ALNWICK AUCTION BROADSIDE – To be Sold by Auction at the White Swan Inn Alnwick… All that Messuage or Dwelling House with the Stables and Garden behind the same – 1823

ALNWICK AUCTION BROADSIDE. To be Sold by Auction, at the White Swan Inn, Alnwick… All that Messuage or Dwelling House, with the Stables and Garden behind the same… Newcastle: Printed by J. Clark, 1823.

Rare early nineteenth-century provincial auction broadside advertising the sale of a dwelling house with stables and garden situated in Bailiff Gate, Alnwick, formerly the property of Mr Nicholas Blackbrough, deceased.

The sale was conducted by Mr Robert Russell, Auctioneer, and scheduled to take place at the White Swan Inn, Alnwick, on Wednesday 13 August 1823 between the hours of six and seven o’clock in the afternoon. The property is described as then being occupied by Ann Blackbrough, Isabella York, and others as tenants thereof. Further particulars were available from Messrs Kirkley and Fenwick, solicitors, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Printed in bold display typography with particularly striking emphasis to “Dwelling House,” the broadside is an attractive survival of early nineteenth-century Northumbrian provincial printing and offers a valuable glimpse into property sales, tenancy, and commercial life in Georgian Alnwick.

Of particular historical importance is the location itself. Bailiff Gate formed part of Alnwick’s historic castle quarter and remains one of the town’s most historically significant streets, closely associated with Alnwick Castle and the medieval development of the borough. The White Swan Inn referenced in the broadside survives today as one of Alnwick’s best-known historic inns, adding further continuity and local historical interest to the piece.

Provincial auction broadsides of this nature were printed for temporary public display and survival rates are consequently low. No institutional copy of the present broadside has been traced in the British Library, Library Hub, or WorldCat databases, suggesting that surviving examples are exceptionally scarce.

Single printed sheet measuring approximately 27.7 x 21.9 cm.

Condition: Fold lines as issued with minor creasing, light age toning, and trivial handling wear. Overall condition is near fine for ephemeral material of this period.

An attractive and historically significant piece of Georgian Northumberland ephemera with strong typographical, local historical, and institutional interest.

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