Archibald Bell Jr.

Exploration

In August 1823 Archibald Bell, aged nineteen years, traveled along the route that would later become the Bell's Line of Road. Although the mountains had been crossed at Katoomba a decade earlier, there was still no satisfactory route through the mountains from Richmond at this time. On the journey from Richmond to Mount Tomah Bell followed the directions of an Aboriginal woman who had travelled the route. Other sources claim Bell was shown the route by the Darug men, Emery and Cogy. He initially failed to find a safe descent to the west from Mount Tomah, but returned a month later and was able to travel into the Hartley valley where he joined up with Cox's road.

Upon his return in September 1823 Archibald Bell sent his report of the route over the Blue Mountains to Governor Brisbane. Soon afterwards the surveyor-general John Oxley instructed his assistant-surveyor Robert Hoddle to survey Bell's line of road. Hoddle completed the task and his survey report was submitted in November 1823. The road across the mountains was soon afterwards cleared and formed by convict labour.

Bell also explored the Hunter River and saved the explorers Howe and Singleton from starvation. As a reward, he was given a grant of at Patrick's Plains, naming his estate 'Corinda'. He specialized in breeding horses for coaching and hackney horses. He was granted on the Hunter River near Belford in 1839. He had other estates in the Hunter Valley and moved from Corinda to Milgarra at Bunnan near Scone in 1849. In 1859 he bought Pickering at Denman, an freehold estate on the Hunter River. He lived there until his death on 9 August 1883.

Bell represented Upper Hunter in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1868 to 1872 and was appointed to the Legislative Council for life in 1879.

The township of Bell, Mount Bell, the Bell Range and Bells Line of Road were named after the explorer.