Sam Bell View the Map

 

Sam Bell was born at Hay in the late 1860s.  Oral history suggests that he survived a massacre at Hay and later moved to Coonamble where he was employed as the tracker in 1889.  Three years later he married Annie Duncan of nearby Bullarora Station.  The couple had eight children, including May Bell who was born at Coonamble in circa 1894.  She married Jack Pearce, a boundary rider born at Gongolgon, at Brewarrina in 1915 and her father is identified as a tracker on the marriage certificate [ref]MC 1915/14910.[/ref]. Bell was still the Coonamble tracker in 1900 when he was called to Breelong to pursue Jimmy and Joe Governor [ref]Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative 23 July 1900: 2.[/ref]. The duration of his involvement in the chase is unknown.  Suffering from convulsions, he was taken to Parramatta Hospital where he passed away on 25 September 1907.  He was buried the following day in Rookwood Cemetery [ref]DC of Sam Bell 1907/010698.[/ref].