George Joseph Bell (26 March 177023 September 1843) was a Scottish

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

and legal scholar. From 1822 to 1843 he was Professor of Scots Law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. He was succeeded by John Shank More.

Early life

George Bell was born in

Fountainbridge Fountainbridge ( gd, Drochaid an Fhuarain) is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, a short distance west of the city centre, adjoining Tollcross with East Fountainbridge and West Port to the east, Polwarth to the west and south, Dalry and Haymar ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, a son of the Reverend William Bell (d. 1779), a clergyman of the

Episcopal Church of Scotland The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...

. He was the younger brother of the surgeon John Bell, and an elder brother of the surgeon

Sir Charles Bell Sir Charles Bell (12 November 177428 April 1842) was a Scottish surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, neurologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He is noted for discovering the difference between sensory nerves and motor nerves in the s ...

. At the age of eight he entered the

Royal High School, Edinburgh The Royal High School (RHS) of Edinburgh is a co-educational school administered by the City of Edinburgh Council. The school was founded in 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. It serves 1,200 pupils drawn from four feeder primar ...

. He received no university education further than attending the lectures of both A. F. Tytler and

Dugald Stewart Dugald Stewart (; 22 November 175311 June 1828) was a Scottish philosopher and mathematician. Today regarded as one of the most important figures of the later Scottish Enlightenment, he was renowned as a populariser of the work of Francis Hut ...

. Between 1787 and 1788 he attended lectures on Scots law by Hume, Professor of Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh, and nephew of the philosopher Hume.

Advocate and scholar

Bell became a member of the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constit ...

in 1791, and was one of the close friends of

Francis Jeffrey Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey (23 October 1773 – 26 January 1850) was a Scottish judge and literary critic. Life He was born at 7 Charles Street near Potterow in south Edinburgh, the son of George Jeffrey, a clerk in the Court of Session ...

. In 1804 he published a ''Treatise on the Law of Bankruptcy in Scotland'', which he enlarged and published in 1826 as ''Commentaries on the Law of Scotland and on the principles of Mercantile Jurisprudence'', praised by

Joseph Story Joseph Story (September 18, 1779 – September 10, 1845) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving from 1812 to 1845. He is most remembered for his opinions in ''Martin v. Hunter's Lessee'' and ''United States ...

and

James Kent James Kent may refer to: *James Kent (jurist) (1763–1847), American jurist and legal scholar * James Kent (composer) (1700–1776), English composer *James Kent, better known as Perturbator, French electronic/synthwave musician *James Tyler Kent ...

. In 1821, Bell was elected Professor of Scots Law in the University of Edinburgh; and in 1831 he was appointed to one of the principal clerkships in the supreme court. He was placed at the head of a commission in 1833 to inquire into the Scottish bankruptcy law. His smaller treatise, ''Principles of the Law of Scotland'', became a standard text-book for law students. He wrote also ''Illustrations of the Principles''. in 1805 Bell married Barbara Shaw, granddaughter of Very Reverend David Shaw. In 1832 they were living at 68 Queen Street in the centre of

, since demolished. In his final years he lived at 6 Darnaway Street. He is buried in St John's Episcopal Churchyard at the west end of Princes Street in

References

;Attribution *

External links

Edinburgh Law School
1770 births 1843 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh Members of the Faculty of Advocates Scottish legal scholars 18th-century Scottish people 19th-century Scottish people Scottish legal writers People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Lawyers from Edinburgh Burials at St John's, Edinburgh {{Scotland-law-bio-stub