His grandfather was a Ni-Vanuatu man who was blackbirded to Australia to work on a sugar plantation, and his grandmother was an Aboriginal Australian woman from Minjerribah (also known as Stradbroke Island) in Queensland.
[1] Bellear would regularly see the patterns of intimidation and harassment which the New South Wales Police practised against the Aboriginal community in Redfern.
He completed his Higher School Certificate studies at Sydney Technical College, and entered a law course at the University of New South Wales.
He did not try to remain in Sydney, instead preferring the rural circuit, where he could visit Aboriginal communities in regional centres, and bring students into his courtroom.
[1] In his later life, Bellear was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma, contracted during his time with the Royal Australian Navy, when as an apprentice engineer he was exposed to asbestos fibers.
The Government of New South Wales granted Bellear a state funeral, held at the Sydney Town Hall.