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John Kidd Bell
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Lawyer, soldier.
Born at Aberdeen, Scotland on 23 May 1886, he was educated at Eaton House (Hull, Yorkshire, England) and Albany Academy (Glasgow), and studied law at the University of Glasgow before coming to Winnipeg in 1913, where he practiced with the law firm of Andrews, Andrews, Burbidge and Bell.
At the outbreak of the First World War, he enlisted in the 90th Regiment, Royal Winnipeg Rifles and went overseas as a Lieutenant. Badly gassed and taken prisoner in April 1915, he was held in a German prisoner of war camp along with George William Northwood, H. E. L. Owen, George Frank Andrews (son of George William Andrews), and William O'Grady (son of John Waller de Courcy O’Grady).
Transferred to interment in Switzerland near the end of 1917, he remained there until the end of the war. He then returned to Winnipeg as a Captain, continuing his military work as a member of the army reserves, and serving for two years as Commanding Officer of the Winnipeg Rifles.
He and wife Georgina Drummond Summers (1889-1957) had three children: Nancy Porteous Bell (1920-1979, wife of George B. Macgillivray), James Irving Bell (1924-1972), and Alfred Summers “Alf” Bell (1928-1996). At the time of his death, he lived at 726 Warsaw Avenue. He was a member of Augustine United Church. He took an active interest in the Boy Scouts and served on the council of the south district of the Boy Scout Association.
He died at Rochester, Minnesota on 17 September 1942 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.
Attestation papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
Birth registration [Nancy Porteous Bell], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Lt-Col. J. K. Bell dies Thursday in Rochester,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 September 1942, page 10.
“Lt-Col. Bell, prominent city lawyer, dies,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 September 1942, page 13.
“Lt.-Col. J. K. Bell,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 September 1942, page 2.
Obituary [George Drummond Bell], Winnipeg Free Press, 20 June 1957, page 13.
Obituary [James Irving Bell], Winnipeg Free Press, 5 October 1972, page 40.
Obituary [Nancy P. MacGillivray], Winnipeg Free Press, 16 May 1979, page 74.
Obituary [Alfred Summers Bell], Winnipeg Free Press, 6 February 1996, page 27.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Andrew Kirkpatrick for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 3 June 2023
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