Philip Bell (governor)
| Philip Bell | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Bermuda | |
|
In office 1626–1629 |
|
| Preceded by | Captain Henry Woodhouse |
| Succeeded by | Captain Roger Wood |
| Governor of Providence Island colony | |
|
In office 1629–1636 |
|
| Succeeded by | Robert Hunt |
| Governor of Barbados | |
|
In office 1640–1650 |
|
| Preceded by | Sir Henry Huncks |
| Succeeded by | Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 June 1590 Norfolk, England |
| Died |
3 March 1678 (aged 87) Norfolk, England |
| Nationality | English |
Philip Bell (19 June 1590 – 3 March 1678) was Governor of Bermuda from 1626 to 1629, of the Providence Island colony from 1629 to 1636, and of Barbados from 1640 to 1650 during the English Civil War. During his terms of office in Providence and Barbados, the colonies moved from using indentured English workers to slaves imported from West Africa. The Providence Island colony, despite its puritan ideals, became a haven for privateers attacking ships in the Spanish Main.
Philip Bell came from the family of Sir Robert Bell, a prominent politician under Queen Elizabeth I of England who died in 1577. Karen Ordahl Kupperman, author of a carefully researched book on the Providence Island colony, of which he was the first governor, says he was son of Sir Robert's sixth child, Sir Edmund Bell (1562–1608). If so, he was born on 19 June 1590, either in South Acre, Norfolk or in Beaupré Hall, Outwell, Norfolk. His mother was Anne Osborne, daughter of Sir Peter Osbourne, the Treasurer's Remembrancer in the Exchequer. Several of his siblings became involved with the Virginia colony.
Bermuda, originally called the Somers Isles, is a small group of islands in the mid-Atlantic. The Somers Isles Company owned the islands, and arranged for settlement by Englishmen who planted tobacco. There was very limited available land, the soil was poor and the climate unfavorable. The planters' problems were compounded by squabbles between the Warwick and Sandys factions of the company.
Captain Philip Bell reached Bermuda late in 1626 or early in 1627. Bell belonged to the Warwick faction. He found his predecessor, Captain Henry Woodhouse, facing an attack by the Bermuda assembly for misgovernment. Bell advised Woodhouse to leave as soon as possible, but Woodhouse refused and was censured and fined, then thrown in prison when he refused to apologise. Bell, from a privileged background, resented the high status of merchants on the island. He complained of needing "to live in such a slavishe subjectione to such meane & base minded men as the citizen part of the Companye are & doe showe themselves." As governor, Bell was entitled to 32 servants, of whom 24 were to work the 12 shares of land that were assigned to him. Although some were black, they were not necessarily slaves. In 1629 Bell wrote pessimistically
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