charles bell was born in edinburgh on 12 november 1774, as the fourth son of the reverend william bell, a clergyman of the episcopal church of scotland. charles's father died in 1779 when he was five years old, and thus his mother had a profound influence on his early life teaching him how to read and write. in addition to this, his mother also helped charles's natural artistic ability by paying for his regular drawing and painting lessons from david allan, a well-known scottish painter. charles bell grew up in edinburgh, and attended the prestigious high school (1784–88). although he was not a particularly good student, charles decided to follow in his brother john's footsteps and enter a career in medicine. in 1792, charles bell enrolled at the university of edinburgh and began assisting his brother john as a surgical apprentice. while at the university, bell attended the lectures of dugald stewart on the subject of spiritual philosophy. these lectures had considerable impact on bell, for some of stewart's teachings can be traced in bell's later works in a passage on his "treatise on the hand". in addition to classes on anatomy, bell took a course on the art of drawing in order to refine his artistic skill. at the university he was also a member of the royal medical society as a student and spoke at the society's centenary celebrations in 1837.