Robert Bell (speaker)
Sir Robert Bell SL (died 1577) of Beaupré Hall, Norfolk, was a Speaker of the House of Commons (1572–1576), who served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
During the period when he attended the Middle Temple, the religious denomination of the pupils and Masters of the bench was primarily Catholic, with emerging factions of Protestants, balancing the Elizabethan membership.
[3] He achieved success at the beginning of his legal career, on (6 March 1559), accomplishing favorable results for the patentees of the lands of John White, bishop of Winchester, involved in a suit that protected their interest for which he was of counsel with Alexander Nowell.
[2][5] Elizabeth I noted his maverick style of behavior, a "on 19 October 1566, "[Bell] did argue very boldly" to pursue the succession question; "in the face of the Queen's command to leave it alone".
[2] On 19 April 1571, Bell was an advocate for the residents of less fortunate boroughs, " 'and in a loving discourse showed that it was necessary that all places should be provided for equally'."
He further, proposed that all boroughs who sought to nominate a nobleman, should suffer a substantial financial penalty [£40], "mindful, no doubt of the power of the Duke of Norfolk in his county.
'[2] Bell's second disabling speech of that day was full of luminous detail and "was a model of circumspection:, a lawyer's piece larded with legal precedent; in his careful transmission of royal messages and his preference that attempts to persuade a reluctant queen should be by written arguments rather than by his spoken word;"[5][2] William Cecil, recommended Bell for Speaker in 1572.
[6] While Speaker, Bell presided over some of the more dynamic issues of the Elizabethan Parliaments, notably, the security of the realm, and a session concerning the question of Mary, Queen of Scots; where he was advised to shorten the discussion upon receiving a royal message that was whispered in his ear by Christopher Hatton.
In 1577, during the New Year's promotions, Elizabeth I, conferred a knighthood on Bell, made him her Serjeant-at-Law, and appointed him Chief Baron of the Exchequer; a post that he retained during the period that Francis Drake wrote the government, claiming his bounty to build his three ships in Aldeburgh, together with the arrangements he secured from his investors, for his 1577, voyage to circumnavigate the globe.
[9] James Dyer, Edmund Plowden and the historian, William Camden who considered him a 'lawyer of great renowne,' a "Sage and grave man, famous for his knowledge in the law, and deserving the character of an upright judge," admired Bell.
2.376) He then moved on to Leominster, and after presiding over the assize in that district, fell ill. On 25 July, he drafted a codicil to his will, in which he made his "Loving wife Dorothie" sole executor.
[13][14][15] He anticipated the Hall's ruin, and wished that the stained glass panels would be placed in the care and possession of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, where they are currently on display.
His fourth son, Beaupre Bell b. c. 1570, d. 1638, literary scholar of Cambridge, admitted to Lincoln's Inn, 1594, was made Governor of the Tower of London in 1599.
19 October 1572, d. 30 April 1640, married Henry Hobart,[23] Chief Justice of the Common Pleas; who laboured together with Francis Bacon, to draft and procure the charters for the London and Plymouth Company.
