Bell Francis Dillion Wellington Nz 1850 1863

edmondsallan - Hello - Before Bell took up his Nelson post he revisited Wairarapa to see if he could persuade the Maori to sell their land. This time his negotiations seemed about to succeed when the news arrived that the Canterbury settlement would be sited at Banks Peninsula. With no immediate prospect of a body of settlers for Wairarapa the negotiations were broken off and Bell returned to Wellington. In December Grey and Bell negotiated the Waitohi (Picton) land purchase.

In Wellington Bell had met Margaret Joachim Hort, third daughter of the Jewish merchant Abraham Hort. They were married on 2 April 1849, although the refusal of the local Anglican minister, supported by his bishop, to conduct a marriage between partners of different religions, forced them to resort to a civil ceremony. They were to have six sons and one daughter.

After their marriage the Bells moved to Nelson, where again Bell's main business was sorting out company settlers' claims to land and compensation. He played a part in the constitutional agitation of 1849–50, but was not much concerned with constitutional principles, although he now frequently spoke against nomineeism.

When the New Zealand Company folded in 1850, Bell lost his position in Nelson and moved to the Hutt. Grey appointed him commissioner of Crown lands and he became an official member of the Legislative Council, reconstituted by Grey in 1851. In 1853 he was elected to the Wellington Provincial Council and in 1854 was appointed to the Legislative Council established by the Constitution Act 1852.

During the first session of the General Assembly the Legislative Council demanded that it have a member on the Executive Council, and Bell joined James FitzGerald, Frederick Weld and Henry Sewell in office. Sewell regarded him as a good man of business, with a 'plastic mind', and, although not weighty, unlikely to embarrass. Within a few days Bell resigned and returned to Wellington, worried about the health of his wife, Margaret Bell. In the 1855 general election he won a seat in the House of Representatives for the Hutt. During the session of 1856 he briefly held office as colonial treasurer under Sewell.

In November 1856 Bell, having resigned from the House in October, was appointed land claims commissioner. A couple of years later, with Edward Stafford and C. W. Richmond, he took up a large sheep station in Otago. In 1860 he was elected MHR for Wallace, and fought strongly for the creation of Southland as a separate province.

By the early 1860s Bell was one of the settlers most experienced in Maori affairs and land ownership; he had long spoken Maori fluently. He became one of Governor Thomas Gore Browne's chief advisers after the Waitara purchase, which he staunchly defended. When W. B. D. Mantell became native minister in July 1861, Bell took charge of the Native Office, seeming to see no conflict between his positions as an elected member of Parliament and as an administrator. In September he moved resolutions in Parliament which placed the administration of Maori affairs under the native minister and matters which affected imperial interests, chiefly defence, under the governor, a division of responsibility which would allow the colonists to escape financial liability for any war.

His administration of Maori affairs was not particularly efficient or vigorous. He was half-hearted about the 'peace policy' adopted by Grey and Fox after Grey's return to New Zealand in August, and gave little support to the new runanga system which the governor proposed to introduce. When Mantell resigned his portfolio in December, Bell refused to take over the ministerial position, although he continued to administer native affairs until May 1862, when Fox relieved him of the duty.

When Alfred Domett became premier in August 1862, Bell took office as minister of native affairs. He continued to regard himself as an administrator, holding a political post which no one else was willing to hold, and agreed with Domett's policy that the governor should retain responsibility for Maori affairs. In the ministry Bell was easily led by Thomas Russell, who persuaded him to pass the Native Lands Act, later used as a mechanism for the easier purchase of land by the Europeans. He was with Grey when the Tataraimaka block was reoccupied, an action leading to the renewal of the war in Taranaki. He also advised Grey to return the disputed Waitara block to Kingi. Bell acquiesced in Grey's invasion of Waikato and in August 1863 visited Australia to recruit military settlers. He lost office in October, when Domett resigned, and Fox, with a policy of ministerial responsibility for Maori affairs, regained the premiership.

For the next few years Bell played a less active role in national politics. He moved to Dunedin, entered provincial politics, and spent time on his sheep station. He suffered a great deal from eye trouble and tried such remedies as having his eyes bled I have never heard of having your eyes bled . I can imagine nothing worse . I wonder how they did it ? Till we meet again - Regards - edmondsallan