Alexander Bell (20 July 1850 – 27 March 1931) was a Scottish-born Australian politician. He was born in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

Fifeshire Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council area and lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the south, Perth and Kinross to the west and Clackmannanshire t ...

to miner Alexander Bell and Sophia Williamson. He was born a month after their wedding in June 1850. He came to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

with his family around 1855. He became a grocer in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

, owning two stores by 1889. On 2 April 1874 he married Jessie Scott, with whom he had nine children. Around 1892 he became an auctioneer and sharebroker, and he served on Ballarat City Council from 1891 to 1899 and from 1910 to 1931, serving twice as mayor (1896–97, 1917–18). In 1917 he won a by-election for

Wellington Province Wellington Province, governed by the Wellington Provincial Council, was one of the provinces of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. It covered much of the southern half of the North Island until November 1 ...

in the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parliament ...

, representing the Nationalist Party. He served in the Council until his death in Ballarat in 1931.

Legacy

Bell Street in the south

suburb of

Redan Redan (a French language, French word for "projection", "salient") is a feature of fortifications. It is a work in a V-shaped Salients, re-entrants and pockets, salient angle towards an expected attack. It can be made from earthworks or other ...

is named after him.City of Ballarat, 5 January 2012. ''Roads and Open Space Index'', pg.8, Ballarat: City of Ballarat

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Alexander 1850 births 1931 deaths Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council People from the Colony of Victoria British emigrants to Australia