Thomas Bell

Sir Thomas Bell the Elder (1486–1566) was a cap manufacturer, mayor of Gloucester, and member of Parliament. He was one of the city's largest employers and wealthiest citizens and a great benefactor of the city and its people. He is described in contemporaneous documents as a "capper". He invested much of his wealth in real estate released on the Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes in partnership with Richard Duke (c. 1515–1572), of Otterton, Devon, Clerk of the Court of Augmentations. He was thrice Mayor of Gloucester (1535–36, 1543–44 and 1553–54) and served four times as Member of Parliament (MP) for the city (1545–47, 1547–52, 1553 and 1554–55). He was knighted on 27 February 1546/7. He appears to have held orthodox Roman Catholic religious views: in 1537, while mayor, he was accused by leading townsmen John Huggins and John Rastell of calling Bishop Latimer of Worcester a heretic. A portrait of Bell the Elder is in the possession of Gloucester City Council. He is not to be confused with his younger brother (possibly half-brother), also called Thomas, also prominent, Sir Thomas Bell the Younger (d. 1560/1), Mayor of Bristol, who also served as Mayor of Gloucester in 1543 and 1554–5.