When the Past met the Present
David Webber from Canada and Edward Bell from Dundrod pictured recently at the Bell family burial ground, Killead Presbyterian Church. They are both descendants of Alexander Bell, whose death in 1837 is the first inscription on the Bell headstone.
Several months ago I had received an email from David Webber, a Canadian who was researching his ancestors. He believed that his grandmother, Maria Bell, had been born on a farm located at Tullyrusk, Glenavy. David was in possession of letters from the early 1930’s indicating that there were other family in the Killead area.
David’s great grandmother, Jane (nee Cormican) was the first wife of William Alexander Bell from Tullyrusk. He was in fact the grandson of the Alexander Bell of Tully. Fortunately details of this Bell family are captured in the rare surviving remnants of the 1851 census. This particular Bell family can all be traced back to the townlands of Tully and Ballynageeragh in the Killead area.