Thomas M. Bell of Yarra Flats, was born in Scotland in 1821, and came to Australia in 1839. He and his father first went to Heidelberg for a time, and afterwards to the Stringybark Forest to cut timber for building purposes. Mr Bell purchased a piece of land at Kangaroo Ground, which was his residence until he selected 200 acres on Yarra Flats, where he now resides and carries on his business of grazing and dairy farming. He built his first hotel in the locality and still retains it. In 1851, the year of the great Black Thursday bush fire, Mr Bell, his brothers, Mr Armstrong, and a few others drove a mob of cattle from Kangaroo Ground to Mr Dickinson’s station on Yarra Flats – no light feat that terrible day. He was married in 1866 to Miss Mary E. Brown, a native of Victoria.
from “Victoria and its Metropolis: Past and Present” written in 1888 by Alexander Sutherland.
Chapter 19, “The Upper Yarra District” pages [402] – 415. Includes descriptions of some townships and short biographies of local residents. Page 405
