Medal presented to employer Thomas Henry Bell by his workers upon completion of the project of building the Greymouth Town Hall

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DescriptionEngraved commemoration medal presented to employer Thomas Henry Bell by his workers upon completion of the project of building the Greymouth Town Hall.
Born in Nothumberland in 1859, Bell claimed he had begun his carpentry apprenticeship in his very early teens and trained in Sunderland, North England. He sys he immigrated to Aotearoa in 1879 and spent the first few years in Lyttelton and then had a brief spell farming in Canterbury.
Following he made for his final destination, the West Coast where started his building firm in 1900. He undertook contracts for some public buildings, many houses and cottages, and perhaps notably the replacement spire of the Roman Catholic church.
He wed Emma Jane Miller (1865-1924) of the Rangiora Miller family in 1885, her parents were Arthur Windus Miller and Rachel nee Jones. Emma had 3 siblings; Edmund Windus, Henry Davisd and Julia.
Thomas and Emma had 4 children after their marriage; Francis Arthur Bell (1887-1957 ), Pearl Eveline (1897, died in infancy), Glencora Azalea Bell (1903-1990), and Florence Hannah Sweetman (1888-1959). From recollection the Sweetman name has been showcased in this group many times being a large and well-known West Coast family.
Thomas Bell was involved in a serious accident in Dec1910 when he was thrown from a sulky onto his head and knocked unconscious, he did not recover and died 4 days later. Emma Jane passed away and was interred in Matamata, Waikato 13 years after him, but I have not been able to locate details of Thomas’ burial.

Additional info thanks to Pete ArmstrongMap^[1]ContributorDarian Zam

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Location (city or town)GreymouthPersonThomas Henry BellOrganisation (eg business)Greymouth Town Hall

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Date Created9th October 2022CommentsDarian Zam
I also found an article that may demonstrate that Thomas actually spent some time working as a porter for NZ Railways in North Canterbury, before his farming stint, meaning that the bio as reported wasn't correct and he actually moved on from Lyttelton pretty quickly. However it is possible that it was another Thomas Henry Bell as there were a few.

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Medal presented to employer Thomas Henry Bell by his workers upon completion of the project of building the Greymouth Town Hall

Editing is temporarily disabled