James Bell (1825–1908) was a

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

chemist, known for his work on analyses of food, tobacco and alcoholic drinks.

Early life and family

Born at Altnanaghan,

Newtownhamilton Newtownhamilton is a small village and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies predominantly within Tullyvallan townland. The civil parish is within the historic barony of Fews Upper. In the 2011 Census it had 2,836 inhabit ...

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

, he was educated privately and at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, where he studied chemistry under

Alexander William Williamson Alexander William Williamson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE Chemical Society, PCS MRIA (1 May 18246 May 1904) was an English chemist. He is best known today for the Williamson ether synthesis. Life Williamson was born in 1824 in Wands ...

. In 1858, Bell married Ellen Reece (died 1900), daughter of W. Reece of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

. The couple had one son, (Sir) William James Bell, who became a

Barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

to the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

(1903–7).

Career

In 1846, he became an assistant in the Inland Revenue Laboratory at

Somerset House Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadran ...

, established to carry out the provisions of the

Tobacco Act 1842 Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus ''Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the chi ...

; and was successively deputy principal from 1867 to 1874, and principal from 1874 till his resignation in 1894. The work of the laboratory was extended to alcoholic products; and when the

Food and Drugs Act 1872 Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingeste ...

was amended in 1875, Bell was made chemical referee when disputed analyses of food were brought to court. Bell elaborated methods for analysing chemically foods within the operation of the Act. He was also consulting chemist to the Indian government, 1869 to 1894. Bell's work was recognized in 1884 by his election as

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

, and he obtained the degree of Ph.D. from the

University of Erlangen A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in 1882 and received the hon. D.Sc. from the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

(1886). He was made C.B. in 1889. He was a member of the Playfair committee on British and foreign spirits, and served as president of the

Institute of Chemistry An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

from 1888 to 1891.

Works

Bell's researches into grape and malt ferments were published in the ''Excise Officers' Manual'' (1865) and in the ''Journal of the Chemical Society'' in 1870. Many of his results were written up in ''The Analysis and Adulteration of Foods'' (3 pts. 1881–3; German translation, Berlin, 1882–5). He published also ''Chemistry of Tobacco'' (1887).

Death

Bell died at

Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

on 31 March 1908, and was buried at

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a town in Surrey, England, south of Centre of London, central London and northeast of Epsom. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 34,872. The majority (73%) was in the NRS social grade, ABC1 ...

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, James 1825 births 1908 deaths 19th-century Irish chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Scientists from County Armagh Food chemists People from Newtownhamilton