A Full and Particular Account of the Execution of Mr. John Wait, Mark Herd, W. Watts, John Brown, T. Fuller, & J.Harris. Who underwent the awful Sentence of the law on Wednesday the 26th of February, 1823, in the Old Bailey, London

Execution broadside printed an account of the crimes, trial and execution of the six Old Bailey prisoners who were publicly executed at Newgate on 26th February 1823. The broadside printed by Henry Shepherd in Bristol includes a woodcut engraving of the Newgate gallows with the crowd of spectators and reports that John Wait, convicted of forgery was regarded as a respectable man and many in the crowd were sympathetic towards his situation. The other five prisoners - Mark Herd, William Brown, John Fuller William Harris and Thomas Watts were all convicted of burglary. Several of the names have been incorrectly listed on the broadside.

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. In this broadside many of the Christian names of the prisoners are incorrect. Interestingly this broadside was, however, printed in Bristol suggesting the Old Bailey trials held an interest for the public beyond London and the crowds of spectators viewing the execution. Although usually printed between the end of the trial and the date of the execution (usually a gap of a few weeks) they could often 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.