Ray Frances (Turrell) Bell (1911 - 2000)

Born 20 Jun 1911 in Bournebat (Bornova) Smyrna (Izmir) Turkey

Ancestors

Wife of Richard Alan Bell — married 9 Apr 1939 in Marylebone, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 28 Jan 2000 at age 88 in Surrey, England, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Brigitte Theuma [send private message]

Whittall Family Project

Biography

Ray was born in Bournebat (Bornova) Smyrna (Izmir) Turkey in 1911, ^[1]and was the middle of three daughters born to Reginald Edmund Turrell and Jessica Maud Whittall.

She and her sisters grew up in the house where their grandfather had established a school after his arrival in Smyrna at the time of the Crimean war. Ray's father was raised there and she and her sisters lived there, 3 generations under one roof, with their parents, paternal grandmother, aunts and at times an uncle as well as servants. They learned English grammar from a book published by their grandfather and were taught French by their grandmother. They also picked up some Greek, Italian and Turkish.

In September 1922, when Ray was 10 or 11, the Turko-Greek war ended with Turkish troops capturing Smyrna. Some Greek soldiers continued firing on Turkish troops, and within 3 days all discipline had broken down within Turkish ranks. Turkish troops and irregulars rampaged through the city, raping and murdering Greeks, Armenians and foreign nationals, and setting fire to buildings. In the build up of tension, Ray's parents moved the family to their town house near the wharf. Other relatives joined them there and they managed to board a hospital ship and flee for Mytilene (Lesvos) where they remained for a year. They returned to find their home looted and their Greek servants murdered and their bodies thrown in the garden well. Most of the city had been razed to the ground, including Ray's father's car dealership. Her father managed to re-establish his business with credit extended by Chevrolet in the United States, and the family resumed their life in Izmir.

Ray's mother remained deeply affected by the events of 1922/3 and died of a stroke 6 years later at the age of 44, when Ray was 16 years old. Her father died 5 years later at the age of 54, when Ray was 22 years old.

She moved to England the following year at the age of 23, where she attended Byam Shaw Art School. ^[2]She married Richard Alan Bell in 1939 ^[3]at the age of 27 and they had 2 sons. Her sisters had both married in Izmir and had babies, before both leaving Turkey in 1935 and migrating to South Africa.

Ray was an artist, and a number of her paintings remain in the family. She also wrote a book titled 'Scrapbook, 1809 - 1922', published 1st June 1987, by her husband Richard Bell. This illustrated book is about the life of the extended family in Turkey, and is now out of print.

Her sister Helen visited her in England in 1969. Ray's husband passed away in 1970 when he was just 54. She travelled to South Africa in about 1973, to visit her sisters. She completed several paintings on that trip.

Ray passed away in Surrey, England in 2000. ^{[4] [5]}

Research Notes

Name

Name: Ray Frances /Turrell/^[6][7]

Birth

Date: 20 June, 1911

Place: Bournebat, nr Smyma, Turkey^[8][9]

Death

Date: 28 January, 2000

Place: Surrey Northern, Surrey, England^[10]

Event

Event:

Type: Departure

Place: Rangoon, Burma^[11]

Event:

Type: Ports of Voyage

Place: Rangoon; Colombo; Port Said; Marseilles and Gibraltar^[12]

Event: Age: 23

Type: Arrival

Date: 17 Sep 1934

Place: London, England^[13]

Marriage

Husband: Richard Alan Bell

Wife: Ray Frances Turrell

Marriage:

Date: 09 April, 1939

Place: Marylebone, Middlesex

Sources

• The Genealogy of the Whittall Family of Turkey, Betty & Paul McKernan, 1996.
• Source: S-799000635 Repository: #R-1199855110 Title: UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations Inc APID: 1,1518::0
• Repository: R-1199855110 Name: Ancestry.com
• Source: S-799001459 Repository: #R-1199855110 Title: England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2006 Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations Inc APID: 1,7579::0
• Source: S-799024943 Repository: #R-1199855110 Title: Public Member Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006.Original data - Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.Original data: Family trees submitted by Ancestry members. Note: Page: Ancestry Family Tree Data: Text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=56322831&pid=979
• Birth Certificate copy of 15th Dec 2010 held in family collection.
• Family tree and notes authored by Colin Reginald O'Carroll, 1997 - 1998, Johannesburg, South Africa.
• 1939 England and Wales Register View image View record Name Ray F Bell Gender Female Marital Status Married Birth Date 20 Jun 1911Residence Date 1939 Address 15 Kingsgate Mansions Red Lion Square Residence Place Holborn, London, England Occupation Unpaid Domestic Duties Line Number 10 Schedule Number 129 Sub Schedule Number 2 Enumeration District Akng Borough Holborn Registration district13/1.Inferred Spouse Richard A Bell Household members NameRay F Bell Age 28 Name Richard A Bell Age 24 Name This record is officially closed. Age Name This record is officially closed. Age Name This record is officially closed.

1. ↑ GRO Consular Births 1911-1915 Volume 13 Page 2347
2. ↑ Information from Sebastian Bell
3. ↑ England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 View image View record NameRoy F TurrellRegistration DateApr 1939Registration QuarterApr-May-JunRegistration districtMaryleboneInferred CountyMiddlesexSpouseRichard A BellVolume Number1aPage number1552Household members
4. ↑ England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 View record NameRay Frances BellDeath Age88Birth Date20 Jun 1911Registration DateJan 2000Registration districtSurrey NorthernInferred CountySurreyRegister NumberNSE8District and Subdistrict7571EEntry Number115Household members Close
5. ↑ Web: Obituary Daily Times Index, 1995-2012 View record NameRay BellAge89Birth DateAbt 1911Death DateAbt 2000Publication Date23 Dec 2000Publication PlaceUSATombstone0Household members
6. ↑ Source: #S-799000635 Page: Class: BT26; Piece: 1047; Item: 135 APID: 1,1518::29200723
7. ↑ Source: #S-799001459 APID: 1,7579::1835720
8. ↑ Source: #S-799000635 Page: Class: BT26; Piece: 1047; Item: 135 APID: 1,1518::29200723
9. ↑ Source: #S-799001459 APID: 1,7579::1835720
10. ↑ Source: #S-799001459 APID: 1,7579::1835720
11. ↑ Source: #S-799000635 Page: Class: BT26; Piece: 1047; Item: 135 APID: 1,1518::29200723
12. ↑ Source: #S-799000635 Page: Class: BT26; Piece: 1047; Item: 135 APID: 1,1518::29200723
13. ↑ Source: #S-799000635 Page: Class: BT26; Piece: 1047; Item: 135 APID: 1,1518::29200723

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Brigitte Theuma for creating WikiTree profile Turrell-111 through the import of Family Tree.ged on Jul 1, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Brigitte and others.