Doyne Courtenay Bell (3 August 1830 ― 26 March 1888) was an English court servant,

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Early life

Bell was born in Gower Street,

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

, the son of a wine merchant. After University College School and King's College, London, he went to live in the Duchy of Brunswick to learn German, which he mastered. On his return to England, a clergyman uncle, George Hamilton, recommended him to Sir William Reid, who took him on as an assistant in the preparations for the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary The Crystal Palace, structure in which it was held), was an International Exhib ...

of 1851.

Work

While the Exhibition was ongoing,

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Albert I of Belgium ...

, impressed by Bell's abilities, hired him to work in the royal household to help with Privy Purse correspondence.Sir George Scharf, "Mr. Doyne C. Bell" (obituary) in '' The Athenaeum'', No. 3154, 7 April 1888
p. 436
/ref> Bell struck up a friendship with George Scharf, director of the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

, a fellow Old Gower, and built up a good knowledge of historic portraits, not least those in the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

. Bell was also Secretary of the committee which after Prince Albert's death in 1861 planned the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, finally completed in 1872. Bell was a musical composer. Between 1868 and 1876, he published at least twenty settings for songs, works of the 17th century and of Wordsworth, Longfellow, Blake, and others. Dating from 1876, his setting to music of Blake's "Can I see another's woe", from '' Songs of Innocence and of Experience'', is the earliest such work inspired by Blake now known. In 1876, Bell was promoted to Permanent Secretary to the Keeper of the Privy Purse and remained in post until his death. His annual salary in 1888 was £300. The Royal Mews (geograph 2321013)

In 1871, Bell studied the tombs of

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

and Henry III at Westminster Abbey, and in 1877 was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. His greatest work in that field was a study of the burials in the Church of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London."Mr Doyne Courtenay Bell" (obituary) in ''Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1889''
p. 140
/ref> By 1879, he had been elected as a member of the Council of the Society.

Personal life

At the census of 1861, Bell was living at 50, Gower Street, with his parents, Robert and Laura Bell, an unmarried sister, and two female servants. 1861 United Kingdom census
"Gower Street, Finsbury"

"Doyce Courtenay Bell in the 1871 England Census""Doyne C. Bell"

1881 United Kingdom census The United Kingdom Census of 1881 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of Sunday 3 April 1881, and was the fifth of the UK censuses to include details of household members. Data recorded Details collected include: address, ...

"Royal Mews"
ancestry.co.uk, accessed 1 November 2023 On 19 November 1862, at the church of

St Mary-at-Lambeth ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

, Bell married Amelia Sampson, the daughter of Thomas Sampson, a tailor. He gave his occupation as "Government Clerk" and signed his name as Doyne C. Bell. By 1871, he was a widower. In 1881 he was living in an apartment in the Royal Mews, with a cook and a housemaid. Henry Grattan by Francis Wheatley

Bell died at the Royal Mews,

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

, where he was still living, in March 1888, leaving a substantial fortune valued at £11,566 (). His unmarried sisters Louisa Georgiana and Ethel Hamilton Bell and another relation, Robert Courtenay Bell, were his executors. It was reported that he had died of pneumonia, and his friend Scharf wrote an obituary for '' The Athenaeum''. Doyne's executors gave his portrait of Henry Grattan by Francis Wheatley to the National Portrait Gallery, and towards the end of 1888 Bell was recorded as a donor to the Gallery."Donors of Portraits to the National Portrait Gallery in the Order of their Donations", in George Scharf, ed., ''Historical and Descriptive Catalogue of the Pictures, Busts, &c. in the National Portrait Gallery'' (H. M. Stationery Office, 1888)
p. 14
/ref>

Publications

*''The National Memorial to His Royal Highness the Prince Consort, with descriptive letter-press by D. C. Bell'' (London: John Murray, 1873) *''Notices of the Historic Persons buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula in the Tower of London: with an Account of the Discovery of the Supposed Remains of Queen Anne Boleyn'' (London: John Murray, 1877; reprinted by Creative Media Partners, LLC, October 2022, , 398 pages)

Notes

External links

''Notices of the historic persons buried in the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, in the Tower of London''
(1877, full text at

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell Doyne Courtenay 1830 births 1888 deaths 19th-century English composers Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People educated at University College School