the best designers of the day in the "Aesthetic" style, with William Morris's "Double Bough" wallpaper hand-printed using 22 apple wood printing blocks. For the restoration of 2010 the original blocks were used to produce a close replica of the original wallpaper, each roll taking a week to print by hand. While decorating the great house, Morris spoke of "ministering to the swinish luxury of the rich". Bell died on 20 December 1904 at his house in London, 10 Belgrave Terrace. He left £750,000 to his son Hugh Bell on his death in 1904. Legacy After his death, the Institution of Mining Engineers resolved that Gertrude Bell's biographer, Georgina Howell, writes of Lowthian Bell that through his writings such as The Chemical Phenomena of Iron Smelting he was seen as the "high priest of British Metallurgy". She observes that he was noted also for his wealth and for the innovations he made, such as the use of steel-making slag as phosphate fertilizer, and that he was arguably Britain's "foremost industrialist". Among his friends were famous Victorians such as Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, William Morris and John Ruskin. However, Howell writes, "Lowthian was admired rather than loved, and appears to have been dictatorial and harsh towards his family." She observes that "There is to this day no biography of the man who was as famous in his day as Isambard Kingdom Brunel." Notes References Bibliography "Memoir: Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell, Bart.' Proceedings - Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1904, 1354-1356 "Obituary: Sir Lowthian Bell, Bart." Journal - Iron and Steel Institute 66 1904, 426-434 North Yorkshire County Council Archives: Bell of Rounton Grange Records Archaeo-Environment: Washington Chemical Works. March 2004. Report 29/1-03 for Sunderland City Council. External links NEIMME: Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell, Bart Durham Mining Museum: Isaac Lowthian Bell, Sir Grace's Guides: Isaac Lowthian Bell English Heritage: Mount Grace Priory (Arts and Crafts under Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell) IMechE: Lowthian Bell (with portrait photo) The Rountons (portrait painting by unknown artist) 1816 births 1904 deaths People from Washington, Tyne and Wear Politicians from Tyne and Wear English engineers Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1874–1880 British ironmasters Bell, Sir Lowthian, 1st Baronet Fellows of the Royal Society North Eastern Railway (UK) people English metallurgists Mayors of Newcastle upon Tyne Bessemer Gold Medal 19th-century English businesspeople 19th-century ironmasters