Matthew Bell was a cutler, who was apparently born in Sheffield in 1813, the son of Matthew (a cutler) and his wife, Jane.  He married Ann Bamford in 1835 and six years later was living in Bramall Lane.  In 1851, he was enumerated in the Census in Columbia Place, Suffolk Road – the former manufactory of John Brown – as a table knife manufacturer (employing twenty men).  

He briefly partnered Francis Drake Turner in Bell & Turner, at Beehive Works, Duke Street.  According to a Sheffield directory, they manufactured table, palette, Bowie, and dagger knives.  But they ended their arrangement at the end of 1860.  Turner became involved in Turner & Jepson. 

In 1861, Bell employed eight men.   However, he became insolvent in 1863 and apparently sank into obscurity.  He died on 16 May 1885, aged 71, at Bellefield Terrace (where his son, Arthur, lived).  His widow, Ann, died two years later, aged 72.  Their remains lie in the General Cemetery.