Clement was born in the parish of
St Clement Danes and baptised at
St Anne's Church, Soho. Starting as a
newsagent at a young age, he soon became one of the leading vendors in London. In 1814, Clement moved into the newspaper publishing business by purchasing
The Observer, at that time a comparatively obscure Sunday paper. Within two years, Clement accepted government funds in return for providing editorial support. Endeavoring to make
The Observer the leading Sunday newspaper, Clement delayed printing the paper until between four and five o'clock on the Sunday morning in order to include the latest news. Yet the paper remained dependent on government funds, with nearly half of its print run given away for free as 'specimen copies'. During this time Clement was also the publisher of the
Weekly Political Register, which was edited by
William Cobbett. He stood by Cobbett when the latter man left for the United States on the suspension of the
Habeas Corpus Act in 1817. Three years later, Clement sold the
Weekly Political Register and his newsvending business to
W. H. Smith. He then bought the
Morning Chronicle on the death of James Perry in 1821 for £42,000, raising most of the purchase money by bills. The transaction involved him with Messrs. Hurst & Robinson, the publishers, and their bankruptcy in 1825 hit him very hard. After losing annually on the
Morning Chronicle, Clement sold it to
John Easthope in 1834 for £16,500. More profitable for Clement was his ownership of ''
Bell's Life in London, which he purchased between 1824 and 1825. Under the editorship of Vincent George Dowling, Bell's Life in London'' became a leading sporting paper, with its circulation growing from 3,000 to over 30,000 in the first two decades of Clement's ownership. Clement died suddenly of
apoplexy at
Hackney on 24 January 1852. He is buried at
Kensal Green Cemetery. == References ==