Dr. William Bell

(also known as) Old Dido

Prior to the public opening of Hainault Forest, it was visited by gypsies, tramps, and vagabonds. The most famous of these was ‘Old Dido’, where locally he was well known as a herbalist.  He came to Chigwell Row in 1880, and set up camp in Hainault Forest by the side of Sheep Water well just inside the woodland opposite Chigwell Row School.

Around the turn of the century Alice Clark (1890-1964) was attending Chigwell Row School. She used to visit him with other local children when school had finished for the day. She said his camp was under an oak near Sheep Water, and that he always wore a type of ‘Fez’ with a tassel on the top.  (It was probably a Victorian Smoking Cap!) They used to call him ‘Dido Jones’; this may have been the local children’s nickname for Dido, as there are no other known references to the ‘Jones’ bit. He always referred to himself as Dr Bell, as he claimed many cures for his Herbal medicines.  He wasn’t a gypsy although he lived like a gypsy.  His reputation as a herbalist spread in the Chigwell and Lambourne communities, and he was always in demand.  

Many of his remedies included ‘cures’ for whooping cough, measles, burns and liver complaints.  He believed that “the liver is the kitchen of the body, and if the kitchen is not in order then the whole house will be upset”. The sick would be visited, even those with contagious diseases such as diphtheria and scarlet fever, when others would stay away. Rare ferns collected from Loughton, were made into a ‘green ointment’ that he used for cuts and bruises, sprains, rheumatism and chilblains. The story goes that one winter’s day; the driver of the horse drawn bus that went from Lambourne to Woodford had chilblains so bad that he could not hold his reins. Dido’s green ointment allegedly cured him in two days!  He was a bit of a rogue; he collected the leaves of Hawthorn and Blackthorn, and dried and sold them as Tea in Bunhill Row market in London’s East End.  He also caught wild birds and sold them.  

In 1904, he had to leave the forest, along with the gypsy’s and others, and lived in a field in Vicarage Lane. There was much speculation as to his former life; it has been suggested he had been thwarted in love like the Queen (Dido) from whom he had taken his name. After his death his real name was revealed as William Bell, a London docker and part time fishmonger.  From where he had obtained his herbal skills isn’t known.  

The 1901 Census for Chigwell Row records that William Bell, aged 70, resided in a tent. He was born in Bethnal Green and worked as a herbal doctor.