Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Bell, Benjamin
BELL, BENJAMIN (1749–1806), surgeon, son of George Bell, descended from landed proprietors of long standing in Dumfriesshire, was born at Dumfries April 1749. After education at Dumfries grammar school he was early apprenticed to Mr. James Hill, surgeon, of Dumfries; but at seventeen he was sent to the Edinburgh medical school, where the Monros, Black, and John Gregory were among his teachers. After being house-surgeon to the Royal Infirmary for about two years, he travelled on the continent, and especially studied at Paris. In August 1772 he was appointed surgeon to the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, which office he held for twenty-nine years. He married Grizel, daughter of Robert Hamilton, D.D., about 1775, and soon afterwards, owing to a severe accident, settled on a farm three miles south of Edinburgh, retiring from practice for a couple of years. In 1778 he became surgeon to Watson's Hospital. His first professional work, on the 'Theory and Management of Ulcers' (1779), attracted considerable attention, was translated into French and German, and reached a seventh edition in 1801. His most important work, 'A System of Surgery,' appeared in six volumes, 1782-7; it likewise reached a seventh edition in 1801, and was translated into French and German. It was a valuable work in its day, though now out of date. Bell is much to be commended for his advocacy of saving skin in every operation, a practice till then much neglected. Another of his works, 'On Hydrocele,' was published at Edinburgh in 1794. He gained a large practice, being a skilful and dexterous operator, and accumulated money, being distinguished for his calculating business habits. He also engaged considerably in agriculture, and wrote a number of essays on agriculture between 1783 and 1802, which were collected in a volume in 1802. They opposed corn laws and prognosticated great improvements in modes of communication. Adam Smith commended them. Bell died at Newington House, Edinburgh, 5 April 1806.
His son, George Bell (1777-1832), succeeded to his father's appointments, and was known as a first-rate operator. His grandson, Benjamin Bell (d. 1883), son of Joseph Bell, surgeon, followed the same profession, and published a memoir of his grandfather in 1868. He also edited memoirs of Robert Paul, banker (Edinburgh, 1872), and Lieutenant John Irving, of H.M.S. Terror (Edinburgh, 1881).
[Life, Character, and Writings of Benjamin Bell, by his grandson, Benjamin Bell, Edin. 1868.]