Bell Family papers [Bertram Bell's letters, manuscripts, photograph albums]
- OM80-50 Enid Bell [manuscripts]
- OM80-76 Bell family papers [Gertrude Bell's [papers]
- OM81-102 Illustrated Coochin Grazier [manuscript]
- OM83-24 Francis Marsh Bell memoirs [life at Camboon Station]
- OM85-09 Gertrude Augusta Bell letter [1920]
- OM93-15 Bell family papers [3 letters]
- OMF Camboon Station Records [station diaries, ledgers, letter books]
- 28560 Miscellaneous manuscripts [History of Coochin Coochin compiled by Enid Bell]
- 28674 Bell Family papers [2 scrapbooks, 1 manuscript]
- 29232 Bell Family Papers [letters, diaries, photographs]
- 8093 Bell Family photographs [3 photos]
Further reading ...
- The Bells and "Coochin Coochin" an historic Queensland family, by Norman S. Pixley, 1969. Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland, vol. 8 no.4, pp. 613-630
- Under the brigalows : story of life on a Queensland cattle station, by G.A. Bell, 1921
- Legends of the Coochin Valley, by Enid Bell, 1946
- David and his Australian friends, by Enid Bell, illustrated by Noel Young, 1952
- The History of Coochin Coochin: read by Enid Bell at ‘Newstead’,1955
- Bertram Bell's portraits [National Portrait Gallery, England]
- James Thomas Marsh Bell [Australian Dictionary of Biography]
- Bertram Bell [Australian Dictionary of Biography]
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