| Notes |
- Luke Bell was born 23 Apr 1854 at Houxtey-Bankhead Cottage on the Leehall Estate, in Leemailing Township, Kirkwhelpington, Bellingham District, Northumberland, England, as a son of John Bell and Frances Stobbard.
(Houxtey-Bankhead is located on a bend in the Tyne River about 5 km south of the town of Bellingham. https://maps.app.goo.gl/i5KvCcx2gkt2uhfz8 )
Luke Bell came from a long line of shepherds and farm labourers and intially continued in that employment. However, Luke changed employment frequently. This pattern may indicate someone who was either very adept at reinventing himself in a struggling economic climate or someone who had difficulty maintaining consistent employment. Or, perhaps, a mixture of both. The only known photo of him shows him to be a ruggedly handsome man likely in his late thirties to mid-forties.
In 1861, at age 6, Luke Bell was residing at Houxtey-Bankhead, Leehall, Bellingham, Northumberland, England, with his parents and siblings.
In 1871, at age 17, Luke Bell was residing at Woodpark on the Leehall Estate, Bellingham, Northumberland, England, in the home of his widowed neighbour, Mary Thompson. He was employed as an indoor farm servant. His parents and siblings were residing next-door at Houxtey-Bankhead.
On 13 Nov 1876, at age 22, Luke Bell married in Chollerton, Northumberland, England, to 20-year-old Annie Dawson. She came from a prosperous family who lived at Whitely Shield in West Allendale, Northumberland, England. She was three months pregnant at the time they married. It is not known how they met. Their first daughter, Frances, was born six months later on 20 May 1877.
Two years later, on 2 Jul 1879, their second daughter, Elizabeth Ann Bell was born.
In 1881, at age 26, Luke Bell was residing at the Grocer's Shop in Wark, Northumberland, England, with his wife and their two daughters. He was employed as an agricultural labourer and local Methodist preacher. In addition to being a preacher, Luke is believed to have also been a church organist. A book of church organ music belonging to him was passed down as an heirloom in the family of his eldest daughter.
In 1888, their third daughter, Emma Jane "Jean" Bell, was born at Wark, Northumberland, England.
Sometime after the birth of their third daughter, Luke and his family returned to Houxtey-Bankhead.
In 1891, at age 37, Luke Bell was residing back at Houxtey-Bankhead on the Leehall Estate, Bellingham, Northumberland, England, with his wife and two daughters. He was employed as an insurance salesman. His cousin, John Usher Bell was residing nearby on the estate at Leehall Farmhouse where he was employed as a farmer. The proprietor of the estate was retired Lt. Col. John Cookson.
On 5 Jul 1895, tragedy struck the family, and their middle daughter, Elizabeth died in Houxtey Bankhead just three days after her sixteenth birthday from bronchial pneumonia. Curiously, Luke Bell listed her age as 14 on the death registration.
Sometime between 1895-1901, after the death of their daughter, Luke and his family moved about 100 km away to the south to the tiny village of Fearby in North Yorkshire, England. We don't know why they moved that far away, but such moves were often for employment reasons.
In 1901, at age 47, Luke Bell was residing at 22 Fearby Street in the village of Fearby, North Yorkshire, England, with his wife and their 13-year-old daughter, Jean. Luke was employed as a road surveyor. Their 23-year-old daughter Frances was living back in Bellingham working as a household servant.
Fearby is a very small rural village with only three streets and less than fifty homes. From one end of town to the other, it is little more than half a kilometre in length. The population in 1901 was only 187 people. The only non-residences in the village are a hotel and a now-decommissioned Methodist chapel. This is a village where everybody went to the same church and they all knew each other. Given that Luke was a church organist, there's a good chance that he was organist in the village chapel.
Luke and his family lived on the main road at 22 Fearby Street. A few doors up the road at 28 Fearby Street lived Caroline Eden, a 38-year-old widow, with her 11-year-old daughter, Anne, and 6-year-old son, Percy. Being close in age in a small village, chances are good that their daughters, Anne Eden and Jean Bell, were friends. In a village that small, living only six houses apart, the two families certainly knew each other, and certainly attended the same church. At the time of the 1901 census, Caroline Eden was pregnant.
On 1 Jun 1901, Caroline Eden delivered twins, Albert Edward Eden and Mary Alexandra Eden. Their births were recorded as illegitimate with the father's name left blank. Her husband had been dead for ten years, so the father was clearly one of the men in the village. At the turn of the 20th century in rural England, this would have been a huge scandal.
In 1903, Frances Bell immigrated to Tilbury, Kent, Ontario, Canada to live with her uncle, Abraham Dawson (her mother's brother), who had immigrated several years earlier. Frances told everyone that her reason for immigrating was because she had an adventurous spirit and her father, Luke, did not want to move to the New World.
Two years later, in 1905, Luke's wife, Annie, and their daughter, Jean, also immigrated to Tilbury to live with Annie's brother Abraham. They told everybody that Luke had died and that Annie was a widow. But Luke was still alive back in England.
In 1911, at age 57, Luke Bell was residing 51 Coach Road in Wallsend, Northumberland, England, about 80 km north of Fearby. He was employed as a road worker and listed as a widower, even though his wife Annie was alive in Canada with their daughters. Living with him was Caroline Eden who is listed as his housekeeper, along with her four children, including the two 10-year-old twins, Albert and Mary. The children are listed as boarders.
Meanwhile, back in Canada, in the 1911 census, Luke's wife Annie lists herself as a widow.
Sometime between 1911-1921, Luke Bell and Caroline Eden moved back to Yorkshire.
In 1921, at age 66 (but giving his age as 56), Luke Bell was residing in Wallsend, West Yorkshire, England, with Caroline Eden who was now identifying as Caroline Bell and listed as his wife. Luke's employment was listed as "invalid, not working, former railway porter". Also living with them was 20-year-old Mary Alexandra Eden, who is listed as Luke's step-daughter. Mary's twin brother, Albert Eden, was visiting in the home of John Blair in nearby Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. Albert indicates that he was employed a Railway Locomotive Fireman for the Midland Railway Company in Skipton.
No record has been found of a marriage between Luke Bell and Caroline Eden. It appears that they merely claimed to be married.
Meanwhile, in Canada, in the 1921 census, Luke's lawful wife Annie continued to list herself as a widow, even though her husband was still alive in England and living with what appears to be his former mistress.
There is no official record of who the father of the twins was. But the fact that Luke and Annie's marriage broke up right after the birth of Caroline Eden's illegitimate twins, and Luke's wife Annie moved thousands of miles away across the world to Canada with her daughters and claimed that her husband had died, and she and their daughters had no further contact with Luke, and the fact that Luke was very much still alive in England also claiming to be widowed and living with Caroline Eden and her illegitimate twins, is pretty compelling circumstantial evidence that Luke Bell was the biological father of the twins.
When Albert Eden got married, he listed his father's name as Abraham Eden (his mother's first husband). But that's impossible since Abraham died ten years before Albert was born. He appears to have been raised to believe that Luke Bell was his stepfather, not his actual father.
Luke Bell died on 28 May 1926 in Skipton, West Yorkshire, England.
Luke Bell's wife Annie and their daughters maintained the story in Canada that their father had died, when he hadn't. They never had any further contact with him. The daughters were old enough to know what really happened. It appears their mother may have sworn them to secrecy and they honoured that secret all the way to their graves. Subsequent generations were told and believed that Annie, Frances and Jean Bell came to Canada after Luke Bell died.
(This is an excellent example of why census records are sealed for 100 years, as the truth of this family secret would have been revealed by public census records and it's not the government's role to expose a family secret while the persons involved are still alive.)
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1854 - 1926 (72 years)
[1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 13, 14]