Sir (Isaac) Lowthian Bell, 1st Baronet FRS (18 February 1816 – 20 December 1904) was a Victorian ironmaster and Liberal Party politician from Washington, County Durham, in the north of England.
He was the son of Thomas Bell and his wife Katherine Lowthian.
In 1854, he built Washington Hall, now called Dame Margaret's Hall. At Washington he established a process for the manufacture of an oxychloride of lead, and built Britain's first plant for aluminium production by the Deville sodium process. With his brothers, he established the major iron works at Port Clarence on the north bank of the river Tees. Throughout his life he studied and published learned works on the chemical basis of iron and steel manufacture.
He was twice Lord Mayor of Newcastle upon Tyne, and was elected Member of Parliament for North Durham from February to June 1874, and for Hartlepool from 1875 to 1880.
In 1895 he was awarded the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, 'in recognition of the services he has rendered to Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, by his metallurgical researches and the resulting development of the iron and steel industries'. A founder of the Iron and Steel Institute, he was its president from 1873 to 1875, and in 1874 became the first recipient of the gold medal instituted by Sir Henry Bessemer. He was president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1884.
On 20 July 1842 he married Margaret Pattinson, daughter of Hugh Lee Pattinson (inventor of the Pattinson process for the separation of silver from lead) and Phebe Walton. Their children were Mary Katherine Bell, who in 1873 married Edward Stanley, 4th Baron Stanley of Alderley,[1] Sir Thomas Hugh Bell, 2nd Baronet, who fathered the explorer and diplomat Gertrude Bell, and five others.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles Palmer and Sir George Elliot |
Member of Parliament for North Durham Feb. 1874–Jun. 1874 With: Charles Palmer |
Succeeded by Charles Palmer and Sir George Elliot |
| Preceded by Thomas Richardson |
Member of Parliament for The Hartlepools 1875–1880 |
Succeeded by Thomas Richardson |
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baronet (of Rounton Range and Washington Hall) 1885–1904 |
Succeeded by Thomas Hugh Bell |
| Professional and academic associations | ||
| Preceded by Percy G. B. Westmacott |
President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1884 |
Succeeded by Jeremiah Head |