David Arrigo looks at cameos of potted history with deeply-rooted Malta connections through the extraordinary lives of the Malta-born Bell brothers.

When Malta became a Crown colony in 1814, early British colonialists left their mark by founding businesses, some of which are still operating today.

John Bell, captain of the brigantine called The Sisters, was firstly married to Suzanna Williams in 1812, then to her sister, Charlotte, in 1925. Their daughter, Susan Mary, was born in Bristol and, after coming to Malta, John Thomas and Thomas William Bell were born in 1815 and 1819.

The three children were educated at the Missionary School in Sliema, known as the ‘Institution’. Here, they learnt French, Arabic and Maltese, the knowledge of which took them away from the island ‒ the boys were employed as interpreters to Maltese workmen engaged on overseas missions.

Malta’s first Lloyd’s agent, John Hunter, introduced the Bell and McDowall families to each other. David Keay McDowall started his ship’s chandlery business called McDowall & Co. in circa 1812 and with his wife Barbara had four sons, all working in the business. The eldest, John Joseph, married Susan Mary Bell in 1841. All members of this tragic McDowall family died young.

Susan Mary Bell had two children during only two years of marriage. Charlotte died as an infant and John Miller was born a month before his father died. Susan, with her entire family all dead, left Malta with her infant son, John Miller McDowall,and stepmother Charlotte for Britain in 1843. The business remained in the hands of her two unmarried brothers-in-law living at 32, Strada San Paolo.

Salvatore Grima, from Gozo , joined the McDowall firm in 1853. By 1857, nearly all the McDowalls in Malta had died, leaving a 14-year minor as heir to the business;  he lived in Britain with his mother. By 1860, Grima was general manager and, in 1870, the heir, John Miller McDowell, now 27 years old, handed over the business to Grima.

Today, Salvo Grima Group of Companies is owned and run by the sixth generation of the Grima family.

In 1830, Acting Lt Colonel Chesney, commanding the 4th Battalion of the Royal Artillery in Malta, had what he thought to be a better idea than the proposed Suez Canal, as route to India, by using the Euphrates River Valley to the Persian Gulf.

In 1825, he meticulously surveyed the land north of Suez to fulfil the 19th-century England’s desire to find a shortcut to India, which eventually was to be the original basis for Ferdinand de Lesseps’s building of the Suez Canal.

Chesney was quickly dispatched to the Middle East where he spent a precarious three years reconnoitring this proposed route passing through Syria, Persia and Iraq, travelling by whatever means available.

The region was as dangerous as it is now. Lions roamed the countryside as did hostile tribes. He reached Aleppo on February 26, 1832 and, finally, returned to Britain via Constantinople. Shortly after arrival, Chesney was summoned for an audience with King William IV on April 16, 1833.

A year later, Chesney’s proposal was the one most favoured by the king and parliament voted £20,000 (£2 million today) for the expedition to proceed.

Lairds of Birkenhead built the two primitive paddle-driven ex-riverboats required as they had mastered the technique of building partly-built ships which were delivered to remote parts of the world for assembly on the spot. They were to be delivered to the mouth of the Orontes River, in Syria via Malta. Having the king’s blessing, nothing stood in Chesney’s way.

In 1835, Chesney set out for Malta with two fully-loaded steam vessels, accompanied by a body of experts to carry out the survey and navigation of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris.

Robert Hunter, who operated one of the first steam tugs in the Grand Harbour, employed John Thomas Bell, who must have shown prowess in his work, as he was introduced to Col Francis Rawdon Chesney, from another English family which was to have, in the future, deep Malta connections. Bell joined Chesney on his Euphrates expedition in 1835.

In Malta, they took aboard Christian A. Rassam and Bell to act as foremen and interpreters to the contingent of 12 Maltese artisans and Arab seamen. Together on board the George Canning they sailed out of Grand Harbour amid a cheering crowd from the bastions. They arrived in Cyprus nine days later. Finding the flow of the Orontes River into the Mediterranean too great for the flat-bottomed paddle-steamers, they loaded the dismantled ships onto a massive mule train. Bell and his party of Maltese then worked on improving the goat track route to Antioch, before loading this unbelievable cargo.

It was a brutal and overwhelming challenge to haul two paddle-steamers for 140 miles, across a swamp, a desert and over a range of mountains.

They sailed out of Grand Harbour amid a cheering crowd from the bastions

While recovering in a temporary hospital from malaria, Bell was visited by an Englishman called Elliot, known as ‘Dervish Ali’, who taught the young man from Malta all there was to know about survival in the most hostile of regions by adapting to the Muslim way of life and dressing like a native.

For over a year, the contingent plodded on before finally launching into the Euphrates to begin descending the river.

Apart from Bell and his band of Maltese artisans, many scientists, army officers and Arab seamen were taken aboard. The journey was slow, which delighted the botanists as it allowed them time to collect endless samples.

One of the coal barges then hit a rock and sank. Being unrecoverable, they built pontoon rafts to carry firewood to replace the coal. Progress became even slower until May 21, when they were hit by a massive tornado.  The Tigris rolled over and sank, taking with her the captain and 20 of the crew. Bell and Chesney survived by swimming ashore. The Euphrates paddled at full-speed astern and climbed onto the river bank to relative safety. The expedition was over in just 25 minutes.

The survivors, however, unanimously decided to complete the survey of the river and the Euphrates continued its journey. It arrived in Basra on June 18, thus quickly completing its mission which, ironically, offered no further challenges.

But for Chesney, his hopes of finding a shortcut to India were shattered. Yet, through his vision, Britain gained influence in an area that, sadly, today has turned into a bitter warzone with IS and other factions in control.

Through the efforts of Chesney, the Suez Canal route opened in 1869. In some circles, he is, in fact, known as the ‘father’ of the Suez Canal. As a reward for their services on this trip, the two ‘interpreters’ were later appointed British vice-consuls, with Rassam at Mosul and Bell at Aleppo.

Bell parted company with Chesney, never knowing that it would be the Chesney name that would be perpetuated in Malta through Chesney’s grandchildren. It took 30 years for Chesney to complete the expedition’s official report.

In his 70th year, a son called Alexander was born to his wife Louise, whom he married in adulthood in 1895, prior to becoming a colonel.

Alexander married Baronessina Rosalie, younger sister of the Mary Sceberras D’Amico Inguanez, the 20th baroness of Djar-il-Bniet and Buqana, the premier noble of Malta and wife of Col. Alexander McKean. She was better known as Mary D’Ámico.

McKean, who married the baroness in 1890, had served in the Transvaal War and died in 1933. They had no children. The Chesneys had four: Alexander (Ian), Frances, Mario and Norah.

Col Chesney was a leading figure in Malta and the first Adjutant of the Malta Militia in 1882. He fought in the Egyptian Campaign of 1882 and in Sudan. He was made colonel in 1904 and retired a year later but, in spite of his age, he rejoined the army, commanding the 10th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment in France during the Great War.

Neither family, Chesney nor McKean, had any further issue.

The Inguanez Estate, all within Mdina, consisted of Casa Inguanez, filled with Chesney adventure memorabilia, and Palazzo St Sophia, housing Malta’s oldest car, the so-called 1904 Inguanez Cadillac, garaged and unmolested since circa 1907.

The estate was left to Ian (Alexander) Chesney when the baroness died. He added the Chesney name to an already triple-barrelled family name. Both he and his brother died young, leaving the title, estate and car to his sister, Frances. Ian tinkered with the Cadillac in his youth but never got it to run.

It was ‘discovered’ by the author in 1968. The sale to him only went through when Baroness Frances discovered that Arrigo, like her brother, was Downside-educated.

The estate, less the car, was then inherited by Carmel Apap Bologna, who was the nearest relative − son of Alexander and Nina De Piro D’Amico Inguanez − who became the 23rd baron of Djar il-Bniet and Buqana in 1983.

Apap Bologna married Ann Cassar Torreggiani and they had four siblings: Francesco, Kristina, James and Stephanie. James married Jeanette Battles and Stephanie married Martin Testaferrata Moroni Viani. Both couples have three children.

Bell never looked back to his birthplace, having lost both his parents in Malta − his mother died before the Euphrates expedition and his father not long after.

Fired by the thrill of further travel, Bell made his way to Cairo, the hotbed for Victorian explorers, where he worked for Lieutenant Thomas Waghorn, the so-called postal pioneer, working on a shortcut mail route to India. Bell also renewed his acquaintance with the missionaries that had educated him in Malta, particularly a Mr Lieder, who was the principal contact of the Protestant Missionaries, who had left Malta for Abyssinia in 1830.

John Bell in Ethiopia

Cairo, a magnet for adventure seekers, attracted John Thomas Bell. Here, he sought his next adventure − the search for the source of the Nile. He worked for Thomas Waghorn, who was researching a short mail route to India.

In 1840, Bell travelled to Abyssinia in search of a missing explorer called Airston. Abyssinia was remote, savage and dangerous. It was ruled by warlord princes, who were constantly at war, governing their small kingdoms and taking over others.

Following the advice given to him in Syria by Dervish Ali, Bell went native, attiring himself as a Muslim trader and joining a mule caravan travelling to Gondor. Dejai Goshu, the ruler of the Gojjam Province, who was leading Prince Ras Ali’s army, met Bell and summoned him to join his caravan train. Bell was given a mule, two lances and a gold and silver shield decorated with the tail of a lion.

The caravan was attacked and Bell suffered horrendous injuries as he was speared in the face. On his return journey to Cairo for medical aid, he dressed as an Abyssinian warrior, bare-shouldered and complete with shield and lance, much to the amazement of the European ladies aboard the ferry.

In 1843, having recovered from his injuries in Cairo, Bell met Walter Plowden to whom he painted a glowing picture of adventure, fun and freedom, resulting in the two deciding to trace the source of the Blue Nile in Abyssinia. They were to become two of the most important Abyssinian explorers.

These youngsters rather foolishly presented themselves to the authorities dressed as natives but were denied interviews. They eventually entered Abyssinia where they wandered for two long years, where they were often attacked and had to fight their way out of trouble, which meant killing their assailants.

Bell became totally native, especially after marrying a girl called Woizero, from one of the noble families. She gave him three children, Susan, Mary and John Aligas Bell. The girls eventually married European missionaries while the son disappeared.

In 1847, Plowden proceeded to Britain, where he returned as ‘Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul in Abyssinia’ with a ‘treaty of friendship and commerce’ with Prince Ras Ali, the chieftain of Tigré, who had employed Bell as captain of his army.

The two men, then in their early 30s, led very different lives. Plowden retained his English values, wearing English dress and considering himself as an ‘imperium in imperio’. He was perfect at his job though he was totally ostentatious, travelling with a huge, armed entourage.

On the other hand, Bell identified himself as being an Abyssinian and behaved and fought like an Abyssinian warrior. Who would have thought this of a missionary educated boy from Sliema?

In 1853, the ambitious Prince Kassa attacked his father-in-law, Ras Ali’s army at the Battle of Gur Amba Djisella, in which Bell fought on the side of Ras Ali, who lost the battle and was killed. Bell retreated into a church where he sought asylum while awaiting his fate.

On hearing of a European seeking sanctuary, Kassa sent word to the Englishman to come to him and offered him safety. Bell obeyed and a strong friendship instantly developed between the two. In Kassa, Bell saw the ideals he had dreamed of, as inspired by Dervish Ali, and was thereafter forever by his side and given the rank of Chamberlain. Bell and Plowden together became the most powerful advisers to the king.

The Anglo-Abyssinian War would have not taken place had Bell been alive

In 1854, with Bell by his side, Kassa was victorious at the Battle of Dirasge.

He proclaimed himself emperor on February 8, 1855 and was crowned as Téwodros II of Ethiopia (Theodore II).

Bell joined Theodore on every expedition and fought at every battle. Feared and obeyed by all, he imprisoned many of the feudal chiefs he defeated in battle, promising their release once he had control over the whole country, thus seeing the end of the Zemene Mesafint (86 years with 23 so-called emperors). This was the beginning of the modern Ethiopia.

Desperate for medical attention in Britain, Plowden started his homeward journey to England, only to be attacked and killed by the rebel Garad brothers.

Bell swore that he would avenge his friend’s death.

Abyssinia had from time immemorial encouraged Christian missionaries teaching Christianity but also educated the chiefs as best they could with European civilisation, literature and the arts.

One such missionary was Theophilus Waldmeier, who was presented to King Theodore by Bell. On December 4, 1859, Waldmeier married Bell’s daughter,  Susan. Another missionary named Karl Saalmüller married Bell’s other daughter, Mary, in 1867.

In 1860, while riding ahead of their army, King Theodore and Bell came across the Garad brothers. Feeling imminent danger, Bell rushed forward, shielding Theodore from his would-be attackers, while at the same time shooting Plowden’s murderer, Dejai. His brother then shot Bell through the heart. Theodore singled out Garad and killed him, and then executed many of his followers after winning the ensuing battle of Waldiba.

Theodore deeply mourned the loss because Bell was not only a faithful friend but also his most trusted adviser.

In 1862, an English consul, Captain Cameron, went to Abyssinia accompanied by his French secretary. He wished for closer relations with England and prepared ‘nice’ letters to be delivered personally to Queen Victoria and Napoleon III. But these letters never reached their destination.

Naturally, Theodore, who had received no response to his letters and after two years in frustrated desperation, took as hostages Cameron and nearly all the foreigners, justifying his act by this speech: “…I thought that all Europeans were like my beloved John Bell, who always spoke the truth; but you are liars...”

Theodore’s hatred grew, turning him into a monster and the hostages endured six years of horror until, finally, in December 1867, a rescue mission made up of a massive British Expeditionary Force led by Sir Robert Napier left India. This resulted in the Anglo-Abyssinian War, which would have not taken place had Bell been alive and Britain would have saved billions of pounds.

Confronted by a huge army of Redcoats and camp followers armed with Snider rifles, Theodore realised that his army, arm­ed with spears and ancient guns, would be no match against the British. Reluctant to surrender as advised, he took the pistol, believed to have been given to him by Queen Victoria, and shot himself in the head.

On Easter Sunday, April 12, 1868, 59 hostages were released to the English camp. Among them were Bell’s daughters, who all left for Europe, along with the six-year-old son of Theodore II, the crown prince Alamayou, his only legitimate son. It was his mother’s wish that her child be sent to Britain and put in the care of the British government in the event of her death.

On his way to England, under the care of Captain Tristram Speedy, Alamayou stopped in Malta, where he was photographed by Leander Preziosi.

Susan died in 1893 and Mary in 1936. Their future lives have been well documented in a series of articles on the internet found on Tandscandal.wordpress.com. These follow the lives of John Bell’s descendants until this day. A highly recommended and fascinating read.

[attach id="1034749" size="large" align="left" type="image"]An illustration of Sir Robert Napiers troops firing on Theodore’s Army.[/attach]

The continuation of this article, to be published next week, will relate how Thomas William Bell left Malta for Grenada with a shipload of Maltese migrants in 1839.