Thomas Bell (Mayor Of Gloucester)
Sir Thomas Bell the Elder (1486–1566) was an English cap manufacturer, mayor of Gloucester and MP. He was a manufacturer of caps (i.e. headwear) in Gloucester and one of the city's largest employers and wealthiest citizens and a great benefactor of the city and its people. He is described in contemporaneous documents as a "capper". He invested much of his wealth in real estate released on the Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes in partnership with Richard Duke (c. 1515-1572), of Otterton, Devon, Clerk of the Court of Augmentations.
He was thrice Mayor of Gloucester (1536, 1544 and 1553) and served four times as Member of Parliament (MP) for the city (1545–47, 1547–52, 1553 and 1554–55). He was knighted on 27 February 1546/7.
He appears to have held orthodox Roman Catholic religious views as in 1537, while mayor, was accused by leading townsmen John Huggins and John Rastell of calling Bishop Latimer of Worcester a heretic.
A portrait of Bell the Elder is in the possession of Gloucester City Council. He is not to be confused with his younger brother (possibly half-brother), also called Thomas, also prominent, Sir Thomas Bell the Younger (d. 1560/1), Mayor of Bristol, who also served as Mayor of Gloucester in 1543 and 1554/5.
Read more about Thomas Bell (Mayor Of Gloucester): Family Origins, Purchase of Dissolved Monastic Property, Establishment of Bridge Repair and "Uses Lands" Trust, Founds Kimbrose Hospital, Other Benefactions, Death and Burial, Silver Plate, Portrait of Bell The Elder, Heraldry, Sir Thomas Bell The Younger, Sources
Famous quotes containing the words thomas and/or bell:
“here I ame in Kent and Christendome
Emong the muses where I rede and ryme;”
—Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503?–1542)
“One of the most difficult aspects of being a parent during the middle years is feeling powerless to protect our children from hurt. However “growthful” it may be for them to experience failure, disappointment and rejection, it is nearly impossible to maintain an intellectual perspective when our sobbing child or rageful child comes in to us for help. . . . We can’t turn the hurt around by kissing the sore spot to make it better. We are no longer the all-powerful parent.”
—Ruth Davidson Bell (20th century)