BELL, Matthew (1793-1871), of Woolsington, Northumb. and 35 Wimpole Street, London

‘Honest Matty Bell’ was a descendant of Matthew Bell of Mersington, Berwickshire, through whose marriage in 1677 to Ann, daughter of Thomas Salkfeld, the family gained property and influence in Northumberland. Upon coming of age, Bell, whose father had died three years earlier, became one of the great Northern coal owners and his marriage to Sarah, daughter of the Charles Brandling MP, secured him further mineral properties. He gained distinction by organising the local regiment of yeomanry cavalry in 1819, and commanded the unit during the Tyne pitmen’s strike of 1830-2. Returned in the Tory interest for Northumberland after a fraught by-election in 1826, Bell acquired a reputation as an anti-reformer which eroded his popularity with his constituents. Faced with formidable pro-reform opponents, he retired from parliament at the 1831 general election.1HP Commons, 1820-32, iv. 229; R. Welford, Men of mark’ twixt Tyne and Tweed, I (1895), 240-1.

At the general election of 1832 Bell declared early as a Conservative for the new double-member constituency of Northumberland South and called for the abolition of colonial slavery and the removal of tithes, and attacked free trade. Despite being assailed with ‘volumes of falsehood and slander’ during a markedly bitter contest, he defeated his cousin, the Liberal William Ord, to come in with Thomas Beaumont.2Newcastle Courant, 22 Dec. 1832, 29 Dec. 1832. A petition against his return, on the grounds of bribery and corruption, was launched by the election committee of Ord and Beaumont, 19 Feb. 1833, but was later withdrawn, 28 Mar. 1833.

A man of few words in the Commons, Bell attended infrequently in 1833 and voted against a second reading of the Jewish disabilities bill, 22 May. More active in 1834, he supported Althorp’s amendment to the pension list question, 18 Feb., and the Chancellor’s motion that church rates be replaced by monies raised from the land tax, 21 Apr., but voted against the ministry over the admission of dissenters to universities, 17 Apr. Thus, his claim, made during the 1835 general election campaign, that he was ‘free from the trammels of party’ appears to have had some substance.3Newcastle Courant, 17 Jan. 1835; Parliamentary Test Book (1835), 17. Returned without a contest in 1835, Bell voted with the short-lived Peel ministry for Manners Sutton as speaker, 19 Feb., and divided in their minority on the address, 26 Feb. He continued to support Peel thereafter in the session, opposing the reappointed Whig government on municipal reform in Ireland, 28 Mar. 1836, and on Irish church tithes, 3 June. 1836 also witnessed his most active service, as he sat on select committees into harbours of refuge for ships on the North-East coast, the state of the coal trade, and the port of London.4PP 1836 (334), xx. 388; PP 1836 (522), xi. 170; PP 1836 (557), xiv.

Bell faced no opposition at the 1837 general election and used his nomination speech to attack ministers over the new poor law and municipal reform in Ireland, though he gave them his support over the commutation of tithes.5Newcastle Courant, 4 Aug. 1837. He made a handful of speeches thereafter, arguing against any additional duties on seaborne coal, a position which led him to vote in the minority against Peel, 12 July 1838. His voting record on the 1837-8 select committee on the coal trade bill also reflected his desire to repeal duties levied on coal imported into London.6PP 1837-8 (475), xv. 2-7. Bell’s independent streak was again evident when he voted with ministers on the ecclesiastical duties and revenues bill, 6 Apr. 1840, despite warning against the appropriation of surplus revenues. He also entered the opposite lobby from Peel over Maynooth, 23 June 1840, and the poor law amendment bill, 8 Feb. 1841, although he supported his motion of no confidence in the government, 4 June 1841.

After a lively nomination, where he vociferously defended his opposition to free trade, Bell was returned without a contest at the 1841 general election.7Newcastle Courant, 9 July 1841. Generally supportive of Peel’s ministry, he backed the premier over the corn importation bill, 9 Mar. 1842, and the property tax, 29 Apr., in addition to voting against the abolition of church rates, 16 June, and the ballot, 21 June. His loyalty appeared to be confirmed on 14 June 1842 when he addressed the House over the Customs Acts, stating that, while opposed to the levying of any duty on the exportation of coals, he would not oppose the government as he believed ministers had consented to a modified proposition.8Hansard, 14 June 1842, vol. 63, cc. 1548, 1568. However, one year later, he felt compelled to vote for a repeal of the tax given its injurious nature, and was in the minority against Peel, 12 June 1843.9Hansard, 12 June 1843, vol. 69, c. 1384. Although Bell came around to supporting the premier over the second and third readings of the Maynooth college bill, 18 Apr. and 21 May 1845, he maintained his truculent opposition to free trade, and opposed the repeal of the corn laws, 15 May 1846.

Bell came forward for the last time at the 1847 general election and explained that, although in the minority over repeal, as his conduct was influenced by national interests, not party considerations, he would not join any party against Peel. Bell promised that he would never ‘grant or withhold his support for any administration because of factious motives’ and cited his recent support for the Russell ministry’s education bill and the Irish poor law as evidence of his independent nature.10Newcastle Courant, 6 Aug. 1847. Returned unopposed, he divided against Jewish disabilities, 11 Feb. 1848, but rarely attended the House thereafter and is not known to have made any speeches or served on any select committees. There was little surprise when he retired from public life at the 1852 general election.

A rare contributor to debate during his three decades in parliament, Bell’s ‘tastes were perhaps better adapted for the faithful discharge of the local functions of his position than for taking a prominent part in imperial questions’, and although his political ambitions undoubtedly impoverished his estate, he never sought office.11Welford, Men of Mark, 243. He died without issue at Woolsington in October 1871 after a protracted illness. Eulogised as a ‘genial, honest, chivalric gentleman’ who ‘took a clear, straightforward part in politics’, one obituary remarked that his death ‘breaks the last remaining link which joined the old colliery life of Northumberland with the new’.12Ibid; Newcastle Courant, 3 Nov. 1871. His estates, which had mortgage debts of over £50,000, passed to his brother, Henry, who died without issue in 1887, and then to his nephew, Charles Lorraine Bell, an under-secretary at the board of trade.13HP Commons, 1820-32, iv. 230-1.