After a successful re-union organized by the Planner family on Sept 9 2007 it  was decided to create a website devoted to Australian Bell and Youngs.I hope  through this site we can keep in contact and track descendants of our  respective families.

Isaac Bell b 1841 in Bridlington Yorkshire was the son of a blacksmith, he  married Sarah Jane Waines b 1843 in Filey Yokshire in 1861 she was the  daughter of a shepherd. They migrated soon after arriving in Victoria in 1862  on the Boanerges. They went on to have 13 children.

Stephen Young b 1829 in Chiddingstone Kent, the son of a cricket ballmaker  married in 1856 to Sophia Osbourne b 1835 shortly after her father Rueben was  blown up at the Powder Mills Kent where he was a labourer. They migrated as  assisted migrants  arriving in Jan 1857 in Victoria on the Blagnuith.They had  6 children two of who married Bells.

I do not know why young couples migrated in the 1800s. To migrate meant mostly  never seeing your family again almost like a death. There was the lure of gold  but the Bells did not go to the goldfields the Youngs did after probably  quickly working off their obligations for assisted passage.

They possibly migrated because of family history. Issac's younger brother  Edwin was a guest of Her Majesty in the 1861 census at the tender age of 18 or  less. He was still a guest 30 years later. Stephen was also a guest, in the  1851 census he is an inmate at the Kent County Gaol in Maidstone. It would be  interesting to find out why. Sophia who also lost her mother young. In 1851  she was keeping house for a stepfather and brothers.So marriage to Stephen and  migration to Victoria may have looked attractive plus her sister had come her  in 1852. However if they did re-unite this was short as just on 2 years after  Sophia arrived her sister Charlotte Nye along with her children answered the  call to Zion and migrated to Utah in the USA.

To start with on these pages I have includes all descendants of Issac and  Sarah Bell and Stephen and Sophia Young. I have also includes their ancestors  along with the ancestors immediate family where known. I do have more  extensive trees sent to me from cousins in Yorkshire and the USA should any  family members be interested. I imagine this will always be an incomplete  work. We can add names, photos and stories and if our site grows we can  upgrade our membership to include much more.

Please enjoy the site and point out mistakes and make use of our guestbook  feature to stay in contact with each other.

If you have any further information you would like to add to the tree..new  people, stories or pictures let me know and I will update.

Karen