Robert Bell (June 3, 1841 – June 18, 1917) was a Canadian

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

and

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

. He is considered one of Canada’s greatest exploring scientists, having named over 3,000 geographical features.

Personal life

Robert Bell was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and amateur geologist, Reverend Andrew Bell and Elizabeth Notman. In 1873, Bell married Agnes Smith. They had a son and three daughters. He spent his retirement at his home in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

and his farm in

Rathwell, Manitoba Rathwell is an unincorporated urban centre in the province of Manitoba. It is part of the agricultural area of south central Manitoba, Canada and is situated in the Municipality of Norfolk Treherne The Municipality of Norfolk Treherne is a rur ...

. Bell died after a brief illness at the age of 76 at his farm.

Early beginnings

In 1856, at the age of 15 years old, Bell worked as a summer assistant to

William Edmond Logan Sir William Edmond Logan, FRSE FRS FGS (20 April 1798 – 22 June 1875), was a Canadian-born geologist and the founder and first director of the Geological Survey of Canada. Life William Edmond Logan was born into a well-to-do Montreal family ...

with the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; , CGC) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the environment. A branch of the Earth Science ...

(GSC). Even as he started postsecondary education, he continued to work summers with the GSC, heading his own survey party in 1859. Bell attended

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, and studied under

John William Dawson Sir John William Dawson (1820–1899) was a Canadian geologist and university administrator. Life and work John William Dawson was born on 13 October 1820 in Pictou, Nova Scotia, where he attended and graduated from Pictou Academy. Of Sco ...

. In 1861, Bell earned a civil engineering degree with the Governor General’s Medal. He went on to study for two years at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. In 1878, he earned a medical degree from McGill University.

Career

In 1863, Bell became a chemistry and natural sciences professor at Queen’s College in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

. He continued to do fieldwork for the GSC over the summers. In 1867, he left Queen’s to join the GSC full-time. In 1869, the GSC made Bell a permanent officer, and he spent the rest of his career there. He was promoted to Assistant Director (1877), Chief Geologist (1890), then Acting Director (1901-1906). He was saddened that he was never appointed Director of the Survey. In November 1908, Bell retired. During his 52-year career at the GSC, Bell led many extensive explorations in northern Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, the eastern

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

, Saskatchewan prairies and the

Athabasca oil sands The Athabasca oil sands, also known as the Athabasca tar sands, are large deposits of oil sands rich in bitumen, a heavy and viscous form of petroleum, in northeastern Alberta, Canada. These reserves are one of the largest sources of unconventi ...

. He is credited with mapping the rivers between

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

and

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

. As was the case with all GSC geologists of the time, Bell collected specimens and made notes on geology, flora and fauna, indigenous populations, climate and soil and exploitable resources. His GSC colleagues dubbed him the father of Canadian place-names because he is credited with naming over 3,000 geographical features in Canada. Bell wrote over 200 reports and papers, mostly on geology, biology, geography and ethnology. During his lifetime, he saw his extensive body of fieldwork put to a significant purpose. The planners of the third trans-continental railway, the Grand Trunk Pacific, were able to use the vast compendium of information in Bell's reports as the preliminary reconnaissance work required to plan the track route from Quebec to Winnipeg.

Private library

Bell assembled a private library estimated to contain 26 tons of books and artifacts to support his life’s work. The collection contained rock specimens and hundreds of books on various subjects ranging from natural history texts, medical texts, geological reports, native language and culture texts and books on the exploration of North America. It also contained research and professional periodicals, several Canadian newspapers and several hundred reprints of scientific and professional reports from other researchers. On October 28, 1962, some of this collection was damaged or destroyed in a fire in Ottawa. Subsequently, the surviving collection was dispersed to family, private collectors and institutions. Some of his archives are held at

in the

Osler Library of the History of Medicine The Osler Library, a branch of the McGill University Library and part of ROAAr since 2016, is Canada's foremost scholarly resource for the history of medicine, and one of the most important libraries of its type in North America. It is located ...

but the majority went to the

National Archives of Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. Th ...

Awards

*1865 Elected a

Fellow of the Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

of London *1882 Elected a charter-member of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

*1883 received an honorary LLD from

Queen's University, Kingston Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public university, public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and ...

, Canada *1897 Elected a

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 ...

of London *1902 Received an honorary D.Sc. degree from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in May 1902. *1903 Made a companion of the

Imperial Service Order The Imperial Service Order was established by King Edward VII in August 1902. It was awarded on retirement to the administration and clerical staff of the Civil Service throughout the British Empire for long and meritorious service. Normally a pe ...

*1906 Awarded the

Patron's Medal The Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal consists of two separate awards: the Founder's Medal 1830 and the Patron's Medal 1838. Together they form the most prestigious of the society's awards. They are given for "the encouragement and promoti ...

of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

of London *1906 Awarded the

Cullum Geographical Medal The Cullum Geographical Medal is one of the oldest awards of the American Geographical Society. It was established in the will of George Washington Cullum, the vice president of the Society, and is awarded "to those who distinguish themselves by ...

of the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

of New York. * Received an honorary DSc degree from McGill University

References

External links

A Search for Gold: Reconstructing a Private Library-The Case of Dr. Robert Bell
*
History of the Geological Survey of Canada in 175 Objects''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Robert 1841 births 1918 deaths 19th-century Canadian civil servants 20th-century Canadian civil servants Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Canadian geologists Geological Survey of Canada personnel Canadian Companions of the Imperial Service Order Fellows of the Geological Society of London Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada McGill University Faculty of Medicine alumni People from Old Toronto Recipients of the Cullum Geographical Medal Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni