{{short description|Australian politician in the colony of Queensland (1827-1881)}} {{Other people|Joshua Bell}} {{Use Australian English|date=September 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = '''The Hon''' | name = Sir Joshua Peter Bell | honorific_suffix = '''{{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|KCMG}}''' | image = StateLibQld 1 86924 Sketch of Sir Joshua Peter Bell.jpg | caption = | order = 3rd | office = Treasurer of Queensland | term_start = 22 December 1864 | term_end = 20 July 1866 | predecessor = Thomas Moffatt | successor = John Donald McLean | constituency = West Moreton | term_start1 = 28 March 1871 | term_end1 = 8 January 1874 | predecessor1 = Robert Ramsay | successor1 = William Hemmant | constituency1 = Northern Downs (1871-1873) | constituency2 = Dalby (1873-1874) | majority = | office3 = President of the Queensland Legislative Council | term_start3 = 3 April 1879 | term_end3 = 20 December 1881 | predecessor3 = Sir Maurice O'Connell | successor3 = Sir Arthur Palmer | constituency_AM4 = West Moreton | assembly4 = Queensland Legislative | term_start4 = 15 December 1862 | term_end4 = 28 September 1868 | predecessor4 = Joseph Fleming | successor4 = Frederick Forbes | alongside4 = Henry Challinor, Robert Herbert, Joseph Fleming, George Thorn, Jr., Benjamin Cribb, Patrick O'Sullivan | constituency_AM5 = Northern Downs | assembly5 = Queensland Legislative | term_start5 = 28 September 1868 | term_end5 = 11 November 1873 | predecessor5 = Henry Thorn | successor5 = Henry Thorn | term_start6 = 21 November 1878 | term_end6 = 2 April 1879 | predecessor6 = William Miles | successor6 = George Thorn Jr. | constituency_AM7 = Dalby | assembly7 = Queensland Legislative | term_start7 = 10 November 1873 | term_end7 = 15 November 1878 | successor7 = George Simpson | office8 = Queensland Legislative Council | term_start8 = 3 April 1879 | term_end8 = 20 December 1881 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1827|01|19|df=y}} | birth_place = County Kildare, Ireland | death_date = {{Death date and age|1881|12|20|1827|01|19|df=y}} | death_place = Brisbane, Queensland | resting_place = Toowong Cemetery | party = | spouse = Margaret Miller Dorsey | relations = Joshua Thomas Bell (son), John Alexander Bell (brother) | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = pastoralist | profession = }} '''Sir Joshua Peter Bell''' K.C.M.G. (19 January 1827 – 20 December 1881) was an Australian politician and pastoralist. He was Treasurer of Queensland from 1864 to 1866 and from 1871 to 1874, and President of the Queensland Legislative Council from 1879 to 1881. His eldest son was barrister and parliamentarian Joshua Thomas Bell.<ref name=ADB1/>
==Early life==
Bell was born in Kildare, Ireland, eldest son of Thomas Bell and his wife Sarah, née Alexander. The family emigrated to Australia around 1830. He attended the Sydney College and King's School, Parramatta. In 1848, Bell became joint manager of Jimbour Station in Darling Downs, then part of the Colony of New South Wales with his brother Alexander after his father had taken over the lease of the property. Bell soon assumed sole control of the station due to his astute management that saw the station becoming one of the most respected in the area.<ref name=ADB1> {{Australian Dictionary of Biography |id2=bell-sir-joshua-peter-2969 |title=Bell, Sir Joshua Peter (1827 - 1881) |first=A. A. |last=Morrison |access-date=9 February 2019 }} </ref>
==Parliamentary career==
===Early parliamentary career===
Due to his status as a prominent landholder, Bell was invited to stand in the elections in 1862 for the seat of West Moreton. He won this seat with a considerable majority and remained in office for six years. In 1868 he stood for the seat of Northern Downs (Dalby), the local constituency of Jimbour Station, in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland.<ref name="DAB">{{cite web |year=1949 |editor-last=Serle |editor-first=Percival |editor-link=Percival Serle |title=Bell, Joshua Peter |url=http://www.gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogBe-Bo.html#bell1 |access-date=23 August 2007 |work=Dictionary of Australian Biography |publisher=Angus & Robertson |archive-date=29 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829193250/http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogBe-Bo.html#bell1 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was successful in this election and continued to hold the seat for eleven years.
===Ministerial career=== left|thumb|Monument at the grave of Joshua Peter Bell. In his eleven years in parliament in the seat of Northern Downs, Bell gained a number of ministerial roles. In 1864 he was appointed treasurer in the first ministry of Robert Herbert,<ref>{{cite Australasia|Bell, Hon. Sir Joshua Peter}}</ref> a position he held until 1866.<ref name="DAB"/> Bell later assumed the role of treasurer in a subsequent government in 1871 and remained in office for further three years. Bell also held a number of other ministerial positions, notably Minister for Lands in 1866 and acting Minister for Works in 1867.<ref name="ADB1"/>
===Further career===
In 1879 Bell transferred to the Queensland Legislative Council and was elected president.<ref name="DAB"/> For a short period of time from March to November 1880, Bell was appointed as Administrator in the absence of the then Governor Sir Arthur Kennedy. He was appointed K.C.M.G. in 1881.
==Later life== thumb|left|Joshua Peter Bell monument, 2007 thumb|left|Plaque on memorial, Jimbour, 2007 Joshua Peter Bell died suddenly on 20 December 1881 and was buried at Toowong Cemetery.<ref name="ADB1"/><ref name="Brisbane City Council - Online - Grave Location Search - Toowong Cemetery - Karl Kast">{{cite web|url=https://online.brisbane.qld.gov.au/cemeteries/cemeteries_step3.jsp?mapdisplay=142634|title=Brisbane City Council - Online - Grave Location Search|publisher=Brisbane City Council|access-date=29 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121126230341/https://online.brisbane.qld.gov.au/cemeteries/cemeteries_step3.jsp?mapdisplay=142634|archive-date=26 November 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> A memorial to him was also erected at Jimbour Homestead.
==Legacy== The town of Bell was named after him.<ref>{{cite QPN|2133|Bell|access-date=15 April 2014}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite web |archive-date=2025-07-22 |website=ABC News |title=Old tapes reveal stockman Harry 'Bunda' Darlow's life on the Darling Downs after frontier wars |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |first=Nathan |last=Morris |date=3 August 2020 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-04/old-tapes-unearth-aboriginal-history-of-jimbour-station/12454214 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250722134127/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-04/old-tapes-unearth-aboriginal-history-of-jimbour-station/12454214}} Extracts from a 1971 interview with Harry Darlow, Wakka Wakka stockman, about his time on Jimbour Station, in which he mentions Joshua Bell.
{{s-start}} {{s-par|au-qld}} {{s-bef|before=Joseph Fleming}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for West Moreton|years=1862–1868|alongside=Henry Challinor, Robert Herbert, Joseph Fleming, George Thorn, Jr., Benjamin Cribb, Patrick O'Sullivan}} {{s-aft|after=Frederick Forbes}} {{s-bef|before=Henry Thorn}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for Northern Downs|years=1868–1873}} {{s-aft|after=Henry Thorn}} {{s-new|seat}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for Dalby|years=1873–1878}} {{s-aft|after=George Simpson}} {{s-bef|before=William Miles}} {{s-ttl|title=Member for Northern Downs|years=1878–1879}} {{s-aft|after=George Thorn junior}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title=Treasurer of Queensland | before=Thomas Moffatt | after=John Donald McLean | years=1864–1866}} {{s-end}}
{{Treasurers of Queensland}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Joshua Peter}} Category:1827 births Category:1881 deaths Category:Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Category:Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Category:Members of the Queensland Legislative Council Category:Presidents of the Queensland Legislative Council Category:Treasurers of Queensland Category:Colony of Queensland people Category:Burials at Toowong Cemetery Category:19th-century Australian politicians Category:Pre-Separation Queensland Category:People educated at The King's School, Parramatta Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:British emigrants to the Colony of New South Wales