Joseph Bell

For other people named Joseph Bell, see Joseph Bell (disambiguation).

Joseph Bell FRCSE (2 December 1837 – 4 October 1911) was a Scottish surgeon and lecturer at the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in the 19th century. He is best known as an inspiration for the literary character Sherlock Holmes.^[2][3]

Joseph Bell
Dr Joseph Bell
Born	(1837-12-02)2 December 1837 Edinburgh, Scotland[1]
Died	4 October 1911(1911-10-04) (aged 73) Milton Bridge, Midlothian, Scotland[1]
Resting place	Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh, Scotland
Education	University of Edinburgh Medical School
Spouse	Edith Katherine Erskine Murray
Children	5; three survived infancy

Bell's house in Melville Crescent, Edinburgh (centre)

Dr Joseph Bell's grave, Dean Cemetery

Early life

Bell was born in Edinburgh to Cecilia Barbara Craigie (1813–1882) and Benjamin Bell (1810–1883). He was a great-grandson of Benjamin Bell, considered to be the first Scottish scientific surgeon. Bell attended Edinburgh Academy, going on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School at the age of 16.^[2] In 1859, he received a PhD with the thesis "Epithelial cancer: its pathology and treatment".^[4] During his time as a student he was a member of the Royal Medical Society and delivered a dissertation which is still held by the Society today.^[4]

Career

In his instruction, Bell emphasised the importance of close observation in making a diagnosis. To illustrate this he would often pick a stranger and, by observing them, deduce their occupation and recent activities. These skills led to him being considered a pioneer in forensic science, (forensic pathology in particular)^{[citation needed]} at a time when science was not yet widely used in criminal investigation.

He served as the personal surgeon to Queen Victoria whenever she visited Scotland.

Bell was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), a justice of the peace, and a deputy lieutenant. In 1867, Bell was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh and served as its president in 1897.^[5] In 1876, he was elected a member of the Aesculapian Club.^[6] He was elected President of the RCSEd in 1887.

Bell wrote several medical textbooks including the Manual of the Operations of Surgery, published in 1866.^[7]

Personal life

In 1865, Bell married Edith Katherine Erskine Murray (1840–1874), daughter of the Hon. James Erskine Murray of the Elibank family. Together they had five children, three of whom survived infancy:

• Jane (or Jean) Isabella Erskine Murray McCance (née Bell) (18 January 1866–1923)
• Cecilia Craigie Stisted (née Bell) (7 December 1867-8 July 1955)^[8]
• Benjamin Bell (14 July 1869-17 June 1893)
• Katherine (or Catherine) Bell (27 June 1872-Deceased)^[8]
• Stillborn son (1874)^[8]

In 1883, Bell bought 2 Melville Crescent, a large townhouse, previously the home of the engineer John Miller of Leithen.^[9]

Bell died on 4 October 1911. He was buried at the Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh alongside his wife Edith and their son Benjamin, and next to his parents' and brother's plots. The grave is midway along the north wall of the northern section to the original cemetery.

Inspiration of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle met Bell in 1877, and served as his outpatient clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Doyle observed that Bell seemed to be able to diagnose patients from little information, noticing minute details: "Dr Bell would sit in his receiving room, with a face like a Red Indian, and diagnose people as they came in, before they even opened their mouths. [...] He would tell them their symptoms and even give them details of their past life, and hardly ever would he make a mistake."^[10] This ability led Doyle to model his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes on Bell.^[11][10] Bell was aware of this inspiration, as Doyle wrote to him that it was "most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes".^[12]

According to an essay in Irving Wallace's book The Fabulous Originals (later republished in The Sunday Gentleman collection), Bell was involved in several police investigations, mostly in Scotland. He assisted in the Ardlamont mystery of 1893 along with forensic expert Professor Henry Littlejohn and again with Littlejohn helped Scotland Yard in the investigation of the Jack the Ripper murders.^[10]

Dramatisation

The BBC television series Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes was a fictionalized account of Doyle's time as Bell's clerk. The series may have exaggerated Bell's criminal investigations as well as the degree to which Holmes was based on Bell (played by Ian Richardson), and it positioned Doyle in the role of a Dr. Watson to Bell's Holmes. The original one-off production, which led to the later series, was released on DVD and VHS in the US in 2003, titled Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle – The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes.

In 2006, Stone Publishing House published a book, written by historian Dr. Robert Hume, aimed at schoolchildren titled Dr. Joseph Bell – the Original Sherlock Holmes.

In the Doctor Who episode "Tooth and Claw" in 2006, the time travelling adventurer known as the Doctor identifies himself as an ex-student of Bell to Queen Victoria.

The comic book Les dossiers du Professeur Bell by Joann Sfar is about the (fictional) supernatural adventures of Dr Bell.

In episode 11, Season 5, of the Fox TV show House M.D., Wilson presents House with Joseph Bell's Manual Of the Operations of Surgery as a Christmas gift. The character of House is based on Holmes, who, as noted, was based in turn on Bell. In episode 14 of the show's eighth and final season, House briefly comes to believe that his biological father is a man named Thomas Bell, played by prominent Scottish actor Billy Connolly.

The novel Mr. Doyle & Dr. Bell (1997) by Howard Engel is a fictionalized account of Joseph Bell and his influence on Conan Doyle.

In Elementary, an American procedural drama television series that was introduced as a contemporary update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories of Sherlock Holmes, Holmes and Watson often work with a Detective called Marcus Bell, which is likely a nod to the real-life Joseph Bell.

Memorial

On 8 October 2011, the centenary of Bell's death, a bronze memorial plaque was erected at 2 Melville Crescent in Edinburgh, his home for his final decades. The plaque explains Bell's connection to Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, and was organised and funded by the Japan Sherlock Holmes Club. The building is now the Japanese Consulate in Edinburgh.

The unveiling ceremony was attended by the several people involved in the erection of the plaque (principally Takeshi Shimizu) and representatives of various Sherlock Holmes clubs and societies. All present gave a short speech on their connections to either Holmes or the project, and a speech from Professor Owen Dudley Edwards. The plaque was created and cast by Powderhall Bronze of Edinburgh.

Grave

• Gravestone of Joseph Bell and family
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  Bell family gravestone
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  Closeup of the inscription regarding Joseph Bell