- Source: Ernest Bell (activist)
Ernest Bell (8 March 1851 – 14 September 1933) was an English publisher, writer and activist. He was an advocate for animal rights and welfare, vegetarianism, and humanitarian causes.
Bell was born in 1851 in Hampstead. Educated at St Paul's School and Trinity College, Cambridge, he graduated with a BA in 1873 and an MA in 1876. Bell's commitment to animals began in his university years, joining the RSPCA and adopting vegetarianism. He married twice, first to Elize Wilhelmina Wolfel and later to Marie Anna von Taysen, and had one daughter. Bell dedicated much of his life to his father's publishing company, George Bell & Sons, and was an early follower of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He actively contributed to various reform causes, editing and launching publications, and leading organisations such as the Vegetarian Society, Humanitarian League, and several animal protection societies. Bell co-founded the League Against Cruel Sports in 1924 and, in 1929, received a lifetime award for his advocacy work for animals. He died in 1933 at the age of 82. In 1936, the Ernest Bell Library was established by the Vegetarian Society to preserve his writings.
Life and work
Ernest Bell was born in Hampstead on 8 March 1851, the second son of the publisher George Bell and his wife Hannah Simpson. He was educated at St Paul's School, London and attended Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1873 with an BA and an MA in 1876. During his time at Cambridge, Bell had joined the RSPCA in 1873 and the following year had become a vegetarian after reading T. L. Nichols' pamphlet How to Live on Sixpence a Day. Bell learned German in Dresden after graduation.
Bell married Elize Wilhelmina Wolfel in 1875 and they had one daughter; she died in 1883. In 1893, he married Marie Anna von Taysen; they had no children.
Bell spent most of his adult life working for his father's publishing company George Bell & Sons. He was one of the first known English publishers to be a follower of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He devoted significant effort to managing and raising funds for vegetarianism, humanitarianism, and animal welfare.
He was the editor of the Animals Life Readers, a series of books, and launched the journal The Animals' Friend, which he also edited. Bell was a friend of Henry S. Salt and was Chairman of the Humanitarian League. He was also a close friend of fellow animal campaigner Jessey Wade, who worked for him as his secretary until his death.
For thirty years, Bell was the Honorary Secretary of the Hampstead Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He was also the Chairman of the Committee of the Anti-Vivisection Society and of the National Anti-Vivisection Society and involved with the Anti-Bearing Rein Association, National Canine Defence League (now Dogs Trust) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Bell founded the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports in 1924 with Henry B. Amos, Jessey Wade and George Greenwood.
Bell became chairman of the board of directors of George Bell & Sons in 1926 and, in 1929, he received a lifetime award from a collaboration between 22 different animal societies.
Vegetarianism
Bell became a vegetarian through the influence of T. L. Nichols. In 1925, it was reported that Bell had been a vegetarian for 50 years and attributed his good health to a meat-free diet. He argued that there would less chronic disease if people adopted vegetarianism.
Bell became a member of the Vegetarian Society and was elected a vice-president in 1896 and was president from 1914 to 1933. He wrote the Preface for E. W. Bowdich's vegetarian cookbook New Vegetarian Dishes, in 1893. Bell was a speaker at Vegetarian Society meetings. He commented that meat eating was unethical and that animals will never attain their rights as long as they are considered beings to be eaten.
Contributions to organisations
Bell donated a significant amount of his income to various societies throughout his life. He also co-founded and worked for a number of animal and vegetarian organisations:
Animals' Friend Society (founder; council member)
Anti-Bearing Rein Association (Hon. Secretary)
Anti-Vivisection Society (chairman)
Cats Protection League (now known as Cats Protection; treasurer)
Humanitarian League (chairman and treasurer for over 20 years)
League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports (now known as the League Against Cruel Sports; co-founder and Hon. Treasurer)
London Vegetarian Society (chairman of committee)
National Anti-Vivisection Society (chairman)
National Canine Defence League (council member)
National Equine Defence League (treasurer)
National Society for the Abolition of Cruel Sports (co-founder)
Performing and Captive Animals' Defence League (co-founder)
Pit Ponies' Protection Society (treasurer)
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (council member)
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hon. Secretary of the Hampstead branch for 30 years)
Vegetarian Society (Vice-president 1896–1914; President 1914–1933)
Death and legacy
Bell died in Hendon on 14 September 1933, at the age of 82. His funeral took place at Hendon Parish Church two days later and was attended by his widow, other family members, and representatives from many societies, including the Vegetarian Society. Tributes were paid to him in the publications Animal World and The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review, as well as from Henry B. Amos and Stephen Coleridge.
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. It is currently cared for by The Humanitarian League, a Hong Kong–based organisation named after the original Humanitarian League.
Selected publications
The Animals' Friend (1904)
Christmas Cruelties (1907)
The Inner Life of Animals (editor, 1913)
Stray Thoughts About Vegetarians (1910)
Why Do Animals Exist? (1910)
Big-Game Hunting (1915)
The Need for Humane Education (1915)
In a Nutshell: Cons and Pros of the Meatless Diet (1920)
An After-Life for Animals (1922)
Speak Up for the Animals: Poems for Reading and Recitations (editor, 1923)
Some Social Results of the Meatless Diet (1924)
Bell's Joy Book (1926), Bell donated all of the profits to the Vegetarian Home for Children
Fair Treatment for Animals (1927)
The Humane Diet and Common Sense (1927)
Proper Relationship between Men and the Other Animals (1927)
Superiority in the Lower Animals (1927)
Summer School Papers: Animal, Vegetable and General (1928)
The Wider Sympathy (1932)
References
Further reading
Charles W. Forward. (1898). Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England. London: The Ideal Publishing Union.
External links
Biography of Ernest Bell
Ernest Bell Bibliography
The Ernest Bell Library, Our Etymological Past, Sixpences, Dogs and Anti-Vivisection
"A Year's Progress in Animal Protection" by Ernest Bell, 1 January 1911