Hugh Lowthian Bell was born on 21 October 1878 at the Bell family home, Red Barns, in East Coatham, Yorkshire, England, to Sir Thomas Hugh Bell and Lady Florence Eveleen Eleanor Bell (née Olliffe). He was the youngest brother of Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, traveller, archaeologist and diplomat, and the grandson of Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell, the industrial metallurgist. Hugh, known also as Hugo, attended Trinity College, Oxford, graduating with a Master of Arts (M.A.), and married Frances Helena Morkill on 24 November 1921. The couple had two sons, Sir Hugh Francis Bell, 4th Baronet, and John Lowthian Bell. Hugh Lowthian Bell died on 2 February 1926.