Ernest Bell | |
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 Portrait fromFifty Years of Food Reform (1898) | |
| Born | 8 March 1851 |
| Died | 14 September 1933 (1933-09-15) (aged 82) Hendon, Middlesex, England |
| Education | Trinity College, Cambridge (BA, 1873;MA, 1876) |
| Occupations |
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| Employer | George Bell & Sons |
| Known for | Advocacy ofanimal rights,animal welfare, andvegetarianism; co-founding theLeague Against Cruel Sports |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
| Father | George Bell |
| Awards | Joint recognition by 22 animal organisations (1929) |
| Signature | |
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Ernest Bell (8 March 1851 – 14 September 1933) was an English publisher, writer, and activist involved in a range of humanitarian and social reform movements in the United Kingdom. He is known for his advocacy ofanimal rights,animal welfare,vegetarianism, andanti-vivisection causes, as well as for his involvement in organisations including theVegetarian Society, theHumanitarian League, and theLeague Against Cruel Sports, which he co-founded in 1925.
Bell worked for the publishing firmGeorge Bell & Sons, established by his father, and promoted literature on ethical, dietary, and humanitarian topics. He edited several publications, includingThe Animals' Friend, and contributed to a range of reform-oriented journals and pamphlets. He held long-standing leadership positions in multiple animal protection societies and was recognised in 1929 with an award jointly presented by 22 animal organisations. A committed vegetarian for most of his life, Bell supported meat-free diets on both health and ethical grounds. His legacy is reflected in theErnest Bell Library, a collection of materials established after his death to preserve his writings and related literature on social reform.
Ernest Bell was born inHampstead on 8 March 1851, the second son of the publisherGeorge Bell and his wife, Hannah Simpson.[1] He was educated atSt Paul's School, London and went on to study atTrinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated with aBA in 1873 and aMA in 1876.[2] After graduating, Bell studied German inDresden.[2]
Bell spent most of his adult life working for his father's publishing firm,George Bell & Sons.[2] He was among the earliest English publishers influenced by the writings ofRalph Waldo Emerson.[2] In 1926, he became chairman of the company's board of directors.[2]
Bell joined theRSPCA in 1873.[3] From the 1890s onward, he increasingly focused on supporting vegetarian, humanitarian, andanimal welfare causes.[4] He was active in both fundraising and administrative roles across numerous reform organisations.[1]
He served as Honorary Secretary of the Hampstead Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for thirty years, and held leadership roles in several national organisations. These included Chairman of the Committee of the Anti-Vivisection Society, Chairman of theNational Anti-Vivisection Society, and involvement with the Anti-Bearing Rein Association, theNational Canine Defence League (now Dogs Trust), and theRoyal Society for the Protection of Birds.[5]
In 1925, Bell co-founded theLeague for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports alongsideHenry B. Amos andGeorge Greenwood, who served as its first president.[6] In 1929, he received a joint award from 22 animal protection organisations in recognition of his work.[2]
Bell edited theAnimal Life Readers, a series of school books on animals, and launched the journalThe Animals' Friend, which he also edited.[3][7]
He was chairman and treasurer of theHumanitarian League for over twenty years and maintained close relationships with fellow activists, includingHenry Stephens Salt andJessey Wade.[3][8] Wade worked as Bell's secretary until his death.[8]
Bell adopted a vegetarian diet in 1874 after readingT. L. Nichols' pamphletHow to Live on Sixpence a Day.[9] In a 1925 interview, he stated that he had been a vegetarian for fifty years and attributed his continued good health to a meat-free diet. He argued that widespread adoption of vegetarianism would reduce the prevalence of chronic disease.[10]
Bell joined theVegetarian Society and was elected a vice-president in 1896. He served as president from 1914 until his death in 1933.[3][11] He wrote the preface toE. W. Bowdich's vegetariancookbookNew Vegetarian Dishes in 1892,[12] and was a regular speaker at Vegetarian Society meetings. He stated thatmeat eating was unethical, and argued that animals could not achieve moral consideration or rights while they continued to be viewed as food.[13]
On 10 April 1875, Bell married Wilhelmina E. Wölfel[note 1] ofDresden at St Saviour's, South Hampstead.[15] They had one daughter.[2] Wilhelmina died in 1881.[14] In 1893, Bell married Marie Anna von Taysen; they had no children.[2]
Bell was a believer that animals havesouls and survive death. In his pamphletAn Afterlife for Animals he wrote about an alleged encounter with a ghost dog that had been investigated by theSociety for Psychical Research.[16]
Bell died inHendon on 14 September 1933, at the age of 82.[1] His funeral took place at Hendon Parish Church two days later and was attended by his widow, other family members, and representatives from many organisations, including the Vegetarian Society,National Anti-Vivisection Society, National Canine Defence League,National Council for Animals' Welfare and the Cats Protection League.[3][17] Tributes were paid to him in the publicationsAnimal World andThe Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review, as well as from Henry B. Amos andStephen Coleridge.[18]
A library to preserve Bell's writings known as the Ernest Bell Library, was proposed by Henry S. Salt in 1934 and was established by the executive of the Vegetarian Society in 1936. The library has more than 1,500 books, journals, magazines and newspapers.[19] It is currently cared for by The Humanitarian League, a Hong Kong–based organisation named after the original Humanitarian League.[20]
Bell donated a significant amount of his income to various societies throughout his life.[2] He also co-founded and worked for a number of animal and vegetarian organisations:[1][4][8]
A new League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports has just been formed, with Sir Greenwood as President, Mr Ernest Bell hon. treasurer, and Mr. H. B. Amos, as secretary.(subscription required)
Media related toErnest Bell at Wikimedia Commons
Works related toErnest Bell at Wikisource| Presidents |
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