Sydney Pyman Bell was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 halfback and solicitor. Bell played club rugby for Cambridge University

Cambridge University R.U.F.C.

The Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club, or CURUFC, is the rugby union club of Cambridge University, and plays Oxford University in the annual Varsity Match at Twickenham stadium every December. CURUFC players wear light blue and white hooped jerseys with a red lion crest...

 and Northern

Northern Football Club

Northern Football Club are a rugby union club that was founded in 1875, and are based in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne. Their strip is coloured navy Blue, Red and White...

 and played international rugby for the British Isles XV

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

 in their 1896 tour of South Africa

1896 British Lions tour to South Africa

1896 British Isles tour to South Africa was a rugby union tour undertaken by the British Isles, one of the first British and Irish Lions tours. The team toured South Africa for the second time in 1896. Between July 11 and September 5, they played 21 games, including four tests against South Africa...

.

Personal history

Bell was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1875 to Thomas Bell and Mary Ann Moore and was educated at Uppingham School

Uppingham School

Uppingham School is a co-educational independent school of the English public school tradition, situated in the small town of Uppingham in Rutland, England...

 before graduating to King's College, Cambridge

King's College, Cambridge

King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....

 in 1894. He received his BA

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in 1894 and in 1901 he was admitted as a solicitor. Although practicing as a solicitor, Bell eventually became the Assistant District Manager of Martins Bank

Martins Bank

Martins Bank Limited was a Liverpool-based British finanical services company that was taken over by Barclays Bank in 1969. The company has its origins in the 16th century and was said to have been founded by Sir Thomas Gresham, who began trading in Lombard Street under the sign of a grasshopper...

 for the North Eastern District, before retiring in 1922. He married Constance Jane Laing in 1907 and had two daughters.

Rugby career

Bell first came to note as a Rugby player when he was selected to represent Cambridge University, and won a sporting Blue in 1894 when he represented the University in the Varsity match. In 1895 he was selected for invitational touring team the Barbarians

Barbarian F.C.

The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...

. In 1896 Bell was selected for Johnny Hammond's

Johnny Hammond (rugby player)

John "Johnny" Hammond was an English rugby union forward who, although not capped for England, was part of three British Lions tours, all to South Africa. He gained three caps during the 1891 tour to South Africa and captained the 1896 tour, winning another two test caps...

 British Isles team on the country's first official overseas tour. Although not chosen for the first test, he was selected for the second test against South Africa

South Africa national rugby union team

The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

, in Johannesburg. Bell replaced the Reverend Matthew Mullineux

Matthew Mullineux

Matthew Mullineux MC was an English rugby union scrum-half who, although not capped for England, was selected for two British Lions tours. He gained one cap during the 1896 tour to South Africa and captained the 1899 tour of Australia...

 and was partnered at halfback with Louis Magee

Louis Magee

Aloysius Mary "Louis" Magee was an Irish rugby union halfback. Magee played club rugby for Bective Rangers and London Irish and played international rugby for Ireland and was part of the British Isles team in their 1896 tour of South Africa.Magee was capped 27 times for Ireland, ten as captain,...

. The British Isles team won the second test, and Bell kept his place with Magee for the third and fourth tests.