Arthur Bell (1843-1929, died age 86)

Arthur was the owner of Buccleuch Mill, president of the Langholm School Board, a trustee of the Thomas Hope Hospital and president of the Eskdale Unionist Association.

He was born in nearby Canonbie and moved with his parents to Langholm, where his father was initially a draper and grocer, then a tweed merchant. He worked in his father’s business before buying Criterion Mill in 1888, renaming it Buccleuch Mill.

^{A party at Arthur Bell’s home, Hillside, on a hill above Langholm}

His elder brother Herbert was a Church of Scotland minister in Aberdeen and his younger brother Edward took over the family tweed trading business in the High Street when Arthur moved into manufacturing.

Arthur married Jane Black (1842-1939) from Cumbria and they had three sons, two of whom died in childhood. The youngest, Edward, became a partner in his father’s manufacturing business.

^{Arthur and Jane Bell’s silver wedding anniversary, 1919}

Arthur, his father and his brother helped with the upbringing of nephews, nieces and grandchildren, due to two sad suicides in the family. Arthur’s brother Herbert died on impact with a train at Kittybrewster railway station, Aberdeen, in 1887, leaving five children. Arthur’s daughter-in-law Eleanor Little died from poison in 1915, also leaving five children.