Joshua Thomas Bell was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n barrister

Barrister

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

 and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

.

Bell was the son of Sir Joshua Peter Bell

Joshua Peter Bell

Sir Joshua Peter Bell K.C.M.G. was a pastoralist and parliamentarian from Queensland, Australia. His eldest son was barrister and parliamentarian Joshua Thomas Bell.-Early life:...

, and his wife Margaret Miller, née Dorsey and was born in Ipswich, Queensland

Ipswich, Queensland

Ipswich is a city in South-East Queensland, Australia. Situated along the Bremer River Valley approximately 40 kilometres away from the state's capital Brisbane. The suburb by the same name forms the city's Central Business District and administrative centre...

. Bell was educated at Brisbane Grammar School

Brisbane Grammar School

Brisbane Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for boys, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia...

 and University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

, where he became president of the union.
Bell was admitted to the English bar and was a marshal on the Northern Assizes circuit in 1888. In 1889 Bell returned to Australia and a year later became private secretary to Sir Samuel Griffith

Samuel Griffith

Sir Samuel Walker Griffith GCMG QC, was an Australian politician, Premier of Queensland, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and a principal author of the Constitution of Australia.-Early life:...

. In 1893 Bell was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly

Queensland Legislative Assembly

The Queensland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral chamber of the Parliament of Queensland. Elections are held approximately once every three years. Voting is by the Optional Preferential Voting form of the Alternative Vote system...

 for the electoral district of Dalby

Electoral district of Dalby

Dalby was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. It existed from 1873 to 1949 and centred on the town of Dalby.-Members for Dalby:...

 and held this seat for the rest of his life. Bell was elected chairman of committees in 1902 and in September 1903 joined the Arthur Morgan

Arthur Morgan (Queensland politician)

Sir Arthur Morgan was the Premier of Queensland, Australia from 1903 to 1906.Morgan was born in Warwick, Queensland, the fourth son of James Morgan and his wife Kate, née Barton...

 ministry as minister for lands. William Kidston

William Kidston

William Kidston was an Australian politician and Premier of Queensland, from January 1906 to November 1907 and again from February 1908 to February 1911.-Early life:...

 succeeded Morgan in January 1906 but Bell held his old position in the new cabinet until November 1907, and was also minister for railways from February to July of that year. Bell was minister for lands in the second Kidston ministry from February to October 1908, and then home secretary until 29 June 1909, when he was elected speaker.

In 1901, Bell unsuccessfully contested the federal seat of Darling Downs

Division of Darling Downs

The Division of Darling Downs was an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created at Federation in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It was abolished in 1984 when it was replaced by the Division of Groom...

 in Australia's first federal by-election

Darling Downs by-election, 1901

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives electorate of Darling Downs in Queensland on 14 September 1901, a Saturday. It was triggered by the death of William Henry Groom on 8 August 1901. It was the first by-election of the Australian parliament since Federation...

, but he was defeated by William Henry Groom, the son of the original member.

Bell died on 10 March 1911 after a long illness. He had married in 1903 a daughter of the Honorable John Ferguson

John Ferguson (Australian politician)

John Ferguson was a Scottish-born Australian politician. Born in Banffshire, he received a primary education before becoming a carpenter. He migrated to Australia in 1855, becoming a goldminer and carpenter, and then a builder and contractor at Rockhampton in Queensland. He was also a company...

, who survived him with a son and a daughter. Bell had a state funeral and was buried in Toowong Cemetery

Toowong Cemetery

The Brisbane General Cemetery also known as Toowong Cemetery at Toowong, Brisbane was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland's largest cemetery and is located on forty-four hectares of land at the corner of Frederick Street and Mount Coot-tha Road approximately four and a...

next to his father.

External links

• Joshua Thomas Bell entry on Jimbour History. Jimbour was the Bell family home for many years.