Geoffrey Foxall Bell (16 April 1896 – 17 January 1984) was an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and educationalist. He was a right-handed batsman who played first-class cricket for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

and

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. He won the Military Cross during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and became headmaster of two schools.

Early life

Bell was born in

Stapenhill Stapenhill is a village and civil parish in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. History Stapenhill was a small village owned by Nigel of Stafford as far back as 1086, however, this ancient parish area has long since been surrounded by n ...

, Derbyshire and was related to the Evershed brewing family. He made his first County Championship appearance in 1914, though his cricketing career was summarily halted by the First World War. In 1915, he was commissioned in the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

in 1919.

Career

After the war he went to study at

, and returned to the arena of first-class cricket playing for the University in 1919. He played his first of seven games, most of which were against assembled elevens such as the Gentlemen of England and

HDG Leveson-Gower Sir Henry Dudley Gresham Leveson Gower ( ; 8 May 1873 – 1 February 1954) was an English cricketer from the Leveson-Gower family. He played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Surrey and captained England in Test cricket. His school n ...

's XI. Bell made his return appearance for Derbyshire towards the back end of the 1919 season, their ninth place in the season's table something of a false hope for times to come. Bell made his final three appearances for Derbyshire during the 1920 season, finishing with a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

in his first appearance, though his form improved in the first innings of his next game and, although the final game of his season saw him achieve an innings of 11, before getting out, he found himself dropped from the team, never to make another first-class appearance. After university, he became a schoolmaster and in 1927 became headmaster of Trent College where he was held in high regard by the boys and was seen as a forward-thinking man. During his time, the Warner Library was opened in 1929 and the Cricket Pavilion in 1933. In 1936 he went on to become headmaster of

Highgate School Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is a co-educational, fee-charging, private day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate Pre-Preparato ...

, succeeding J. A. H. Johnston, and was seen there as an austere but respected figurehead. In 1954 he decided to leave teaching and Highgate while he was still enjoying it, so he took an early pension and bought six acres in Haslemere, Surrey, where he planted an orchard and built a simple fruit store on it. He made a living and employed several workers.Geoffrey Bell ''Establishing a Fruit Garden'' Stanley Paul & Co, 1963 He died in

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south-west Surrey, England, around south-west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill (Hindhead, Surrey), Beacon Hill, they comprise ...

Personal life

Bell's cousins,

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Wallis and

Frank Evershed Frank Evershed (6 September 1866 – 29 June 1954)
Scrum.com was an English

, were all first-class cricketers for Derbyshire during the back end of the nineteenth century, while

William Evershed William Evershed (25 November 1818 – 24 November 1887) was an English first-class cricketer who made his debut for Hampshire against Petworth in 1845. Evershed represented Hampshire against the same opposition again in the same season. In 18 ...

also played first-class cricket in first half of the 20th century.

Publications

*Establishing a Fruit Garden (1963) *Seven Old Testament Figures (1968)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Geoffrey 1896 births 1984 deaths English cricketers Derbyshire cricketers Headmasters of Highgate School Oxford University cricketers Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Field Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I Gentlemen of England cricketers Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford People educated at Repton School People from the Borough of East Staffordshire Cricketers from Staffordshire Military personnel from Staffordshire 20th-century English sportsmen