The Times proved less efficient than advertised). Walter bought the logography's patent and with it opened a printing house to produce a daily advertising sheet. The first publication of the newspaper "The Daily Universal Register in Great Britain" was 1 January 1785. Unhappy because the word "Universal" was frequently omitted from the name, Walter changed the title after 940 editions on 1 January 1788 to "The Times". In 1803, Walter handed ownership and editorship to his son of the same name. In spite of Walter Sr's sixteen-month stay in Newgate Prison for libel printed in "The Times", his pioneering efforts to obtain
The Illustrated London News Stamp Act that taxed newspapers), it sold 200,000 copies per week. Competitors soon began to appear: "Lloyd’s Illustrated Paper" was founded later that year, while "Reynold's Newspaper" opened in 1850; both were successful Victorian publications, albeit less successful than "The Illustrated London News". Andrew Spottiswoode's "Pictorial Times" lost £20,000 before it was sold to Ingram by Henry Vizetelly, who had left the "ILN" to found it. Ingram folded it into another purchase, "The Lady's Newspaper", which became "The Lady's Newspaper and Pictorial Times". Vizetelly was also behind a later competitor, "Illustrated Times" in 1855, which was similarly bought out by