Identity area
Type of entity
Family
Authorized form of name
Bell-Irving family
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Bell-Irving family were descendants of Henry Bell Irving, a Glasgow, Scotland merchant. Bell Irving resided in Millbank, Dumfries County, and in 1851 he married Williamina McBean Irving. The couple had seven children, two of whom established the family in Vancouver. The eldest son, Henry Ogle Bell-Irving (1856-1931) and his brother, Dr. Duncan Bell-Irving, moved to Granville in 1885. The family retained properties in Scotland, which were administered by a trust after the death of Henry Bell Irving in or before 1863.
In Vancouver, Henry Ogle Bell-Irving went on to found and operate a number of prominent Vancouver businesses, including Anglo-British Columbia Packing Company and Bell-Irving Insurance. Dr. Duncan Bell-Irving practiced medicine in Vancouver for many years; in 1900 he joined his brother's firm, H. Bell-Irving Co. Ltd.