Last Dying Speech

In this drawing by Thomas Rowlandson, a grotesque street seller is shown advertising a batch of broadsheets. She holds the papers in one hand while the other is free to collect her payment. In the background, a crowd has gathered to watch a public execution outside Newgate Prison.

In 1799 Rowlandson drew and later etched 'Last Dying Speech and Confession' which, like this image, depicted a female street vendor with a broadsheet in hand and mouth open to issue a cry.

Street criers preoccupied Rowlandson at different stages of his career and he produced several different sets of images, known as his 'Cries of London', in 1799, 1801 and 1820. This drawing comes from his last series and, like those before, followed the tradition of depicting street criers which was popularised by Marcellus Laroon's 'The Cryes of the City of London' (1687) and 'Cries' by Francis Wheatley (1793).

A larger drawing of the same subject, more closely related to the print, is also in the museum's collection, A16183.