A Biography of Elizabeth Colville Bell

The image above is the city where Elizabeth Colville Bell was born and died, Cupar, Fife, Scotland

Elizabeth Colville Bell was the grandmother of Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone.

Elizabeth was born to Andrew Colville, who died at Gauldry (Balmerino parish) on January 12th, 1851, at the age of 94.

Elizabeth Colville married Alexander Bell (Alexander Graham Bell’s Grandfather), a shoemaker and comedian, on April 4th, 1814. They had four children together: Jane, David Charles, Alexander Melville, and Elizabeth Samuel Bell. Unfortunately, Jane died in 1817, at the tender age of two, but the remaining children grew up to be accomplished in their own right.

Alexander Bell, Elizabeth’s husband, originally aspired to be an actor, but the Colville family did not approve, so he moved to Edinburgh and became a Professor of Elocution. He passed away on April 23rd, 1865, in Harrington Square, London.

Alexander Melville Bell, Elizabeth’s son, followed in his father’s footsteps as an educator, teaching speech as a science. He invented “visible speech,” a system that helped deaf mutes speak. After the death of two of his sons from tuberculosis in 1870 and his third son Alexander Graham Bell in poor health, he moved his family to Canada and settled near Brantford, Ontario. Alexander Melville Bell died on August 7th, 1905, in Washington, D.C., at the age of 87, and was interred in Rock Creek Cemetery. His research into mechanisms of speech was continued by his son Alexander Graham Bell, resulting in the invention of the telephone.

Elizabeth Colville Bell passed away on December 29th, 1856, in Cupar, Fife, at the age of 74, and was interred in St. James Burying Ground. She was survived by her three children and her grandchildren, including Alexander Graham Bell, who would go on to change the world with his invention. In 1909, a monument was erected in memory of Elizabeth Colville, her father Andrew Colville, and her son Alexander Melville Bell, by her great-grandson Alexander Graham Bell of Washington D.C., U.S.A.

Elizabeth Colville Bell’s legacy lives on through her remarkable family and the incredible achievements they made in the field of speech and communication.

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