Bell sold it to William Innell Clement, owner of The Observer, in 1824 or 1825, and the paper swallowed up a competitor, Pierce Egan's Life in London and Sporting Guide.
From 1824 to 1852 it was edited by Vincent George Dowling, "during which time Bell's Life became Britain's leading sporting newspaper, without which no gentleman's Sunday was quite complete".
For 30 years, it remained the principal source of racing news while its general news with its acid comment, full coverage of scandal and cartoons provides an entertaining picture of Victorian Britain.
Bell's problem was that it aimed at both the literate poor and the general sporting public who fall into all classes.
It experimented variously with appearing more than once a week and eventually eliminated all its general news, covering sport alone; but the changes came too late.