Bell era The Star was founded as the
Evening Star in 1863 with the first issue appearing on 1 May 1863. It was founded by G. A. Henningham and Co., edited by George Henningham, and originally printed in Stafford Street, above the
Exchange area of the city. In its first few years the company was bought by William Henningham, the founder's brother. In June 1869, William Henningham ran into financial difficulties and the
Evening Star was sold by liquidators to
George Bell, who also ran a small evening paper, the
Evening Independent. Bell merged the two newspapers to form firstly the short-lived
Morning Star, and then the far more successful
Evening Star, which was first published under this title on 14 June 1869. Under Bell's editorship the paper thrived and it soon began to outsell almost all of its rivals. Bell remained editor until 1894. In 1897, the newspaper adopted
linotype type-setting machines. In 1907, the newspaper started a Saturday sports edition called
Star Sports, which was published as a
tabloid insert. Allied Press also owns the
Evening Star former headquarters at Stuart Street. The company's managing director
Julian Smith is a great-great-grandson of George Bell. ==References==