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Early life
The first mention of Edmonde Bell, dates from 1567, where he is found recorded in his Grandfather's will, who bequeaths certain property to him, "books of law and Greek." Speculating in cursory detail concerning his early childhood and development, at first glance one would imagine that as heir and first borne of Sir Robert's eight children, he would have benefited in a greater capacity by his fathers influence, however, the time and attention necessary with acquiring this knowledge from his father would have been hindered as a result of the commitments that were competing for his fathers time and energy. It is likely that by age fifteen, Edmonde had been partially prepared and fashioned for a career in his family's profession, when he suffered the loss of his father from the terminal effects of Gaol fever. The following year, his mother married Sir John Peyton, a man whose military career was highly esteemed. Peyton, appears to have developed a closer relationship with Edmond's younger brother Robert,... who was groomed as a soldier and later become a Captain of a Company in the low countries. Around this time, Edmonde may have been busily engaged abroad in pursuit of his academic career at the University level.
Career
By 1583, it is known that he received his patrimony, which included extensive properties throughout Norfolk, and the manor of Castle Acre, where Edmonde dwelled and duly made his family seat. Perhaps this event is timed with his first marriage to Anne Osborne. By 1586, he became MP for Alderburgh, where he was active in mercantile affairs, "investing heavily in privatering", specifically, the building of ships (gunboats) that incorporated advances in Naval Architecture. These investments did not prove lucrative, however, and perhaps were forfeited, in part as a consequence of the Spanish invasion of 1588, where Bells' Naval assets may have been sacrificed in service to the Crown.
Marriages
Edmonde Bell married:
1. Anne daughter of Peter Osborne, (1521–1592), keeper of the privy purse to King Edward VI and Anne (d. 1615), daughter of Dr John Blythe, regis professor of physics at Cambridge, and niece of Sir John Cheke.
2. Elizabeth?
3. Muriel daughter of Sir Thomas Knyvett, of Ashwellthorpe, 4th Baron Berners and Muriel Parry daughter of Sir Thomas Parry and Anne Reade.
Descendants
Through the marriage of Anne daughter of Peter Osborne:
- 1. (Sir) Robert Bell b. 25 February 1587 m. Mary Chester
- 2. Phillip Bell b. 19 June 1590
- 3. Henry Bell b. 19 June 1591 d. 1615
- 4. Peter Bell b. Abt. 1594
- 5. Lady Francis Bell b. Abt 1594 d. 11 April 1627 m. Sir Heneage Finch, Speaker of the House of Commons;
(Ancestors of the House of Windsor)
- 6. Synolphus Bell b. 29 August 1596 d. 1636 m. Martha
- 7. Humphrey Bell b. 05 October 1597 d. Abt. 1654
- 8. Susan Bell b. 15 October 1598 m. Henry Coldwell
- 9. Jane Bell b. 01 October 1599 m. John Ramsay
- 10. Katherine Bell b. 09 October 1601 (2nd wife of) m. 1. Charles Trippe d. 12 JAN. 1623 2. James Hobart b. 23 June 1603 d. 16 July 1643, VIII son of Sir Henry Hobart Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
Through the marriage of Muriel daughter of Thomas Knyvett:
- 11. Edmund Bell (b. abt. 1603-4)
- 12. Richard Bell b. 1605
- 13 ?Bell (b. 1608) posthumous
Sources
- Hasler, P. W., HoP: House of Commons 1558-1603, HMSO 1981, p. 421
- O'Donoghue, M.P.D., Report, Arms and ‘pe de gree's' of Bell [Sir Robert Bell], 15 August 2005 Coll Arm Ms, The Visitations of Norfolk, 1563, 1589, 1613, Bell. Beaupre., Harl 1552
- Bell, R. R.L., Tudor Bell's Sound Out, Rolls- pb, 7 September, 2006.
