Philip Ingress Bell, TD, QC (10 January 1900 – 12 September 1986) was a British barrister and judge, who also had a political career.
Early life
Bell, whose father Geoffrey Vincent Bell was a sculptor, was educated at
Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College is a co-educational Catholic Church, Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition, on the Stonyhurst, Stonyhurst Estate, Lancashire, England. It occupies a Grade I listed building. Th ...
. While at school he wrote a book calle ''Idols and Idylls'' subtitled "Essays by a Public School Boy"; it was published by
Burns & Oates
Burns & Oates was a British Roman Catholic publishing house which most recently existed as an imprint of Continuum.
Company history
It was founded by James Burns in 1835, originally as a bookseller. Burns was of Presbyterian background and he g ...
in 1918. When he came to the age of 18 during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he entered the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
. He was a midshipman from 1918 to 1920 when he was discharged. Bell then went up to Queen's College,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
where he studied
jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
and obtained a
Bachelor of Civil Law
Bachelor of Civil Law (abbreviated BCL, or B.C.L.; la, Baccalaureus Civilis Legis) is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. The BCL originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Camb ...
degree. While at Oxford he was captain of the Oxford University Boxing Club.
Legal career
In 1925 Bell was called to the Bar by the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...
, and went into practice on the Northern circuit, based in Lancashire. He enjoyed a good practice at the bar, and in 1933 married the daughter of the High Sheriff of Lancashire. In 1939 he enlisted again in the Territorial Army as a lieutenant, and was posted to the East Lancashire Regiment in France. After making a successful return to England from
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Judge Advocate General to the Forces' staff, and was an acting major serving through Normandy and in the team at the Belsen Trial.
Political involvement
At the end of the war, Bell returned to his practice. In 1950 he was adopted as
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
candidate for Bolton East, the more Conservative constituency in Bolton. He was defeated by 3,709 votes, but a Liberal candidate won more than twice that. Given the Liberal strength in Bolton West, the Bolton Conservative and Liberal associations adopted the "Huddersfield formula" which had been negotiated in the two Huddersfield constituencies for 1950, whereby each agreed to contest one seat only, and to support the other's campaign.
Parliamentary career
With this help, in the 1951 general election, Bell was elected by 355 votes. His maiden speech in March 1952 concerned the
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
Bill which allowed the NHS to charge for medical appliances; he called for pensioners to be exempt from charges. In 1952 he was made a
Queen's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...
. He introduced a private members' bill a few days later to allow law cases to be transferred from the Crown Court to the Court of Chancery of the County Palatine of Lancaster. He often commented on foreign and colonial affairs, and supported the Television Bill of 1954, arguing that advertisers were not evil. He specifically advocated that religious bodies be able to become television contractors.
In the 1955 general election Bell improved his majority to 3,511. He supported retention of
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
in the most extreme cases, and also signed an amendment which would allow Judges to sentence murderers to whipping in addition to any other punishment. In February 1958 he opposed the government's Recreational Charities Bill, arguing that it extended the definition of charitable purposes too widely. He also opposed the Litter Bill introduced by fellow Conservative MP
Rupert Speir
Sir Rupert Malise Speir (10 September 1910 – 16 September 1998) was a British Conservative Party politician.
He was born at East Saltoun in East Lothian, Scotland, and educated at Eton College and at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he was ...
, saying that it criminalised those who dropped litter but did not realise it. Bell also opposed the Legitimacy Bill in 1959, contending that removing the legal disabilities of illegitimate children would be a risk against the institution of marriage.
Judgeship
Bell, who had continued his legal practice while in Parliament, was made a County Court Judge in 1960, thereby giving up his seat. He was already intending to finish his political career. At the end of 1971 he was made a Circuit Judge, retiring in 1975 on reaching the age of 75.