Charles Frederic Moberly Bell (2 April 1847,
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
– 5 April 1911,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
) was a British journalist and newspaper editor during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Early life
Charles Frederic Moberly Bell was born in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
. His mother was Hester Louisa née David, and his father was a merchant.
Both his parents died while Moberly Bell was still a child. He was sent to England to live with relatives and be educated there. He returned to his birthplace in 1865 and worked briefly for the same company as his father had,
Peel & Co.[DNB 1912 biography](_blank)
/ref>
Journalism and ''The Times''
Moberly Bell then found free-lance work with ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
''. In 1875, he became its official correspondent in Egypt, and achieved fame with his coverage of the Urabi Revolt of 1882. He founded '' The Egyptian Gazette'' in 1880.
During the bombardment of Alexandria
The Bombardment of Alexandria in Egypt by the British Mediterranean Fleet took place on 11–13 July 1882.
Admiral Beauchamp Seymour was in command of a fleet of fifteen Royal Navy ironclad ships which had previously sailed to the harbor of ...
in July 1882, he was a guest alongside rival journalist Frederic Villiers on board HMS Condor when its commander Lord Charles Beresford
Admiral Charles William de la Poer Beresford, 1st Baron Beresford, (10 February 1846 – 6 September 1919), styled Lord Charles Beresford between 1859 and 1916, was a British admiral and Member of Parliament.
Beresford was the second son of ...
attacked Fort Marabut.
In 1890, Bell was invited by the owner of ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'', Arthur Fraser Walter
Arthur Fraser Walter (12 September 1846 – 10 August 1910) was an English newspaper owner and publisher, chief proprietor of ''The Times'' from 1894 until 1908.
Early life
Born on 12 September 1846, Walter was the second son of John Walter ...
, to help run the financially shaky paper, considered highly respected but stolid and boring. As managing director
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...
, Bell revitalized the title, greatly increasing its staff of foreign correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locat ...
s. In 1902, Bell created ''Literature'', a forerunner of ''The Times Literary Supplement
''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp.
History
The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...
'', and in 1910, followed that supplement or spin-off with ''The Times Educational Supplement
''Tes'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a weekly UK publication aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity that in 19 ...
''. In 1908, Bell helped to engineer its sale to Alfred Harmsworth
Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the ''Daily Mail'' and the ''Daily Mirror'', he was an early developer of popular journal ...
, later Lord Northcliffe. Bell remained with the paper until his death in 1911.
''Encyclopædia Britannica''
According to Herman Kogan
Herman Kogan (November 6, 1914 – March 8, 1989) was an American journalist who spent fifty years covering the city of Chicago, many with the ''Chicago Daily News'' and ''Chicago Sun-Times''.
Kogan, a 1936 graduate of the University of Chicago ...
, Bell's single most notable accomplishment was his deal with American Horace Everett Hooper
Horace Everett Hooper (December 8, 1859 – June 13, 1922) was the publisher of ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' from 1897 until his death.
Early life
Born at Worcester, Massachusetts, he left school at the age of 16, and after gaining experience i ...
to reprint and sell the ''Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
'' under the sponsorship of ''The Times''. Beginning in 1898, Hooper and his advertising executive Henry Haxton introduced aggressive marketing methods (full-page advertisements and direct marketing
Direct marketing is a form of communicating an offer, where organizations communicate directly to a pre-selected customer and supply a method for a direct response. Among practitioners, it is also known as ''direct response marketing''. By ...
) to sell a reprint of the '' Britannica's'' 9th edition, which was justly famous for its scholarship but by then out of date. Building on the newspaper's solid reputation, Hooper managed to sell over 20,000 sets of the 9th edition and over 70,000 sets of its supplement, the 10th edition. The profit on the 10th edition was in excess of £600,000, and the royalties paid to the paper made it profitable for the first time in years. In 1908, Hooper's legal battle with his business partner Walter Montgomery Jackson caused ''The Times'' to cancel its contract to sponsor the 11th edition.
Writing
Bell wrote three books: ''Khedives and Pashas'' (1884), ''Egyptian Finance'' (1887), and ''From Pharaoh to Fellah'' (1889).
Personal life
In 1875 Moberly Bell married Ethel Chataway; the couple had two sons and four daughters.
Moberly Bell's biography was written by his daughter Enid. ''The Life and Letters of C. F. Moberly Bell'' was published in 1927, 16 years after his death.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Charles Frederic Moberly
British reporters and correspondents
British newspaper editors
The Times people
Encyclopædia Britannica
1847 births
1911 deaths