biography text
It is just possible that the William Bell who contributed towards the poll tax of 1377 in Carlisle and witnessed the will of the rector of Castle Carrock in Cumberland three years later went on to serve in the first Parliament of 1416, but this seems unlikely. Either he or a namesake appeared at the Carlisle assizes in August 1398 as an attorney for Katherine, the wife of John Robinson, so we can at least be sure of the family’s local connexions.1E179/158/28; JUST 1/1509 rot. 14; Test. Karleolensia ed. Ferguson, 146-7.