# Jacob Bell (chemist)

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{{Short description|British politician, pharmacist and chemist (1810–1859)}}
{{About|the British chemist|the American football player|Jacob Bell (American football)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name                      = Jacob Bell
| native_name               =
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| image                     = Jacob Bell.jpg
| image_size                = 
| alt                       = 
| caption                   = Portrait of Jacob Bell
| birth_date                = {{Birth date|1810|03|05|df=yes}}
| birth_place               = London, England
| death_date                = {{Death date and age|1859|06|12|1810|03|05|df=yes}}
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| other_names               = 
| political_party           = [Whig](/source/Whigs_(British_political_party))
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| footnotes                 = 
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| module                    = {{infobox scientist
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| fields            = 
| workplaces        = [Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain](/source/Pharmaceutical_Society_of_Great_Britain)
| education         = [Royal Institution](/source/Royal_Institution);<br />[King's College London](/source/King's_College_London)
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}}
'''Jacob Bell''' (5 March 1810 – 12 June 1859) was a British pharmaceutical [chemist](/source/chemist) who worked to reform the profession. He served as a [Whig](/source/Whigs_(British_political_party)){{sfn|Craig|1989|p=261}}<ref>{{cite news|title=St Albans|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000085/18501227/007/0003|access-date=12 May 2018|work=[Newcastle Courant](/source/Newcastle_Courant)|date=27 December 1850|page=3|via = [British Newspaper Archive](/source/British_Newspaper_Archive)|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Summary|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000081/18501227/032/0008|access-date=12 May 2018|work=[Liverpool Mercury](/source/Liverpool_Mercury)|date=27 December 1850|page=8|via = [British Newspaper Archive](/source/British_Newspaper_Archive)|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=St. Alban's Election|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000091/18501228/068/0017|access-date=12 May 2018|work=[Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser](/source/Northern_Star_(Chartist_newspaper))|date=28 December 1850|page=17|via = [British Newspaper Archive](/source/British_Newspaper_Archive)|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) (MP) for [St Albans](/source/St_Albans_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) from 1850 to 1852.

== Career ==
Bell was born in London, one of the six children of John Bell (1774–1849) and Eliza Smith (died 1839), his wife.<ref>Information on Jacob Bell's parents from Dictionary of Quaker Biography (typescript at Friends House, Euston) citing Norman Penney ''Pen pictures'' (1930) p.111. The siblings of Jacob Bell are listed in a document at Friends House dated 17 November 1825: Eliza, Jacob, Anna, Frederick John and James. John Bell's father-in-law, Frederick Smith ran a successful Chemists business at the Haymarket, which John Bell continued.</ref>

On the completion of his education, he joined his father in business as a chemist in [Oxford Street](/source/Oxford_Street), and at the same time attended chemistry lectures at the [Royal Institution](/source/Royal_Institution), and those on medicine at [King's College London](/source/King's_College_London).{{sfn|Smith|1885}}{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Always keenly alive to the interests of chemists in general, Bell conceived the idea of a society which should at once protect the interests of the trade, and improve its status, and at a public meeting held on 15 April 1841, it was resolved to found the [Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain](/source/Pharmaceutical_Society_of_Great_Britain).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Bell carried his scheme through in the face of many difficulties, and further advanced the cause of pharmacy by establishing the [Pharmaceutical Journal](/source/Pharmaceutical_Journal), and superintending its publication for eighteen years. The [Pharmaceutical Society](/source/Royal_Pharmaceutical_Society_of_Great_Britain) was incorporated by [royal charter](/source/royal_charter) in 1843.{{sfn|Smith|1885}}{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

One of the first abuses to engage the attention of the new body was the practice of pharmacy by unqualified persons, and in 1845 Bell drew up the draft of a bill to deal with the matter, one of the provisions of which was the recognition of the Pharmaceutical Society as the governing body in all questions connected with pharmacy. For some time after this the question of pharmaceutical legislation was widely discussed.{{sfn|Smith|1885}}{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In December 1850, Bell successfully contested a by-election in the borough of [St Albans](/source/St_Albans_(UK_Parliament_constituency)){{sfn|Craig|1989|p=261}} in order that he might be able to advocate his proposals for reform more effectually in parliament. In 1851 he brought forward a bill embodying these proposals. It passed its second reading, but was considerably whittled down in committee, and when eventually it became law it only partially represented its sponsor's intentions. Bell was the author of an ''Historical Sketch of the Progress of Pharmacy in Great Britain''.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

St Albans was disenfranchised for corruption in May 1852, and at the [general election in July 1852](/source/1852_United_Kingdom_general_election) Bell stood unsuccessfully in [Great Marlow](/source/Great_Marlow_(UK_Parliament_constituency)).{{sfn|Craig|1989|p=136}} He stood again one more time, at a by-election in December 1854 for the borough of [Marylebone](/source/Marylebone_(UK_Parliament_constituency)), but did not win the seat.{{sfn|Craig|1989|p=14}}

His brother [James](/source/James_Spencer-Bell) was also a Liberal MP, from 1852 to 1857.

He was a friend of [Edwin Landseer](/source/Edwin_Landseer) and a dog-lover: he owned both the dogs in Landseer's famous painting ''[Dignity and Impudence](/source/Dignity_and_Impudence)''.<ref name=Paint>{{cite book |last1=Treuherz |first1=Julian|title= Victorian Painting |url=https://archive.org/details/victorianpaintin00treu |url-access=registration |year=1993|publisher=Thames and Hudson |isbn=9780500202630 }}</ref> Bell bought [William Powell Frith](/source/William_Powell_Frith)'s painting ''[The Derby Day](/source/The_Derby_Day)'' from the artist in 1858 for £1,500, and left it to the [National Gallery](/source/National_Gallery) on his death in the following year, 12 June 1859.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Bell, Jacob|volume=3|page=686}}
*{{cite book |last=Craig |first=F. W. S. |author-link= F. W. S. Craig |title=British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 |orig-year=1977 |edition= 2nd |year=1989 |publisher= Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester |isbn= 0-900178-26-4 |page=261}}
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Bell, Jacob|first=George Barnett|last=Smith|author-link=George Barnett Smith|volume=4}}

== External links ==
* {{Internet Archive author |search=( creator:("Bell, Jacob" AND "1810-1859") OR (("Jacob Bell" OR "Bell, Jacob") AND Pharmacy) )}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-jacob-bell| Jacob Bell }}
* {{cite ODNB|id=2006|title=Bell, Jacob (1810–1859)|first=Juanita|last=Burnby}}
* {{Rayment-hc|external links=y|s|1|date=March 2012}}
 
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef | before = [George Repton](/source/George_Repton) and <br />[Alexander Raphael](/source/Alexander_Raphael)  }}
{{s-ttl
  | title = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) for [St Albans](/source/St_Albans_(UK_Parliament_constituency))
  | with  = [George Repton](/source/George_Repton)
  | years = 1850 – 1852
}}
{{s-non | reason = Constituency disenfranchised }}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Jacob}}
Category:19th-century British chemists
Category:Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Category:Alumni of King's College London
Category:Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies
Category:Scientists from London
Category:UK MPs 1847–1852
Category:1810 births
Category:1859 deaths
Category:19th-century British pharmacists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jacob Bell (chemist)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Bell_(chemist)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Bell_(chemist)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.