MATERNAL NAMES
ROBERT JOHN BELL (1873-1941)
john Bell as a young man
Robert John Bell was born in Ashgrove, Ontario, March 6th 1873, son of William Bell and Jane McDowell. Jane died when Robert was just four years old, leaving his father with three young boys. His birth registration shows his name is John.(1, 2)
His father remarried in 1879, but the second wife died in 1880 in childbirth. The 1881 census lists Robert J with his father and two brothers William J nine, and Nathaniel C 6. The census records the family's nationality as Irish, but in reality, they are Ulster Scots.(3)
In 1883, his father William, remarried for a third time to a widow by the name of Catherine (Coventry) Thompson. This must have been quite an ordeal for the three young boys.
The 1891 census records him as a cabinetmaker, while his father and older brother are working as farm labourers.(4) Nathaniel, the younger brother, is a machinist. John remained at home with his father and stepmother after the other two brothers were long gone and he helped on the farm.
His oldest brother William moved to Saskatchewan before 1900 and married a girl out west, and his younger brother Nathaniel was living in Georgetown and working as a machinist in 1901. Nathaniel married in 1902.
John married Alice Maude Ryder in Toronto in 1906,(5) when he was thirty-three years old. She was eight years younger than John.
John and Maude had two boys, seven years apart. My father, Kelvin Rankin Bell, was born in 1907 and his brother, William, in 1914. They always told me that the name of my father was inspired by a famous racehorse named Kelvin and a minister that my grandmother admired named Rankin. I guess I will never know if that was true.
John worked for the A. E. Clarke & Co. tannery in Toronto, but I am unaware of what capacity. I know that whatever the job; it did not pay that well, and that I was told that my grandfather squandered his earnings at the racetrack. My father left school after grade nine to help support the family.
When my parents first married, they went to live with my father’s parents, as times were difficult. I do not know how long they stayed, but I know my mother, while she got along with my grandmother, was not fond of John, my grandfather.
John was, from what I was told, a troublesome man and a brooder. I remember my mother telling me some things he would do. When she was cooking supper, he would pass by the stove and turn the burners down, complaining that she was wasting heat. This slowed the meal preparation and was an irritant to my mother.
John was a sulker, shutting himself in his room. According to the family, my grandmother would know how bad the mood was by observing the following. She would leave his dinner outside the bedroom door and if the plate was gone when she returned, that was a good sign. Otherwise, if the meal stayed there, and he did not eat it, it would mean they were in for a long silence.
My grandfather had heart problems that persisted for some time. I found an account from the East General Hospital for a twenty-two-day stay at the East General Hospital in Toronto dated November 6th 1939. The amount was for $38.50. This occurred a year and a half before he died on June 21st 1941.
John and Maude had two children; Kelvin,(6) and William. (7)
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They can also be found in the Canadian Census for 1911, 1921, 1931, see citations
THE GEORGETOWN HERALD
July 9, 1941
John died 21 Jun 1941 in Toronto, Toronto Municipality, Ontario, Canada. He was buried at the Pine Hills Cemetery Scarborough, Toronto Municipality, Ontario, Canada
Citations
(1) B. 1873 Bell Robert John "Ontario Births, 1869-1912," database with images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FM3K-CP8 : 16 July 2017), John Bell, 06 Mar 1873; citing Birth, Esquesing Township, Halton, Ontario, Canada, citing Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,845,040.
(2) B. Bell Robert John Archives of Ontario; Series: MS929; Reel: 10 Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-191
(3) C. 1881 Census Place: Esquesing, Halton, Ontario; Roll: C_13258; Page: 23; Family No: 103
(4) C. 1891 Census Place: Esquesing, Halton, Ontario; Roll: T-6340; Family No: 58
(5) M. 1906 Bell/Ryder "Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," database with images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZ17-CYL : 11 March 2018), Robert Jno Reel and Mande Alice Ryder, 30 May 1906; citing registration , Toronto, York, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,871,549.
(6) B. 1907 Bell Kelvin Rankin "Ontario Births, 1869-1912," database with images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV9H-XSZB : 16 July 2017), R J Bell in entry for Kelvin Rankin Bell, 30 Jun 1907; citing Birth, Acton, Halton, Ontario, Canada, citing Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 2,381,776.
C.1911 "Recensement du Canada de 1911," database, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2761-MG7 : 16 March 2018), John Bell, 1911; citing Census, Toronto East Sub-Districts 13-49, Ontario, Canada, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; FHL microfilm 2,418,526.
(7) C. 1901 Census Place: Esquesing, Halton, Ontario; Page: 3; Family No: 28
(8) B. 1911 Bell William James
(9) C. 1911 Toronto East (125) District 18 No. 2 Toronto City Ward 1 Page 4 June 5 1911
(9) C. 1921 Reference Number: RG 31; Folder Number: 89; Census Place: Ward 1, Toronto East, Ontario; Page Number: 2
(10) C.1931 Census of Canada Reference Number: RG 31; Folder Number: 89; Census Place: Ward 1, Toronto East, Ontario; Page Number: 2
(11) D.1941 Georgetown Herald and funeral arrangements from family
(12) D. 1941 Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1948
(12) Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current