Particulars of The Trials and Execution of George Widgett, and John Broach, Who were Executed this Morning at the Old Bailey. With the Copy of a Letter written by Broach to his Brother

Execution broadside printed with an account of the crimes, trial and execution of George Widget convicted of sheep stealing and John Broach convicted of burglary. Printed by Thomas Birt the broadside includes a generic woodcut engraving of the gallows and the crowd and concludes with a transcript of the confessional letter written by Broach to his brother the night before his 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 (as in this case where Widget's name is spelt incorrectly) 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 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.