Dillon Bell

The Honourable Sir Dillon Bell KCMG CB
Sir Dillon Bell ca 1881
3rd Colonial Treasurer
In office 7 May 1856 – 20 May 1856
Prime Minister	Henry Sewell
In office 6 August 1862 – 21 August 1862
Prime Minister	Alfred Domett
4th Minister of Native Affairs
In office 6 August 1862 – 30 October 1863
Prime Minister	Alfred Domett
3rd Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office 1871–1875
Prime Minister	Fox, Stafford, Waterhouse and Vogel
Personal details
Born	Francis Dillon Bell (1822-10-08)8 October 1822 Bordeaux France
Died	8 July 1898(1898-07-08) (aged 75) Shag Valley (homestead), Otago New Zealand
Spouse(s)	Margaret Hort
Children	Francis Bell Arthur Bell

Sir Francis Dillon Bell KCMG CB (8 October 1822 – 15 July 1898) was a New Zealand politician of the late 19th century. He served as New Zealand's third Minister of Finance (the first parliamentary finance minister), and later as its third Speaker of the House. The town of Bell Block near New Plymouth – on land Bell bought from the Puketapu iwi in 1849 – is named after him, as is Bell Street, Whanganui. Bell's son, Francis Henry Dillon Bell, became the first New Zealand born Prime Minister in 1925.

Bell is believed to have been born in Bordeaux, France, where his father, Edward Bell, was the British consul. He grew up speaking both English and French fluently. When his family ran into financial problems, his father's cousin, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, managed to secure Bell a position as a clerk in the New Zealand Company's head office in London. As a result of office politics, however, it eventually became expedient for Bell to go to New Zealand in person, acting as an agent for the Company.

Bell arrived in New Zealand in 1843. He moved around New Zealand considerably, visiting Auckland, Nelson, and the Wairarapa before finally becoming the New Zealand Company's resident agent in New Plymouth. While there, he successfully negotiated land deals with local Māori.