1. Colonel Allan Bell was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for the Bay of Islands in Northland.
22 Facts About Allen Bell
2.
Allen Bell was the son of Allen and Mary, farmers in the area.
3.
In 1895, Allen Bell travelled to southern Africa and served with the British armed forces that in 1896 suppressed a rising by the Matabele people.
4.
Allen Bell then saw active service with the Rhodesia Regiment during the South African War.
5.
Allen Bell was discharged on 31 January 1900 and returned to Taranaki.
6.
Allen Bell was a member of the Waipa County Council and the Hamilton Borough Council.
7.
Allen Bell was the founder of the Waikato Agricultural and Pastoral Association and the first director of the Waikato Dairy Company in 1912.
8.
At the 1911 general election Allen Bell stood as an unofficial Reform Party candidate in the newly formed Raglan electorate; the official Reform Party candidate was Richard Bollard.
9.
Allen Bell argued for the abolition of New Zealand's upper house and Britain's House of Lords.
10.
The armed forces considered that Allen Bell had broken his Oath of Allegiance as an Officer.
11.
In 1911, Allen Bell joined the New Zealand Command of the Legion of Frontiersmen and after his discharge from the army went on to devote much of his time and energy into the promoting and expanding the Legion.
12.
Allen Bell was appointed as the Legion's Commandant for Auckland with the rank of Colonel.
13.
Allen Bell retained and used this Legion of Frontiersmen rank for the rest of his life.
14.
In 1913, as Commandant of the Auckland District Allen Bell convened and chaired a meeting of the Legion in the "Hall of Commerce" for the purpose of considering the viability of setting up a Dominion Executive of the Legion, the election of a Commandant for the North Island and other matters.
15.
In 1914, three Bell brothers bought land in what is today Kaitaia.
16.
Allen Bell was an enthusiastic promoter of the area north of Auckland, and did much lobbying for making the area accessible via roads and bridges.
17.
Allen Bell acted as a land agent and was a newspaper editor, first writing for the Northern Age and then founding the Northlander.
18.
Allen Bell was a supporter of the government's scheme of draining land in the Kaitaia area, and as an owner of swampy land and a land agent, he personally benefited from the initiative.
19.
Allen Bell received a requisition in September 1922 for the upcoming election and agreed to stand in the Bay of Islands electorate on the condition that he could be an Independent.
20.
Allen Bell stood for opposition interests and was variously described as an Independent or Independent Liberal.
21.
Allen Bell won against the incumbent of the Reform Party, Vernon Reed.
22.
In 1925, Allen Bell successfully stood for the Reform Party, but was defeated by Harold Rushworth of the Country Party in 1928.