Person

Bell, William Robert (1830 - 1911)

Born
30 September 1830
Biurne, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
Died
February 1911
Burnie, Tasmania, Australia
Occupation
mineral prospector

Summary

William Bell was a mineral prospector who pursued his occupation in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. From the 1870s he was employed as a prospector for a number of mineral exploration syndicates in Tasmania including the Van Diemen's Land Company. He was among the few prospectors employed by the Van Diemen's Land Company who made significant finds. These included deposits of silver, scheeligte and barytes, and lodes of manganese and iron. Bell also claimed that there were auriferous deposits at Mt Lyell.

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Details

Chronology

1839
Life event - Migrated to South Australia with his family
1857
Life event - Moved to Tasmania

Published resources

Journal Articles

  • Haygarth, Nic, 'Riches and Prosperity: the Life of W. R. Bell, Tasmanian Mineral Prospector', Tasmanian Historical Research Association Papers and Proceedings, 57 (2010), 203-35. Details
  • Haygarth, Nic, 'Mining the Van Diemen's Land Company holdings 1851 - 1899: a case of bad luck or clever adaptation', Journal of Australasian mining history, 16 (2018), 93-110. Details

Helen Cohn

Created: 17 September 2019, Last modified: 9 October 2019

EOAS ID: biogs/P006568b.htm

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