 He is not to be confused with his younger brother (possibly half-brother), also called Thomas, also prominent, Sir Thomas Bell the Younger (d. 1560/1), Mayor of Bristol, who also served as Mayor of Gloucester in 1543 and 1554-5.The 1623 Visitation of Gloucestershire reveals nothing as to the parentage of the Bell brothers.The Gloucester family was possibly descended from the ancient de Belne family of Worcestershire.