1836
Lowthian joins his father’s ironworks at Walker, later becoming a partner
1837
Queen Victoria succeeds William IV
1842
Lowthian marries Margaret Pattinson, daughter of Hugh Lee Pattinson FRS
1844
Gertrude’s father (Thomas) Hugh Bell born at Walker, elder brother of Charles, Mary (Maisie), Florence, Ada, and Sophie; Gertrude’s mother, Maria (Mary) Shield, born
1845
Lowthian Bell takes control of Walker ironworks on death of his father
1850
Lowthian opens Washington chemical company with Hugh Pattinson; with Newall, pioneers steel rope and undersea cable manufacture (company becomes Brunner Mond, 1872)
1851
Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace, London; future stepmother Florence born to Dr. Sir Joseph and Lady Olliffe (née Cubitt)
1852
Lowthian Bell opens Bell Brothers iron foundry with brothers John and Thomas
1854
Lowthian elected Lord Mayor of Newcastle (and again in 1863); opens Clarence ironworks in Middlesbrough
1857
First Atlantic cable laid, using 1,280 miles of Washington cable
1860
Lowthian pioneers manufacture of aluminium at Washington
1865
Lowthian incorporates his Cleveland Railway into the North Eastern Railway Company (later London and North Eastern Railway)
1867
23 Apr.—Hugh Bell marries Maria (Mary) Shield
1868
14 July—Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell (GLB) born at grandfather’s home, Washington New Hall, County Durham
1869
Lowthian Bell is founding organizer of the British Iron and Steel Institute
1870
Hugh Bell and family move to newly built Red Barns, Redcar, near Middlesbrough
Franco-Prussian War; Olliffe family evacuate from British Embassy in Paris as Prussians approach
1871
29 Mar.—Brother Maurice Hugh Lowthian Bell born
19 Apr.—Mother Mary Bell dies, aged twenty-seven; Hugh’s sister Ada manages household
1872
Lowthian Bell starts building Rounton Grange on newly acquired estate near Northallerton
1874
Hugh Bell elected Mayor of Middlesbrough
1875
Lowthian Bell elected Fellow of the Royal Society and elected Liberal MP for Hartlepool
1876
Sir Edward Poynter paints Gertrude and Hugh; Rounton Grange complete
10 Aug.—Hugh Bell marries Florence Eveleen Eleanore Olliffe
1877
Lowthian Bell is founding organizer of the British Institute of Chemistry (later, Royal Institute)
Queen Victoria declared Empress of India
1878
Lowthian Bell awarded Légion d’honneur
GLB’s half-brother Hugh (Hugo) born
1879
GLB’s half-sister Elsa born
1880
Lowthian Bell resigns from parliament
1881
GLB’s half-sister Mary (Molly) born
1882
Forth Bridge Company formed to build world’s largest bridge; Hugh Bell becomes a director
1884
Lowthian Bell appointed High Sheriff of County Durham; rebuilds East Rounton church; Hugh again elected Mayor of Middlesbrough; Tees ferry Hugh Bell launched
Apr.—GLB attends Queen’s College, London, living with stepgrandmother, Lady Olliffe, at 95 Sloane Street
1885
Lowthian Bell accepts baronetcy; Maurice Bell goes to Eton—there until 1889
1886
Apr.—GLB attends Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University
July–Aug.—Lodges with a family in Weilheim, Germany
Grandmother Dame Margaret Bell dies
1887
Great-uncle John Bell, Sir Lowthian’s business partner, dies
1888
June—GLB graduates from Oxford with 1st Class Honours
Dec.—Stays in Bucharest with Sir Frank and Mary Lascelles (aunt); meets Valentine Chirol and Charles Hardinge; befriended by Queen Elizabeth of Romania (aka Carmen Sylva)
1889
Cousin Billy Lascelles accompanies GLB to Constantinople; they return to England via Paris
June—Family holiday in Alsace
GLB acts as housekeeper for her stepmother at Red Barns; does social work in Middlesbrough
GLB “comes out” in the London season, presented to Queen Victoria
War in South Africa resumes after Boer attack on Cape Colony
GLB aids Florence’s group studying lives of local working families; becomes treasurer of its committee
1891
Washington New Hall given away as an orphanage, named Dame Margaret’s Hall
1892
Hugh Bell stands for parliament as a Unionist Party candidate, unsuccessful
Apr.—GLB travels to Persia with cousin Florence Lascelles to stay with her parents in Teheran; studies Persian; begins reading the poetry of Hafiz
GLB begins romance in Persia with legation secretary Henry Cadogan; betrothal intended
Dec.—GLB returns to London with cousin Gerald Lascelles; her parents refuse permission to marry Cadogan
1893
Cadogan dies
Jan.—GLB goes to Switzerland and northern Italy with Mary Talbot
Apr.—Travels to Algiers with father to visit Great-uncle John Bell’s widow, Lizzie
May—Returns to London with Mary Talbot via Switzerland and Weimar, where Maurice is staying
June–Dec.—GLB in England, learning Persian and Latin; starts Arabic studies
1894
Jan.–Feb.—GLB and Hugh tour Italy
Mar.–July—GLB in England; Safar Nameh: Persian Pictures published
Aug.–Sept.—Family holiday in Paris, Switzerland, and Austria
1895
Aug.—Family holiday in Switzerland
Sept.—GLB in England working on The Divan of Hafiz
1896
Mar.–Apr.—visits Italy with Hugh; takes Italian lessons
Sir Lowthian awarded Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts
July–Aug.—Family holiday in Switzerland
Sept.—GLB visits the Lascelleses, Ambassador Sir Frank and Lady Mary, at embassy country house in Potsdam
Oct.–Dec.—Returns to England; continues Persian and Arabic studies
1897
Jan.–Mar.—With cousin Florence visits the Lascelleses in Berlin; takes tea with the German Emperor and Empress
Apr.—Lady Mary Lascelles dies
June—The Divan of Hafiz published
July–Aug.—GLB begins climbing during family visit to La Grave, Switzerland
Dec.—GLB and Maurice go on world tour, visiting the West Indies, Mexico, San Francisco, Honolulu, Japan, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Burma; then return via Egypt, Greece, and Constantinople
1898
Sir Lowthian acquires the estate of Mount Grace Priory and restores the house
June—GLB and Maurice return to England
Aug.–Sept.—Family holiday near Fort William, Scotland
Oct.—GLB in England studying Arabic with Sir Denison Ross
1899
Mar.—Travels to Italy, then meets up with Hugh in Athens; studies Greek antiquities, meets archaeologist David Hogarth; returns alone via Constantinople, Prague, and Berlin
Aug.—Visits Bayreuth to attend opera
Aug.–Sept.—Climbs the Meije and Les Écrins
Sept.–Nov.—GLB in England; Bell Brothers becomes a public company
Nov.—Goes to Jerusalem to stay with the Rosens at German Consulate; travels via Damascus, visiting Baalbek and Beirut, Athens and Smyrna; studies Arabic and Hebrew
1900
Jan.—Maurice Bell leaves for Boer War, commanding Volunteer Service Company
of the Yorkshire Regiment; Aunt Ada dies
Feb.–June—GLB’s first desert travels, to Jerusalem, Palmyra, Damascus, Baalbek, Beirut
June–July—GLB in England
Aug.–Sept.—In the Alps, climbs Mont Blanc, the Grépon, and the Dru
Sept.–Dec.—GLB in England
1901
Jan.–Feb.—In London, watches funeral procession of Queen Victoria; Edward VII succeeds to the throne
Mar.–Aug.—GLB in Redcar and London
Sir Lowthian sells majority holdings in the Bell companies and merges steel interests with Dorman Long (in 1902), releasing substantial funds. Hugh takes directorships in all Bell associated companies
Aug.—GLB in Bernese Oberland, climbs Schreckhorn and Engelhorn range; Gertrudspitze named after her
Sept.–Dec.—In England, takes up photographic developing
1902
Jan.–May—Travels with father and Hugo to Malta, then to Sicily, to be guided by Winston Churchill; travels on alone to Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, and Palestine
Maurice Bell returns from South Africa wounded
Ibn Saud regains Riyadh from Rashid dynasty in night attack
May—Boer War ends
July—GLB in Switzerland; via new route almost reaches summit of Finsteraarhorn; frostbitten
Sept.–Nov.—In England, engages lady’s maid Marie Delaire
Nov.—GLB leaves for second world tour, with Hugo
Dec.—Attends Delhi durbar as guest of the Viceroy
1903
Dec.–July—Goes to Afghanistan, Himalayas, Burma, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Korea, Japan, Vancouver, climbing in the Rocky Mountains, Canada, Boston, Chicago
July—Returns to England with Hugo
1904
Jan.—Half-sister Molly marries Charles Trevelyan
Feb.—Sir Lowthian gives £5,000 to each of his grandchildren
Apr.—Entente Cordiale established between Britain and France
Aug.—GLB at Zermatt, climbs the Matterhorn
Sept.–Nov.—GLB in England
Nov.—Studies antiquities in Paris with Salomon Reinach
20 Dec.—Sir Lowthian dies, aged eighty-eight, at London home, Belgravia; Hugh succeeds to baronetcy and inherits £750,000
Dec.—GLB goes on archaeological trip via Paris, Marseilles, Naples, Beirut, Haifa, Jerusalem; then takes desert route to Druze mountains, Damascus, Homs, Baalbek, Orontes valley, Aleppo; continues on horseback to Antioch, Osmaniyeh, Adana, Tarsus, Karaman; then by train to Konya, explores Binbirkilisse
1905
Apr.—Takes on Fattuh, her principal servant on future desert journeys
May—Stays in Constantinople before returning to England
June–Sept.—GLB in England, begins The Desert and the Sown; Sir Hugh and family move to Rounton Grange
Oct.—Studies ancient manuscripts in Paris with Reinach; writes essay on the geometry of the cruciform structure
Nov.–Dec.—In England; begins to transform the Rounton Grange gardens
Dec.–Feb.—Travels to Gibraltar, Tangier, Spain, and Paris with Sir Hugh
1906
Feb.–Dec.—GLB in England; Sir Hugh appointed Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding (twenty-five-year tenure)
Dec.—GLB and Sir Hugh arrive in Cairo, joined by Hugo from Australia
1907
Feb.—Return to England, delayed by Sir Hugh’s illness
Feb.–Mar.—GLB in England
Mar.–July—In Turkey, travels on horseback across Anatolia visiting ancient sites; works with Professor Sir William Ramsay in Binbirkilisse; meets Dick Doughty-Wylie
July—Half-sister Elsa marries Herbert, later Admiral Sir Herbert Richmond
Aug.—GLB takes Fattuh to hospital in Constantinople; guest of Grand Vizier
Aug.–Dec.—GLB in England; publication of The Desert and the Sown
Oct.—GLB trains in surveying and map-making with the Royal Geographical Society
1908
Young Turks’ Committee of Union and Progress rebel against Sultan, taking six more years to achieve full power over Ottoman Empire
GLB in England all year; founding secretary of the Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League; drafts The Thousand and One Churches; holidays in North Wales with Valentine Chirol and Frank Balfour
Doughty-Wylie unofficially rallies Turkish troops to stop massacre of Armenians; wounded, organizes relief for twenty-two thousand refugees
Sept.—Hugo Bell ordained priest; curate of Guiseley, Leeds
1909
Jan.–July—Travels to Syria and Mesopotamia; on horseback, follows Euphrates to Baghdad, measures Ukhaidir, then follows Tigris to Turkey
July—In England; publication of The Thousand and One Churches; draws palace of Ukhaidir; writes on Armenian monasteries for Josef Strzygowski; meets Sir Percy Cox, discusses with him proposed desert journeys; begins Amurath to Amurath; continues with Rounton gardens, now becoming a showpiece
Stepmother Florence first president of the North Riding branch of the British Red Cross (until 1930)
1910
Feb.—GLB visits archaeological sites in Italy; pays flying visit to Munich
Hugh Bell stands as Liberal candidate for the City of London—unsuccessful. George V succeeds Edward VII
1911
Jan.–May—GLB goes via Beirut and Damascus across desert to Baghdad to check measurements of Ukhaidir; travels along Tigris
April—Meets T. E. Lawrence at Carchemish in Syria working for David Hogarth
June—Returns to England; publication of Amurath to Amurath
1912
GLB in England all year; involved in worldwide fund-raising for relief of Constantinople after the great fire; creates new water garden at Rounton; meets Dick Doughty-Wylie in London
1913
Jan.–Nov.—GLB in England; elected to Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society; awarded its Gill memorial theodolite, first woman to receive an RGS award; completes The Palace and Mosque at Ukhaidir
Woodrow Wilson becomes twenty-eighth President of the United States
Nov.—GLB travels to Damascus to organize journey to Hayyil, with intention of meeting Ibn Saud in Riyadh
Dec.—GLB and caravan leave for Hayyil
1914
Feb.—GLB arrives in Hayyil, put under house arrest
Feb.–May—Released; continues to Baghdad, through Mesopotamian and Syrian deserts; returns to England
June—Churchill persuades British parliament to approve Admiralty purchase of 51 per cent of Anglo-Persian oil company to secure fuel for navy
14 June—Archduke Ferdinand of Austria shot at Sarajevo
July—GLB awarded Gold Medal by the Royal Geographical Society
Aug.—First World War begins; GLB gives speeches to raise troops; publication of The Palace and Mosque at Ukhaidir; Maurice mobilized as Lieutenant-Colonel commanding 4th (territorial) Battalion, Green Howards
Oct.—Turkey joins war as ally of Germany
Nov.—GLB works at Lord Onslow’s Hospital, Clandon Park, Surrey
Gertrude Bell Page 52
