''Bell's Weekly Messenger'' was a British Sunday newspaper that began publication on 1 May 1796, under proprietorship of John Bell. Initially a Sunday paper, from 1799 the London edition was reprinted on Monday for nationwide distribution. By 1803, it was selling 6,000 copies a week, at sixpence a copy. In 1799 there was even an augmented reprint of the previous year's editions, under the title ''Bell's Annual Messenger'', printed for international distribution under the auspices of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

. From its inception in 1799 the Monday edition carried information on agricultural markets in the U.K. Although ''Bell's Weekly Messenger'' began as a general weekly, after it acquired in 1832 ''Evans and Ruffy's Farmers' Journal'' it gave extensive coverage to agricultural affairs and was for many years the leading agricultural newspaper in the U.K. The newspaper continued under the title ''Bell's Weekly Messenger'' until March 1896, after which it was continued as ''Country Sport''. In 1832 the first recorded British newspaper cartoon was published in ''Bell's New Weekly Messenger''.

References

*James Grant. ''The Great Metropolis''. Third Edition. Saunders and Otley. Conduit Street, London. 1838. First Series. volume 2
p 128
et seq. Reprinted in Foster's Cabinet Miscellany, New York, Theodore Foster, 1838, volume 1, p 227 et seq. Defunct weekly newspapers Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom Publications established in 1796 Publications disestablished in 1896 1796 establishments in Great Britain {{publish-stub