James W T Bell

James Williamson Thomson Bell was the youngest of 7 children and born in Stevenston, Scotland in 1877. In 1902, aged 25, he emigrated to South Africa - the Boer War had just ended, the population was expanding and so to was the demand for household goods. James found employment with a established furniture manufacturer, D Isaacs & Co, in Cape Town and he was to persuade his brother, Richard Bell aged 32, to join him.

By 1908, Bell Webb & Bell was founded and the business was expanding. James Bell married Gertrude Mitchell, aged 23, in 1915 and they built their new home "Queensferry" in Rondebosch which still stands on Balfour Road and here they raised their two children, Heather and Gordon.

Gertrude Mitchell was first of two children born to Thomas and Agnes Mitchell in Kimberley in 1892. Thomas aged just 20 emigrated to South Africa in 1880 from Edinburgh, Scotland. His first wife, Alice Barnett died shortly after giving birth to their first daughter. Thomas was then to marry Agnes Hill Laing, who was born in Scotland but she too was to die soon after giving birth to their second child, Muriel. Gertrude was raised by nuns and she was to meet James Bell while working as a secretary at Bell Webb & Bell.

James Williamson Thomson Bell

1877-1961