OBITUARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19797, 18 November 1927, Page 12

OBITUARY.

MR. WILLIAM BELL. [BY TELEGRAPH. ows CORRESPONDENT.] BLENHEIM, Thursday. An early settler in Marlborough, and one of the leading pastoraiists of the province, Mr. William Bell, of Flaxmere and Valleyfield, died yesterday afternoon at the age of 74 years. He was born in Dumfrieshire, Scotland,- in 1853, and in 1860 his family left Scotland and settled in Queensland. In 1857 they came to Nelson. After six years in Nelson the family moved to tlie Wairau, where Mr. William Bell, senior, purchased the Erina sheep station, Wairau Valley, about 1875. Mr. Bell and his brother, the late Mr. James Bell, purchased the Northbank run, which they carried on successfully for a quarter of a century. It was then acquired by the Government and cut up for closer settlement. Shortly -after leaving Northbank Mr. Bell purchased Valleyfield from the G. H. Monro estate, and this property he conducted successfully until his death. Mr. Bell was of a retiring disposition, but although not engaging very largely in public affairs, he was a, fine type of pioneer settler, possessed of considerable foresight and an infinite capacity for hard work—traits which contributed largely to his success in life. Mr. Bell married in 1879 a daughter of the late Rev. D. DeLimore, of Christchurch. He is survived by his wife, one son and three daughters. The son is Dr. Gordon Bell, professor of surgery at Otago University.