| AdminHistory | The company was founded in 1816 by James Bell, the son of Joseph Bell, a Sheffield grocer. Bell established himself in London as a 'pocket book and book case manufacturer's' but after the death of his wife in 1827 he returned to Sheffield. In 1831 he married Mary, daughter of Samuel Tompkin, and set up in business with her brother John as Bell and Tompkins as case makers. When John Tompkin retired c.1853, Bell took his son Edwin James into the firm and continued as James Bell and Son. After the death of James Bell in 1864, Edwin James Bell continued on his own until 1872 when he went into partnership with his brother-in-law John Figorski. The partnership was not a success and was liquidated in 1877. On the death of Edwin James Bell in 1880, the business was taken over by his wife Martha Mary Bell who, in 1890, took her two sons into partnership. M M Bell and Sons became a limited company in 1929. |
| Description | Business Papers:
Partnership records, 1890 (SY284/B1)
Liquidation, 1877 (SY284/B2)
Accounts, 1853 - 1872 (SY284/B3)
Orders, 1929 - 1953 (SY284/B4)
Prices, 1961 - 1972 (SY284/B5)
Advertising, 1856 - 1953 (SY284/B6)
Wages, 1960 - 1974 (SY284/B7)
Photographs, 1933 - 1966 (SY284/B8)
Display and Packaging Exhibition, 1947 (SY284/B9)
History, 1950s - 1967 (SY284/B10)
Press cuttings, 1921 - 1969 (SY284/B11)
Miscellaneous, 1890 - 1965 (SY284/B12)
British paper Box Federation, 1909 - 1960 (SY284/B13)
Family Papers:
Birth, marriage and death certificates, 1819 - 1920 (SY284/B14)
Wills, 1894 (SY284/B15)
Genealogy, c. 1890 - 1950 (SY284/B16)
Family Photographs, c. 1850s - 1930s (SY284/B17)
Alfred Edwin Bell, 1894 - 1979 (SY284/B18)
Miscellaneous, 1845 - 1880 (SY284/B19)
Royal coronations, 1902 - 1937 (SY284/B20)
Services, 1910 - 1952 (SY284/B22) |
| CustodialHistory | On the abolition of South Yorkshire County Council on 31 March 1986, these records passed from South Yorkshire County Record Office (SYCRO) to the custody of Sheffield Archives. On 1 Apr 2009 the ownership of these items was assigned to Sheffield Archives. |