The Reverend William Bell had six children who survived infancy. Two of his sons entered the legal profession and two other sons became distinguished anatomists and surgeons — John Bell, said for 20 years to have been the leading operating surgeon in Britain and throughout the world -and Sir Charles Bell, possibly the most distinguished anatomist and physiologist of his day. Information is not known about the fifth son or their sister. Charles Shaw, a lawyer of Ayr, had four sons and two daughters who survived infancy. Two of his sons, John and Alexander, became anatomists and later surgeons at the Middlesex Hospital, and both worked closely with Charles Bell at the Great Windmill Street School of Anatomy. His third son entered the law and his fourth son became a distinguished soldier. The two daughters of Charles Shaw married into the Bell family: Barbara married George Joseph Bell and Marion married Mr (later Sir) Charles Bell.
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References
1.
For numerous examples, see the ‘General Bibliography’ section of Gordon-Taylor G, Walls EW. Sir Charles Bell: His Life and Times. Edinburgh & London: E & S Livingstone, 1958: pp. 272–9. For his research activities, see: Shaw A. Narrative of the Discoveries of Sir Charles Bell in the Nervous System. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans, 1839. See also: Shaw A. An Account of Sir Charles Bell's Classification of the Nervous System. London: Moyes & Barclay, 1844 (according to a note in this volume, ‘This Essay was composed as an Appendix to the third edition of Sir Charles Bell's work ‘The Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression”, published posthumously”).
2.
See: StruthersJ. Sir Charles Bell. In: Historical Sketch of the Edinburgh Anatomical School. Edinburgh: Maclachlan & Stewart, 1867: pp. 44–55.
3.
BellC. Letters of Sir Charles Bell, KM., F.R.S.L. & E. Selected from his Correspondence with his Brother, George Joseph Bell. London: John Murray, 1870.
4.
Due to the increasing infirmity of William Bell, the family moved to Edinburgh in 1778; he died in September of the following year at the age of 75. See: Ibid.: pp. 7–8.
5.
For an abbreviated early history of the Bell family, see: Ibid.: Chapter 1, pp. 1–17.
6.
According to Chambers, ‘For upwards of twenty years Mr Bell may be said to have stood at the head of his profession in Edinburgh as an operator. Patients came to him from all quarters, both of Scotland and England, and even from the continent; and during that interval he performed some of the most delicate and difficult operations in surgery. Nor was his celebrity confined to Edinburgh. He was generally known both in this country and throughout the world, as one of the most distinguished men in his profession; and his works show that his reputation was well founded.’ See: BellJohn. In: ChambersR, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Glasgow: Blackie & Son, Division 1, 1854: pp. 204–7 (p. 205).
7.
Charles Bell was elected to the surgical staff of the Middlesex Hospital in 1814 and remained there until 1836 when he left London to take up the Chair of Surgery in the University of Edinburgh. He also lectured at the Middlesex Hospital from 1812 to 1836. See: Gordon-Taylor G, Walls EW (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 140.
8.
Ibid.: p. 177.
9.
BellC (op. cit. ref. 3): pp. 7–8.
10.
National Library of Scotland reference number: 32.7.2.
11.
He was minister at Gladsmuir. He married Janet Learmont.
12.
He was ordained an Episcopalian clergyman in 1730, and looked after a parish in Doune, where he was the incumbent until 1744. He was also Bishop Keith's colleague in Edinburgh in 1744. He had one brother, Joseph, who died unmarried in 1749, and three sisters. One of the latter married Mr Walker, a merchant in Edinburgh. Information is not available on his other two sisters.
13.
The Rt Reverend Robert White was Episcopalian Bishop of Dunblane from 1735 to 1743, then Bishop of Fife from 26 October 1743 until 1761. He died on 16 August of that year. See: Bertie DM. Scoffish Episcopal Clergy 1689–2000. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2000.
14.
Anon. BellRobert (22 June 1784). In: Register of the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet. Edinburgh: Printed for the Society by Clark Constable (1982) Ltd, 1983: p. 25. One of his most important publications was his Dictionary of the Law of Scotland. See: Bell R. A Dictionary of the Law of Scotland. Intended for the use of the public at large, as well as of the profession. 2 vols. Edinburgh: John Anderson (vol. 1, 1807; vol. 2,1808). He married Mary, daughter of Mr Hamilton, a surgeon of Stranraer.
15.
For biographical details of John Bell, see: BellJ. In: ChambersR, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Glasgow & Edinburgh: Blackie & Son: 4 vols; Dublin: W. Curry, Jun.; London: Simpkin & Marshall, 1835: vol. 1, pp. 197–200; Struthers J (op. cit. ref. 2): pp. 37–44; Comrie J. History of Scottish Medicine. 2 vols. 2nd edn. London: Baillière, Tindall & Cox, 1932: vol. 1, pp. 323–5; Anon. Bell, John (1763–1820). Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963–64: vol. 2, pp. 167–8; Kaufman MH. John Bell (1763–1820), the ‘father’ of surgical anatomy. Journal of Medical Biography 2005;13:73–81. He married Rosine, daughter of Dr Congleton in 1805, and died in 1820, aged 57, in Rome, where he was buried.
16.
He married Barbara, elder daughter of Charles Shaw Esq. of Ayr, by whom he had 10 children. She was born on 9 December 1786, married him on 22 October 1806 and died on 27 March 1827. His children were: Cecilia (born 8 September 1807), Barbara (born June 1814), Charles William (born 12 December 1810), George Joseph (born 19 August 1812), Marion Jane (born June 1814), Margaret Morice (born 27 September 1816), Caroline (born 1 November 1818), John Robert (born 1820, died 1825), Francis Jeffrey (born 10 April 1823) and John David (born 27 June 1825). See: Anon. Bell, George Joseph (1770–1843). Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963–64: vol. 2, pp. 158–9 (p. 158).
17.
He married Marion, second daughter of Charles Shaw of Ayr, ‘and their marriage was one of perfect happiness’. She was born in 1788 and married him on 3 June 1811, but there were no children of the marriage. She died on 9 November 1876. See: Anon. Bell, Sir Charles (1774–1842). Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963–4: Vol. 2, pp. 154–7 (pp. 156–7).
For a good general reference to the history of the Great Windmill Street School and the activities of those who taught there over the years, see: Thomson SC. The Great Windmill Street School. Bulletin of the History of Medicine1942; 12: 377–91.
20.
See: BellC (op. cit. ref. 3): p. 284. While information has not been located to indicate otherwise, it appears likely he retained this post until he accepted the Chair of Surgery in Edinburgh in 1836. In 1813 he was admitted a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, having been proposed by Sir Charles Blicke of St Bartholomew's Hospital. As he was asked only a single question, regarding what disease he thought would carry off Napoleon Bonaparte, it must be assumed that he was appointed to an ‘Honorary’ membership. See: Bell C (op. cit. ref. 3): p. 206; Gordon-Taylor G, Walls EW (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 51. As he died in 1842, a year before the first Fellows were created, his name does not appear in Plarr's Lives of the Fellows. See: Power D'A. Plarr's Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Bristol: John Wright & Sons Ltd; London: Simpkin Marshall Ltd, 1930: 2 vols.
21.
BellC. An Exposition of the Natural System of Nerves of the Human Body, with a Republication of the Papers Delivered to the Royal Society on the Subject of Nerves. London: Spottiswoode.
22.
These studies are discussed in detail in Gordon-Taylor G, Walls EW (op. cit. ref. 1): pp. 105–32.
23.
Although nominally awarded for his ‘discoveries in science’, it is likely that he received their Gold Medal in recognition of his many important contributions to the understanding of the physiology of the nervous system.
24.
Devlin-ThorpS, ed. BellCharlesSir (1774–1842). In: Scotland's Cultural Heritage. Vol. III. The Royal Society of Edinburgh: 100 Medical Fellows Elected 1783–1844: Edinburgh: Scotland's Cultural Heritage, 1982 (unpaginated).
25.
BellC. A Dissertation on Gunshot Wounds. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1814. These sketches now hang on the walls around the Playfair Hall of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
26.
For a detailed list of both the Corunna sketches and a selection of the Waterloo watercolour drawings, see the exhibition catalogue entitled Charles Bell prepared to accompany an exhibition held in the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in August 1996. See: Walls EW, Gardner DL. Charles Bell 1774–1842: Surgeon, Physiologist, Artist and Author. Edinburgh: printed for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 1996: p. 31.
27.
ThomsonJ. Report of Observations Made in the British Military Hospitals in Belgium, After the Battle of Waterloo; with Some Remarks upon Amputation. Edinburgh: W Blackwood; London: T Cadell & W Davies, 1816.
28.
Anon. Somerville, William (1771–1860). Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959–60: Vol. 18, p. 666.
29.
KaufmanMH. Musket-ball and Sabre Injuries from the First Half of the Nineteenth Century. Edinburgh: Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, 2003. See, for example, Figures: 4.14, 4.15, 4.37, 4.38, 4.39, 5.3 and 5.18.
30.
KaufmanMH. Clinical case histories and sketches of gun-shot injuries from the Carlist War during the period between May 1836 and December 1837. Journal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh2001; 46: 279–89; Kaufman MH. The military career of Mr (later Sir) Rutherford Alcock (1809–1897). Journal of Medical Biography2005; 13: 3–10.
31.
A photograph of Lady Bell, widow of Sir Charles Bell, is reproduced in Gordon-Taylor G, Walls EW (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 153. The figure legend reads as follows: ‘Lady Bell. From a portrait in the possession of the Bell family. Lady Bell survived Sir Charles by thirty-four years, dying on November 9, 1876, at the great age of ninety. Block lent by the Royal College of Surgeons.’.
32.
He married, in 1841, Louisa Hannah, only daughter of Major Martin Curry of the 67th Regiment, by whom he had a son, Charles Martin, who with his mother survived him. See: Anon. Shaw, Sir Charles (1795–1871). Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963–64: Vol. 17, p. 1371.
33.
In 1860 he married the fourth daughter of William Fullarton of Skeldon, Ayrshire.
34.
In 1856 he married Susan Turner, the widow of Mr J Randall; the only issue of this marriage was a son who died in infancy. Mrs Shaw died on 18 March 1891. See: Anon. Shaw, Alexander (1804–1890). Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963–64: Vol. 17, p. 1369.
35.
His name does not appear in the following authoritative text. See: Anon (op. cit. ref. 14).
36.
Gordon-TaylorGWallsEW (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 50. This was one of numerous topics he discussed with his brother George. See: Bell C (op. cit. ref. 3): pp. 196–7.
37.
Anon. JohnShaw (1792–1827). In: Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963–64: Vol. 17, p. 1378.
38.
Charles Bell had published a book on this topic, based on his experience examining and treating the British soldiers repatriated to Portsmouth and Plymouth following their retreat to Corunna. This city was entered on 11 January 1809. See: Bell C (op. cit. ref. 21). His older brother John had earlier published a book that included a section on gun-shot injuries. See: DiscoursesBell Jon the Nature and Cure of Wounds. Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute; London: T Cadell Jun. & W Davies, 1795. (This book contains two sections to Part 1, entitled ‘Discourse IV. On gun-shot wounds’, pp. 175–204, and ‘Discourse V. Of wounds with the sword or bayonet, or any clean cutting weapon’, pp. 205–25, which are relevant to naval and military surgery).
39.
Experience gained during his lengthy apprenticeship as a house-pupil of Charles Bell.
40.
Gordon-TaylorGWallsEW (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 94.
41.
Pettigrew TJ. Sir Charles Bell, K.H., F.R.S. L. & E. Professor of Surgery in the University of Edinburgh, &c. &c. &c. In: Medical Portrait Gallery. Biographical Memoirs of the Most Celebrated Physicians, Surgeons, etc. etc. who have contributed to the Advancement of Medical Science. 4 vols. (vols. 1 and 2 bound together; vols. 3 and 4 bound together). London: Fisher, Son, & Co., 1839: vol. 3(2), pp. 1–22.
42.
Anon (op. cit. ref. 34): p. 1369.
43.
Both the date and the artist's signature located at the bottom right of this painting are difficult to read because they appear to have been written over an earlier painted signature and date.
44.
KaufmanMH. In search of sources: Observations on a watercolour painting of an anatomical subject. Proceedings of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh1997; 27: 592–602.
45.
Anon (op. cit. ref. 32): pp. 1370–1.
46.
Anon. Evans, Sir George de Lacy (1787–1870). Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963–64: Vol. 6, pp. 926–8; Speirs EM. Radical General, Sir George de Lacy Evans 1787–1870. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1983.
47.
ShawC. Personal Memoirs and Correspondence of Colonel Charles Shaw, K.C.T.S., &c. of the Portuguese Service, and late Brigadier-General, in the British Auxiliary Legion of Spain; comprising A Narrative of the War for Constitutional Liberty of Portugal and Spain, from its Commencement in 1831 to the Dissolution of the British Legion in 1837. London: Henry Cockburn, 1837: 2 vols.
48.
Anon. PatrickShaw (1796–1872). Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963–64: Vol. 17, p. 1380.
49.
Anon (op. cit. ref. 17): p. 157.
50.
See: PettigrewTJ (op. cit. ref. 41). A fine portrait of him painted by John Stevens (1793–1868), circa 1821, and located in the National Portrait Gallery, London, is reproduced in Gordon-Taylor G, Walls EW (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 152.
51.
Only one other portrait of John Bell is known. This was painted by an unknown artist, and was published by Comrie J (op. cit. ref. 15): vol. 1, p. 323. The original is in the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, London.
52.
Several portraits of George Joseph Bell are known, including that painted by Sir Henry Raeburn (1756–1823), and illustrated in Gordon-Taylor G, Walls EW (op. cit. ref. 1): p. 16. A head and shoulders side-view etching of him was also prepared by John Kay and reproduced in his Portraits. See: Kay J. A Series of Original Portraits and Caricature Etchings, by the Late John Kay, Miniature Painter, Edinburgh; with Biographical Sketches and Illustrative Anecdotes. In 2 vols (Vol. 1 (1837), Vol. 2 (1838)). Edinburgh: Hugh Paton, Carver and Guilder to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, 1838: vol. 2 (CLVI, VI); see opposite p. 462, etching dated 1811.
