Charles Frederic Moberly Bell

Charles Frederic Moberly Bell (2 April 1847, Alexandria5 April 1911, London) was a British journalist and newspaper editor. He was the managing director of The Times during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where his innovations included founding the forerunners of the Times Literary Supplement and the Times Educational Supplement and co-sponsoring the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Early life

Charles Frederic Moberly Bell was born in Alexandria, Egypt, on 2 April 1847. His mother, Hester Louisa, née David, and his father, a merchant, both died when he was a child. Moberly Bell was sent to England to be raised by relatives and to receive his education. He returned to Alexandria in 1865 and briefly worked for Peel & Co., the same company his father had worked for.

Journalism and The Times

Moberly Bell began his career in journalism with freelance work for The Times. In 1875, he became the official correspondent of The Times in Egypt and reported on the Urabi Revolt in 1882. Two years before the revolt, Moberly Bell founded The Egyptian Gazette. As managing director, Bell reorganized the newspaper, increasing its staff of foreign correspondents and revitalizing its operations. In 1902, Bell created Literature, a forerunner of The Times Literary Supplement, and in 1910, followed that supplement, or spin-off with The Times Educational Supplement. In 1908, Bell helped to engineer its sale to Alfred Harmsworth, later Lord Northcliffe. Bell remained with the paper until his death in 1911.

Encyclopædia Britannica

Moberly Bell is also known for his involvement with the Encyclopædia Britannica. In 1898, he brokered a deal with Horace Everett Hooper to reprint and sell the 9th edition of the encyclopaedia under The Times 's sponsorship.

Personal life and family In 1875, Moberly Bell married Ethel Chataway, a sister of Gertrude Chataway and Australian politicians James and Thomas Chataway. The couple had six children, two sons and four daughters. Committed to social justice, in 1930 Enid and Anne Lupton were the committee member and hon-secretary respectively of the Fulham Housing Improvement Society. Concerned with establishing homes and "shelters", the association "issued shares and loan stock at a low rate of interest and with the income built new housing and re-conditioned old property which was then let at affordable rents. Properties were administered by lady managers on the principles laid down by Octavia Hill". In 1946, Enid wrote Hill's biography.