Civil servant.
Born at Clearwater on 3 January 1891, son of Thomas Bell and Annie Edith Reynolds, brother of Francis Campbell Bell, he attended the Manitoba Agricultural College and graduated with a BSA in 1916. He then became a Manitoba agricultural representative for the Portage la Prairie district, becoming a livestock field man with the extension service in 1923, and eventually livestock commissioner, in which capacity he worked to upgrade quality and extend diversification.
From 1949 to 1962 he was Deputy Minister of Agriculture, latterly assisting in the implementation of the Agricultural Credit Act and the Crop Insurance Act. The University of Manitoba gave him an honorary doctorate in 1956. He retired in November 1962.
On 21 December 1922, he married Aileen Louise McFarlane (1896-1997) at Winnipeg. They had no children. He died at Winnipeg on 29 October 1979 and was buried in the Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens. He was inducted posthumously into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame.
Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registration [James Reynolds Bell, Aileen Louise McFarlane], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Agriculture department changes,” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 October 1962.
“Farm leaders honor Dr. Bell,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 December 1962.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 30 October 1979, page 54.
Obituary [Aileen Louise Bell], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 January 1997, page 34.
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 1 May 2023
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