Gell, John Philip

John Philip Gell was born in 1816. He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge, and was later ordained. In 1840, he was invited to take up a post as a principal of a college in Van Diemen's Land [Tasmania], Australia, where he met Sir John Franklin, who was serving as Lieutenant Governor. In 1846, Gell became the first Warden of Christ College in Hobart, a post he held until 1849, the year in which he married Eleanor Franklin, daughter of Sir John Franklin, and his first wife, Eleanor Anne Porden. On his return to England, Gell served as a curate in several parishes. He was widowed in 1860 and died in 1898.

From the guide to the John Philip Gell collection, 1869, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)

Epithet: Perpetual Curate of St. John's, Notting Hill

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000446.0x0003be