Execution Of the unhappy Men, Who suffered this Morning, at Newgate

Maker:

Catnach, James

ID:

A2149

Production date:

1827

Location:

In Store

Execution broadside printed with an account of the crimes, trial and execution of John Powell convicted of stealing, Charles Smith convicted of an assault and robbery, Edward Lowe was indicted for coining and John Keaton was capitally indicted for highway robbery. Printed by James Catnach the broadside also refers to the case of Thomas Sakett who, found guilty of assaulting and robbing a bank clerk was also due to be executed on the same day but was reprieved from execution at the last moment by the King and transported to the convict colony of New South Wales, Australia. The broadside includes a generic woodcut engraving of the gallows and crowd and is includes part of a religious service held for the condemned men before their execution.  < ...Read more

Execution broadside printed with an account of the crimes, trial and execution of John Powell convicted of stealing, Charles Smith convicted of an assault and robbery, Edward Lowe was indicted for coining and John Keaton was capitally indicted for highway robbery. Printed by James Catnach the broadside also refers to the case of Thomas Sakett who, found guilty of assaulting and robbing a bank clerk was also due to be executed on the same day but was reprieved from execution at the last moment by the King and transported to the convict colony of New South Wales, Australia. The broadside includes a generic woodcut engraving of the gallows and crowd and is includes part of a religious service held for the condemned men before their execution.

Until 1868 public hangings were a popular form of entertainment for the London crowd. Such occasions provided an opportunity for cheap printers and street vendors to 'turn a penny on the street' by selling accounts of the crimes, trial and 'dying speeches' of executed criminals as souvenirs to the baying spectactors. As soon as the trap fell the street vendors began running amongst the crowd selling the broadsides. Execution broadsides were published by a small number of printers many of whom, such as Thomas Birt, James Catnach and James Pitts were based around the Seven Dials area of London. Spelling and grammar was often poor and the details not always accurate. Although ususally printed between the end of the trial and the date of the execution (usually a gap of a few weeks) they could be quickly changed to accomodate last minute information such as reprieves and dying confessions. The printers often used battered woodcuts, and, for the gallows scene used a stock block with a pierced central section to allow the sex and required number of hanging figures to be changed as required. Female criminals were depicted by using a block for a male figure, cut square at the knee to represent a skirt. < Hide

Measurements

H 380 mm

Materials

paper

Last Updated

2024-03-26