Bellamy was born at Kingston-on-Thames, served an apprenticeship to a hosier in Newgate Street, London, and went into business on his own account.
After 20 years he became a clerk in a bookseller's in Paternoster Row, leaving after a disagreement.
[1] In 1787 Bellamy started the General Magazine and Impartial Review, which was published for some months.
Later he set up The Monthly Mirror, which was mainly concerned with the stage, and established a circulating library.
These Miscellanies in Prose and Verse were dedicated to Charles Dibdin; with whom the author later quarrelled.