Memorable Manitobans: William Bell (1863-1936)

Building contractor.

Born at York, Ontario on 26 January 1863, one of ten children of William Bell (1825-1904) and Susan Walker (?-?), brother-in-law of George Alexander Paterson, in the spring of 1882 he came to Brandon with his family and was the principal partner in the construction firm of Bell Brothers (with his brothers George and James) and, later, William Bell and Sons. These companies were responsible for building several important commercial and domestic structures in western Manitoba, noted for their “high quality materials and fine workmanship.” He was also one of the owners of the Brandon Brick Company.

Bell lived in Toronto from about 1895 to at least 1901 before returning to Brandon. He and wife Rosa Ellen Tomlin (1873-1914; sister-in-law of Albert Seymour Doyle) had four children: Mossie May Bell (1893-?), James Henry Bell (1895-?), William Edgar Bell (1900-?), and Gordon Walker Bell (1908-?). After the death of his wife, he returned to the Toronto-Hamilton area where he continued to work in the building trade, retiring around 1923.

He died of tuberculosis at Wentworth, Ontario on 1 May 1936.

Some of his construction work in Manitoba included:

Building	Location	Year	Status
Bank of British North America	1000 Rosser Avenue, Brandon	1890	Destroyed by fire (1953)
Lorne Terrace	1133 Lorne Avenue, Brandon	1892
Coldwell Block	1104 Rosser Avenue, Brandon	1892	Demolished (?)
Imperial Bank of Canada	1014 Rosser Avenue, Brandon	?	Demolished (?)
Murdoch Block	838 Rosser Avenue, Brandon	?	Demolished (?)
Sandison House	RM of Elton	1892-1893
Bell Block	1202 Rosser Avenue, Brandon	1893
Patterson House / Matheson House	1039 Louise Avenue, Brandon	1893
Ninette Sanatorium	Ninette, RM of Strathcona	1909
Parkland Building	First Street, Brandon	1911-1912
Moreland Manor	1340 Louise Avenue, Brandon	1912
St. Matthew’s Anglican Cathedral	403 Thirteenth Street, Brandon	1912-1913

Sources:

Ontario birth and death registrations, Ancestry.

Birth registrations [Mossie May Bell, James Henry Bell, Gordon Walker Bell], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

1901 and 1911 Canada censuses, Automated Genealogy.

“Wm. Bell has passed away,” Brandon Daily Sun, 7 June 1904, page 3.

“William Bell will build sanatarium,” Brandon Daily Sun, 27 May 1909, page 1.

“Wm. Bell,” Brandon Sun, 7 November 1912, page 15.

Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.

Death registration [Rosa Ellen Bell], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“Brandon old boy seeking kinfolk,” Brandon Sun, 12 July 1980, page 5.

“John Sandison House,” Manitoba Heritage Council Report, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch, March 1996.

Holy Ground: The Story of the Manitoba Sanatorium at Ninette by David B. Stewart, J. A. Victor David Museum, 1999.

We thank Terry Warsaw for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 28 May 2023

Memorable Manitobans This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations. Search the collection by word or phrase, name, place, occupation or other text: Custom Search Browse surnames beginning with: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z Browse deaths occurring in: 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Send corrections and additions to this page to the Memorable Manitobans Administrator at biographies@mhs.mb.ca Criteria for Memorable Manitobans | Suggest a Memorable Manitoban | Firsts | Acknowledgements Help us keep history alive!