Execution of Henry John Naylor, George Adams, Edward Ward, John Anson, William Bartholomew, John Close, Edward Desmond and John Davies At The Old Bailey, For Burglary, On Wednesday, May 22, 1822

Execution broadside printed with an account of the trial of the convicted burglars Henry John Naylor, George Adams, Edward Ward, John Anson, William Bartholomew, John Close, Edward Desmond and John Davies. Printed by James Catnach, the broadside includes a generic woodcut engraving showing a crowd before the gallows witnessing the public execution that took place on Wednesday, May 22, 1822. The broadside includes witness accounts heard at the trial and offers a moral reflection on the crimes with Biblical references.
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 last sentence of this broadside, for example, notes that 'at the hour of One this Morning, Mercy was extended to Desmond, Davies, Ward, & Anson. '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.