Bell, Edward Augustine
Edward Augustine Bell, M.B., B.Sc. Lond., son of William Bell, M.R.C.S., J.P., was born at New Brighton on September 20, 1877, and accidentally drowned while on active service in France on July 11, 1916. He entered the School, where he was in the Football XV, in 1893, and left in 1896, entering King's College, London, with a scholarship. He gained both Junior and Senior Scholarships, the Tanner Prize for obstetrics, and was Prosector at the Royal College of Surgeons. Qualifying M.R.C.S. Eng. in 1902, he took the M.B.Lond. in the same year and the B.Sc. in 1903. After holding the post of House Surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital, he settled in New Brighton as assistant, and subsequently partner, to his father, at whose death in 1915 he succeeded to the whole practice. In November 1915 he was appointed Surgeon to the British Hospital at Wimereux, and later was attached as Surgeon Specialist to the Anglo-American Hospital. He was bathing at Wimereux in the evening, after a heavy day's work, and it is supposed that he was exhausted, as, when almost in his depth, he called for help, and sank before assistance reached him. Captain Bell was a keen athlete, playing for his hospital in the Inter-Hospital Cup Ties, and as a tennis player he represented Cheshire and won prizes in many open tournaments. One of his colleagues in France writes of him: - ‘Bell worked for the patients day and night, and was loved by them all. He did forty-six operations the day before he died, and was quite exhausted by it. His was a fine nature, strong and true and capable, tender and untiring with the men, loyal to all our interests. He died in the midst of his work and at the height of his unselfishness.’ Birkenhead School Memorial of Old Birkonians
Biographical
| Surname(s) | Bell |
|---|---|
| First name(s) | Edward Augustine |
| Date of birth | 20 September 1877 |
| Place of birth | New Brighton, Cheshire |
| Family details | Son of William Bell, JP, VD of Rutland House, Wallasey and Helen Hilaire Barbara (eldest daughter of the late Maj. Gen Arthur Butcher, RMLI), husband of Grace Bell of 11 Mount Road, New Brighton, Cheshire |
| Previous education | Birkenhead School, Wirral |
| College | King's College London and/or King's College London Hospital |
| Dates at college | 1896 |
| Dept / course | Faculty of Medical Science |
| Qualifications | M.R.C.S. 1902; M.B. |
| Military unit | Royal Army Medical Corps/ British Red Cross Society (attd 5th Hosp) |
| War / conflict | World War One (1914-1918) |
| Date of death | 11 July 1916 |
| Age at death | 38 |
| Rank at death | Captain |
| Place of death | Wimereux |
| Cause of death | Drowned |
| Burial place | Wimereux Communal Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France |
| Commemoration(s) | King's College Chapel; Birkenhead School Roll of Honour; British Medical Association War Memorial |
| Sources | King's College London Archives; Commonwealth War Graves Commission; photograph and obituary courtesy of Birkenhead School. |
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