Charles Frederic Moberly Bell
Charles Frederic Moberly Bell (2 April 1847 – 5 April 1911) was a British journalist and newspaper editor who led The Times in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt. His mother and father died when he was young, so he was raised in England before returning to Alexandria in 1865 to work briefly for Peel & Co. He began writing for The Times as a freelancer.
Bell became The Times’ official correspondent in Egypt in 1875 and reported on the Urabi Revolt in 1882. He also founded The Egyptian Gazette around 1880. During the 1882 bombardment of Alexandria, he was aboard the ship HMS Condor with journalist Frederic Villiers.
In 1890, The Times owner asked Bell to help run the paper. As managing director, he reorganized the newspaper, expanded its foreign correspondents, and breathed new life into its operations. He helped create new features for readers: in 1902 he started Literature, a forerunner of the Times Literary Supplement, and in 1910 he followed with The Times Educational Supplement. In 1908 he helped arrange the sale of The Times to Alfred Harmsworth (Lord Northcliffe). Bell stayed with The Times until his death.
Bell also played a role with the Encyclopædia Britannica. In 1898 he brokered a deal to reprint and sell the 9th edition under The Times’ sponsorship, which helped boost sales. The 10th edition sold even more, bringing large profits and royalties to the newspaper. The Times stopped sponsoring the encyclopedia in 1908 after a legal dispute between Horace Hooper and Walter Montgomery Jackson.
He wrote three books: Khedives and Pashas (1884), Egyptian Finance (1887), and From Pharaoh to Fellah (1888).
In 1875 Bell married Ethel Chataway, and they had six children. One daughter, Enid Moberly Bell, became a notable headmistress and writer, including a biography of her father published in 1927. Charles Frederic Moberly Bell died in London in 1911 at the age of 64.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:16 (CET).