779 Lowthian Bell

Constituency  : North  Durham  1874,  Hartlepool  1875-80

Lowthian   won  North  Durham  at  the  second  attempt.

Lowthian  was  the  son  of  one  of  the  founders  of  the  iron  and  alkali  firm,  Losh, Wilson  and  Bell. He  studied  physical  science  at  Edinburgh  University  and  the  Sorbonne. He  took  over  the  Walker  ironworks  on  his  father's  death  in  1845. He  co-founded  a  chemical  company  with  his  uncle  and  father-in-law. In  1852  he  founded  a  major  ironworks  in  Middlesbrough  with  his  brothers. They were  major  suppliers  to  railways  and  Lowthian  was  a  director  of  the  North  Eastern  Railway  from  1864  until  his  death.  Lowthian  was  a  scientific  pioneer continually  looking  to  develop   new  processes; in  this  field  his  greatest  triumph  was  a  plant  that  could  produce  pure  aluminium  using  the  Deville  sodium  process.   He  also  owned  coal  mines  and  quarrries. Lowthian  started  serving  on  Newcastle's  town  council   from  1850. He  was  mayor  in  1852  and  1864.

Lowthian's  triumph  in  1874  was  voided  on  the  grounds  that  his  agents  were  guilty  of  intimidation.  He  was  able  to  stand  in  the  by-election  but  came  a  close  third.  He  came   back  in  at  a  by-election  in  Hartlepool  in  1875.  He  was  a  close  friend  of  Gladstone.

Lowthian  was  a  juror  at  International  Exhibitions  in  Philadelphia  in  1876  and  Paris  in  1878. In  1877  he  founded  the  Institute  of  Chemistry.  He  wrote  many  papers  on  science  and  metallurgy.

Lowthian  stood  down  in  1880. He  was  knighted  in  1885.

Lowthian  became  a  director  of  the  Forth  Bridge  company  in 1882.

Lowthian  correctly  predicted  that  Germany  would  outstrip  the  UK  in  industrial  production  and  later  in  life  divested  many  of  his  industrial  holdings  in  anticipation  of  this.

Lowthian  was  personally  abrasive  and  inconsiderate  according  to  the  testimony  of  family  members.  However  he  was  admired  as  the  "high  priest  of  British  metallurgy"  and  was  friends  with  Darwin  and  Ruskin.

He  died  in  1904  aged  88.  His  granddaughter  Gertrude  would  make  a  name  for  herself  as  an  adventurer  in  the  Middle  East. He  was  played  by  David  Calder  in  the  film  Queen  of  the  Desert.