Modern English Biography (volume 1 of 4) A-H

BELL, Jacob (son of John Bell of 338 Oxford st. London, chemist who d. 14 Jany. 1849 aged 74). b. 338 Oxford St. 5 March 1810; apprenticed to his father 1827–32; chemist in Oxford st. 1832 to death, his drugs earned a European reputation; founder of Pharmaceutical Society 1841, on which he spent a large sum; edited Pharmaceutical Journal July 1841 to death; M.P. for St. Albans 24 Dec. 1850 to 1 July 1852; contested Great Malvern 1852 and Marylebone 1854; collected at his house 15 Langham place, London a gallery of pictures many by Sir Edwin Landseer, the 13 best of which he bequeathed to the nation; F.L.S. 6 March 1832; author of Chemical and pharmaceutical processes and products 1852. d. Tunbridge Wells 12 June 1859. J. Bell and T. Redwood’s Historical sketch of progress of pharmacy (1880) 280–92; I.L.N. xviii, 299 (1851), portrait, xxxi, 4, 24 (1859), portrait.

BELL, James Spencer. b. 1818; M.P. for Guildford 7 July 1852 to 21 March 1857. d. 1 Devonshire place, Portland place, London 22 Feb. 1872.

BELL, John (only son of John Bell of Thirsk). b. 1809; M.P. for Thirsk 1 July 1841 to death; declared insane by a commission July 1849. d. Thirsk 5 March 1851.

BELL, Rev. John. b. Snaith, Yorkshire; ed. at Douay, France; ordained priest at Crook hall, co. Durham 23 Dec. 1794; prefect general of Douay college Durham and professor of rhetoric and poetry 1794–1817, the college was moved from Crook hall to Ushaw 1808; appointed to mission of Samlesbury near Preston 1817 and to Kippax park Yorkshire 1828; author of The wanderings of the human intellect, or a new dictionary of sects 1814, 2 ed. 1838. d. Selby 31 May 1854 aged 87.

BELL, John. Lived in Abyssinia 1842 to death; general in army of Ras Ali the ruler of Abyssinia 1848 who gave him the province of Diddim; taken prisoner by Kasai 1853 who deposed Ali and took title of Theodorus; minister and general in chief to Theodorus 1853 to death; killed in a battle fought against Garred at Waldabba near the western bank of the Taccazy river 31 Oct. 1860 after he had himself killed Garred.

BELL, John. b. Newcastle 1782; Bookseller at Newcastle; land surveyor at Gateshead; one of founders of Society of antiquaries of Newcastle on Tyne, treasurer 6 Feb. 1813; author of Rhymes of northern bards 1812; contributed to Gent. Mag.d. Bentinck crescent, Newcastle 30 Oct. 1864.

BELL, John. b. Ireland 1796; went to the United States 1810; author of On baths and mineral waters 1831; Practical dictionary of materia medica 1841; On regimen and longevity 1842; Dietetical and medical hydrology 1850. d. Philadelphia 1872.

BELL, Sir John (son of David Bell of Bonytoun, Fifeshire). b. Bonytoun 1 Jany. 1782; ensign 52 Foot 15 Aug. 1805; served in Peninsular war; permanent assistant quartermaster general to 10 Nov. 1814; chief sec. of government at Cape of Good Hope 1828–41; aide de camp to the sovereign 6 May 1831 to 23 Nov. 1841; lieut. governor of Guernsey 24 Jany. 1848 to 30 June 1854; col. of 95 Foot 25 June 1850 and of 4 Foot 26 Dec. 1853 to death; general 15 June 1860; C.B. 4 June 1815, K.C.B. 6 April 1852, G.C.B. 18 May 1860. d. 55 Cadogan place, London 20 Nov. 1876. I.L.N. lxix, 541 (1876), portrait.

BELL, John David (youngest son of George Joseph Bell, professor of law at Univ. of Aberdeen). b. 1823 or 1824; barrister M.T. 12 May 1848; practised at Calcutta 1850–58; founder and chairman of Positive Life Assurance Company 1870; standing counsel to government of India at Calcutta 1878 to death. d. Calcutta 15 Aug. 1880 in 57 year.

BELL, John Gray (son of Thomas Bell of Newcastle 1785–1860). b. Newcastle 21 Sep. 1823; a bookseller in London 1848–54 and in Manchester 1854 to death; published a valuable series of Tracts on the topography history and dialects of the counties of Great Britain 1850; author of A descriptive and critical catalogue of works illustrated by Thomas and John Bell 1851; privately printed A genealogical account of the descendants of John of Gaunt 1855. d. Manchester 21 Feb. 1866.

BELL, John Montgomerie. b. Paisley 1804; advocate in Edinburgh 1825; advocate depute 1847; sheriff of Kincardine 7 May 1851 to death; author of Treatise on law of arbitration in Scotland 1861; The martyr of liberty, a poem 1863. d. Linnhouse 16 Oct. 1862.

BELL, Jonathan Anderson (2 son of James Bell, advocate). b. Glasgow 1809; ed. at Univ. of Edin.; spent some years with Messrs. Rickman and Hutcheson of Birmingham, architects; an architect in Edinburgh 1838 to death; sec. to Royal Association for the promotion of the fine arts in Scotland May 1839 to death; author of Poems. Privately printed 1865. d. Edinburgh 28 Feb. 1865. Poems by J. A. Bell (1865) v-xi.

BELL, Sir Joshua Peter. b. co. Kildare 1826; owner with his father and brothers of a splendid station called Jimbour near Dalby, Queensland where they became great wool growers; M.P. for Dalby in Queensland parliament 1863 to March 1879; colonial treasurer 1871–74; pres. of legislative council March 1879 to death; K.C.M.G. 24 Nov. 1881. d. Brisbane 20 Dec. 1881. Illust. sporting and dramatic news xvi, 405 (1882), portrait.

BELL, Lady Marion (2 dau. of Charles Shaw of Ayr). b. Edinburgh 1787. (m. 3 June 1811 Sir Charles Bell, F.R.S., celebrated physiologist b. Nov. 1774 d. 28 April 1842). Granted a civil list pension of £100 for her husband’s services to science 14 Sep. 1843; published The letters of Sir Charles Bell 1870. d. 47 Albany st. Regent’s park, London 9 Nov. 1876.

BELL, Matthew. b. 18 April 1793; ed. at Eton and Ch. Ch. Ox.; sheriff of Northumberland 1816; M.P. for Northumberland 1826–31 and for South Northumberland 1832–52; lieut. col. of Northumberland and Newcastle yeomanry cavalry 1826–63. d. Woolsington near Newcastle 28 Oct. 1871.

BELL, Oswald Home. M.R.C.S. Edin. 3 Feb. 1863; professor of medicine in Univ. of St. Andrews 1863 to death; dean of the medical faculty. d. The Scores, St. Andrews 24 June 1875 in 39 year.

BELL, Rev. Patrick (son of George Bell of Mid Leoch farm, parish of Auchterhouse near Dundee). b. Mid Leoch farm April 1799; ed. at Univ. of St. Andrews, LLD. 1867; ordained 1843; minister of Carmyllie, Arbroath Dec. 1843 to death; invented a reaping machine 1826 being 7 or 8 years before the earliest American inventors; presented by Highland Society with sum of £1000 1868. d. The manse of Carmyllie 22 April 1869. Reg. and mag. of biog. i, 473 (1869); I.L.N. lii, 225 (1868), portrait.

BELL, Robert (son of Benjamin Bell, surgeon). b. 1782; ed. at high school Edinburgh; advocate 1809; sheriff of Berwickshire 1842–60; procurator to Church of Scotland 1842 to death; member of Bannatyne club; made a fine collection of Rembrandt etchings. d. 15 Great Stuart st. Edinburgh 27 April 1861. Crombie’s Modern Athenians (1882), portrait.

BELL, Robert (youngest son of John Bell of Cork). b. Cork 16 Jany. 1800; ed. at Trin. coll. Dublin where he originated the Dublin Historical Society; settled in London 1828; edited the Atlas weekly paper many years, the Monthly Chronicle and the Home News a monthly journal; author of History of Russia 3 vols. 1838; Lives of the English poets 2 vols. 1839; Wayside pictures through France, Belgium and Holland 1849, 2 ed. 1858; Hearts and altars 3 vols. 1852; The ladder of gold 3 vols. 1856; The annotated edition of the English poets 24 vols. 1854–57, and of 3 five-act comedies, Marriage 1842; Mothers and daughters 1843, 2 ed. 1845 and Temper 1847. d. 14 York st., Portman sq. London 12 April 1867.

BELL, Venerable Robert. Ordained 1831; Inc. of Tipperary 1866 to death; archdeacon of Cashel 1872 to death; canon of St. Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin. d. rectory Tipperary 10 Jany. 1883 in 75 year.

BELL, Robert Charles. b. Edinburgh 1806; Engraved a series of Scottish views and a number of vignette portraits, also many plates for the Royal Scottish Association; his largest and most important work was an engraving of Sir William Allan’s Battle of Preston Pans which he completed in 1872; several of his best plates appeared in the Art Journal 1850–72. d. Edinburgh 5 Sep. 1872. Art Journal (1872) 284.

BELL, Sir Sydney Smith (9 son of Wm. Bell, of London, banker). b. 1805; ed. at Univs. of Edin. and Glasgow; barrister I.T. 3 May 1839; puisne judge at Cape of Good Hope 7 Feb. 1851, and first puisne judge May 1858; chief justice of supreme court and pres. of legislative council of Cape of Good Hope 16 Dec. 1868 to 1879; knighted by patent 9 Oct. 1869; author of Cases decided in the House of Lords on appeal from the courts of Scotland 7 vols. 1843–52; Colonial administration of Great Britain 1859. d. 42 Kensington park road, London 13 Sep. 1879.

BELL, Thomas (son of Richard Bell of Newcastle). b. Newcastle 16 Dec. 1785; land valuer and surveyor; an antiquary, assisted the local topographical authors in their works especially Rev. John Hodgson in his History of Northumberland 6 vols. 1827–40; one of the founders of Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society and of Society of antiquaries of Newcastle 1813. d. Newcastle 30 April 1860.

BELL, Thomas (only son of Thomas Bell of Poole, Dorset, surgeon). b. Poole 11 Oct. 1792; studied at Guys and St. Thomas’s hospitals; M.R.C.S. 1815, F.R.C.S. 1844, F.L.S. 1815, pres. 1853–61; dental surgeon to Guy’s hospital 1817–61 where he lectured on comparative anatomy; F.R.S. 10 Jany. 1828, junior secretary 1848–53; professor of Zoology at King’s college London 1836 to death; pres. of the Ray Society 1843–59; purchased in 1866 from the grandnieces of Gilbert White The Wakes, Selborne where he lived to his death; author of Monograph of Testudinata, parts 1–8, 1832–37, folio; History of British quadrupeds 1837, 2 ed. 1874; History of British reptiles 1839; History of British Stalk-eyed Crustacea 1853; edited White’s Natural history of Selborne 2 vols. 1877. d. The Wakes, Selborne 13 March 1880. Nature xxi, 473, 499 (1880).

BELL, Sir William (son of Wm. Bell of Ripon, Yorkshire). b. 1788; ed. at Woolwich; 2 lieut. R.A. 23 Nov. 1804; served through Peninsular war; colonel R.A. 18 March 1852, colonel commandant 26 Dec. 1865 to death; general 31 Jany. 1872; K.C.B. 13 March 1867. d. South lodge, Ripon 28 March 1873.

BELLAIRS, Rev. Henry (3 son of Abel Walford Bellairs of Uffington, Lincolnshire 1755–1839). b. 29 Aug. 1790; midshipman on board H.M.S. Spartiate; wounded twice at Trafalgar; cornet 15 Hussars 25 Nov. 1808; lieut. 26 May 1809 to 1811; ed. at St. Mary hall Ox., B.A. 1820, M.A. 1823; R. of Bedworth, Warws 1830; V. of Hunsingore, Yorkshire 1832 to death; hon. canon of Worcester Sep. 1853 to death. d. Paignton near Torquay 17 April 1872.

BELLAIRS, Sir William (younger brother of the preceding). b. Uffington 1793; cornet 15 Hussars 2 May 1811; captain 10 April 1817 to 10 Feb. 1820 when he sold out; exon of Yeomen of the Guard 19 Sep. 1837 to Dec. 1848; knighted by the Queen at St. James’s Palace 17 May 1848. (m. 1822 Cassandra dau. of Edmund Hooke of Mulbarton lodge, Norfolk, she d. 1876). d. London 2 Oct. 1863.

BELLAMY, George. b. Plymouth 15 Nov. 1773; surgeon’s mate R.N. Feb. 1793; surgeon 19 May 1795; surgeon to the Bellerophon 74 guns 1796–1800; served at battle of the Nile; placed on retired list 1817; M.R.C.P.; mayor of Plymouth 1811–12. d. Plymouth 10 Oct. 1863.

BELLAMY, Rev. James William (son of John Bellamy). b. 25 Nov. 1788; ed. at Merchant Taylors’ school and Queen’s coll. Cam., B.A. 1811, M.A. 1816; Norrisian and Seatonian prizeman 1815; incorporated at St. John’s coll. Ox. 1820, B.D. 1821; head master of Merchant Taylors’ school 6 April 1819 to 23 July 1845; V. of Sellinge, Kent 1822 to death; preb. of St. Paul’s cathedral 10 March 1843 to death; F.R.S. 18 Dec. 1834; edited A concordance to the Holy Bible 1818. d. Sellinge 2 March 1874.

BELLAMY, John Cremer. b. Plymouth 7 Dec. 1812; L.S.A. 1833, M.R.C.S. 1834; Curator of Plymouth Institute and Devon and Cornwall Nat. Hist. Society; author of The natural history of South Devon 1839; The housekeeper’s guide to the fish market for each month of the year 1843, new ed. 1862; A thousand facts in the histories of Devon and Cornwall 1850. d. George st. Plymouth 12 May 1854.

BELLAMY, William Hoare. b. Cork 5 Aug. 1800; made his début at Elmsworth 1825 as Sir Simon Rochdale in John Bull; went to the United States; made his début in New York 1838. (m. Mrs. A. W. Penson, she was b. Scotland and acted in the United States 1838 to her death May 1857). d. Greenpoint, Long Island 15 April 1866.

BELLARS, Henry John. b. Chester; a schoolmaster; sec. and curator of Chester Natural History Society; photographic artist in London 1862 to death; the best facsimilist in England; author of Illustrated catalogue of British land and freshwater shells 1858; The historical numismatic atlas of the Roman emperors. d. 12 Bedford court, Covent Garden 22 June 1868 aged 44.

BELLASIS, Edward (only son of Rev. George Bellasis, V. of Basildon, Berkshire who d. 1814). b. Basildon vicarage 14 Oct. 1800; ed. at Christ’s Hospital 1808–15; barrister I.T. 2 July 1824; employed in parliamentary practice 1836–66, counsel in 342 important cases; serjeant at law 10 July 1844; received into Roman Catholic Church 28 Sep. 1850; trustee with J. R. Hope-Scott Q.C. of Earl of Shrewsbury 1853–56; steward of manors of Duke of Norfolk in Norfolk and Suffolk 1863; one of the 3 comrs. who reported on College of Arms 1870; author of several anonymous pamphlets. d. Hyères, France 24 Jany. 1873. The Tablet 1 Feb. 1873 p. 138.

BELLEW, Patrick, 1 Baron (elder son of Sir Edward Bellew, 6 baronet who d. 15 March 1827). b. London 29 Jany 1798; succeeded 15 March 1827; lord lieut. of co. Louth 1832 to death; col. of Louth militia 17 Nov. 1843 to death; M.P. for Louth 1831–1832 and 1834–1837; P.C. Ireland 1838; created a peer of Ireland by title of Baron Bellew of Barmeath co. Louth 17 July 1848. d. Barmeath 10 Dec. 1866.

BELLEW, Rev. Sir Christopher, 2 Baronet. b. 1818; succeeded 26 June 1855. d. at house of the Jesuit Fathers, Gardiner st. Dublin 18 March 1867.

BELLEW, John Chippendall Montesquieu (only child of Robert Higgin, lieutenant 12 Foot who d. 24 Jany. 1853). b. Lancaster 3 Aug. 1823; ed. at Lancaster gr. sch. and St. Mary hall Ox.; assumed his mother’s name of Bellew Aug. 1844; C. of St. Andrew’s Worcester 1849; C. of Prescot Lancs. 1850; assistant chaplain in Bengal 1851; chaplain of St. John’s cathedral Calcutta Dec. 1852 to 1855; edited the Bengal Hurkaru; assistant minister of St. Philip’s Regent’s st. London 1855–57; P.C. of St. Mark’s St. John’s Wood 1857–62; minister of Bedford chapel Bloomsbury 26 Oct. 1862 to 1868; one of the most popular preachers in London; received into Church of Rome Oct. 1869; executed deed of relinquishment of holy orders 13 Aug. 1870; very successful as a public reader in England and the United States; author of Shakespeare’s house at New Place 1863; Blount Tempest a novel 3 vols. 1866; Poets Corner, a manual for students 1868. d. 16 Circus road, St. John’s Wood 19 June 1874. Bentley’s Quarterly Review i, 476–92 (1859); Traits of character by a contemporary i, 285–312 (1860); Cartoon portraits (1873) 50–51, portrait; Graphic x, 15 (1874), portrait; E. Yates’s Recollections ii, 66–69 (1884).

BELLEW, Sir Michael Dillon, 1 Baronet (son of Christopher Dillon Bellew of Mount Bellew, co. Galway 1763–1826). b. 29 Sep. 1796; created a baronet 15 Aug. 1838. d. Greenville lodge, Rathmines near Dublin 26 June 1855.

BELLEW, Richard Montesquieu (younger son of Sir Edward Bellew 6 baronet who d. 1827). b. 12 Feb. 1803; M.P. for co. Louth 21 Dec. 1832 to 1 July 1852 and 16 May 1859 to 6 July 1865; a lord of the treasury 6 Aug. 1847 to 1852; member of Local government board, Ireland. d. Dublin 8 Jany. 1880.

BELLEW, Thomas Arthur Grattan. b. 1824; M.P. for co. Galway 26 July 1852 to 21 March 1857; assumed additional surname of Grattan by r.l. 19 March 1859. d. Mount Bellew, Duleek, co. Galway 24 July 1863.

BELLHOUSE, Edward Taylor (eld. son of David Bellhouse of Manchester). b. Manchester 10 Oct. 1816; started firm of E. T. Bellhouse and Co., engineers, Eagle foundry, Hunt st. Manchester 1 July 1842; erected the Gas works for Buenos Ayres, Pernambuco and Athens; erected many large bridges for various railways and many iron buildings; pres. of Manchester Mechanics’ Institute; M.I.M.E. 1857. d. Southport 13 Oct. 1881. Proc. of Instit. of M.E. (1882) 1–2.

BELLINGHAM, O’Bryen (3 son of Sir Alan Bellingham, 2 baronet 1776–1827). b. 12 Dec. 1805; ed. at Feinagle’s school; M.D. Univ. of Edin. and L.R.C.S. Edin. 1830; professor of botany, Royal college of surgeons Ireland to 1850, a surgical examiner 1850, chairman of the court 1856; sec. of Surgical society of Ireland to death; surgeon to St. Vincent’s hospital 1835 to death; author of Observations on aneurism and its treatment by compression 1847; Treatise on diseases of the heart 1857. d. The Castle, Castle Bellingham, co. Louth 11 Oct. 1857. Dublin Journal of medical science lxiv, 469–75 (1877).

BELLOC, Anne Louise (dau. of Colonel James Swanton, commandant of Rocroi, France who was b. Ireland). b. La Rochelle 1 Oct. 1796; assisted Lafayette in establishing public libraries; founded a choice circulating library; translated many English books into French. (m. 1823 Jean Hilaire Belloc, Director of Royal School of Design, Paris who d. 1866). d. Paris 6 Nov. 1881. S. J. Hale’s Woman’s record, 2 ed. 1855 p. 583, portrait.

BELLOT, Joseph René. b. Paris 18 March 1826: served in French navy 1843–50; went as a volunteer with captain Kennedy in the Prince Albert in search of Sir John Franklin 1851–52; sailed in the Phœnix for the Arctic regions 10 May 1853; left the ship to carry dispatches to Sir Edward Belcher 12 Aug. 1853; author of Journal d’un voyage aux Mers Polaires 1854; fell into a crack in the ice near Cape Bowden and drowned 18 Aug. 1853; an obelisk was erected to his memory by public subscription in front of Greenwich hospital 1857. Memoirs of J. R. Bellot 2 vols. 1855, portrait.

BELLOT, Thomas (elder son of Thomas Bellot of Manchester, surgeon). b. Manchester 16 March 1806; ed. at Manchester gr. sch.; pupil of Joseph Jordan, surgeon; M.R.C.S. 15 Feb. 1828, F.R.C.S. 6 Aug. 1844; assistant surgeon H.M. sloop Harrier 1831; surgeon R.N. 1835; surgeon H.M. flag ship Britannia Nov. 1854; author of translations of the Aphorisms of Hippocrates and of Galen On the hand 1850; Sanskrit derivation of English words 1856; arranged two collections of Chinese coins, one of which he presented to the Natural history society of Manchester; collected many ancient Chinese bronzes and a library of Chinese works. d. 37 Greek st. Stockport 25 June 1857. Manchester school register iii, 118 (1874); Medical directory (1858) 849–50.

BELMORE, George, stage name of George Belmore Garstin. Made his début in London at Marylebone theatre 26 Dec. 1856 as Bokes in The Creole; acted at Princess’s and Drury Lane theatres; played Nat Gosling in Boucicault’s drama Flying Scud at Holborn theatre more than 200 nights from 6 Oct. 1866; acted in the provinces and at Adelphi theatre where he played Newman Noggs in Nicholas Nickleby 20 March 1875 to July 1875; acted in New York Aug. to Oct. 1875. (m. 16 April 1862 Alice Maude dau. of Wm. Cooke proprietor of Astley’s Amphitheatre). d. New York 15 Nov. 1875 aged 47. Entr’acte 27 Nov. 1875, portrait.

BELOE, Charles (2 son of Rev. Wm. Beloe 1756–1817, Prebendary of St. Paul’s). A clerk in the London Twopenny post office; sec. to the Alfred club. d. Reading 23 Oct. 1855 aged 69.

BELPER, Edward Strutt, 1 Baron (only son of Wm. Strutt of St. Helen’s house Derby, manufacturer 1756–1830). b. Derby 26 Oct. 1801; ed. at Trin. coll. Cam.; B.A. 1823, M.A. 1826, L.L.D. 1862; M.P. for Derby 1830–1848 when unseated for bribery; M.P. for Arundel 1851–1852 and for Nottingham 1852–1856; chief comr. of railways 29 Aug. 1846 to March 1848; P.C. 30 Oct. 1846; sheriff of Notts. 1850; chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster 30 Dec. 1852 to 21 June 1854; chairman of Notts. quarter sessions 1855; created Baron Belper of Belper, county Derby 29 Aug. 1856; lord lieutenant of Notts. 6 Dec. 1864; pres. of Univ. coll. London 29 July 1871. d. 75 Eaton square, London 30 June 1880.

BELSHES, John Murray. Captain 59 Foot 4 Sep 1812 to 25 May 1816 when placed on h.p.; L.G. 12 Nov. 1862. d. Inverary 12 Jany. 1863. P.R. Drummond’s Perthshire in bygone days (1879) 81–85.

BELSON, George John. Second lieutenant R.A. 29 Sep. 1804; lieut. col. 23 Nov. 1841 to 7 April 1842 when he retired on full pay; L.G. 27 Feb. 1866. d. Woolwich 22 April 1868 aged 80.

BELT, Thomas (son of Mr. Belt of Newcastle, seedsman). b. Newcastle 1832; member of Natural history society of Northumberland June 1850; went to Australia 1852; a mining engineer in London 1860; travelled all over Asia and America; superintendent of Nova Scotian gold company’s mines in Nova Scotia 1863–65; examined the quartz rocks of North Wales; superintendent of the Chontales Gold mining company in Nicaragua 1868–72; travelled in Russia 1873–76; F.G.S.; author of Mineral veins, an enquiry into their origin 1861; The naturalist in Nicaragua 1874; The glacial period in North America. d. Denver, Colorado 21 Sep. 1878 in 46 year. Natural history transactions of Northumberland vii, 235–40 (1880).