Particulars of the Trial and execution of William Rice, Who was Executed in Front of the Old Bailey this Morning

Execution broadside printed with an account of the trial and execution of William Rice (aged 22) who, alongside his accomplice Henry Jones (aged 21) was found guilty of the burglary of a house in White Hart Lane, Tottenham. The broadside notes that Henry Jones was subsequently reprieved from execution as were John Montgomery who was found guilty of having forged and counterfeit money and James Anderson, George Morris and Mary Young found guilty of the violent theft of a handkerchief and sovereign from Thomas Johnson. The broadside concludes with with a poem. The broadside that concludes with a poem have been printed by Thomas Birt at the end of the trials and the setting of the execution date and altered at the last minute to take account of the reprieve of the other prisoners due to be executed the same day.

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. This broadside was printed by Thomas Birt. 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, as in this case to accomodate last minute information such as reprieves. 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.