NORTHUMBERLAND ELECTION BROADSIDE – “A FRIEND TO CHARITY” – A SATIRICAL ATTACK ON HENRY THOMAS LIDDELL DURING THE CELEBRATED NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY ELECTION – Newcastle, 1826

Newcastle: Mackenzie & Dent, Printers, 28 March 1826.

Single-sheet letterpress political broadside.

Sheet size: 27.5 x 22.4 cm.

Condition: Near fine. Minor handling wear and light creasing. Strong, dark impression with excellent legibility. An unusually well-preserved survival.

Description

A scarce and entertaining example of Georgian political satire issued during the fiercely contested Northumberland Parliamentary Election of 1826, one of the most expensive and acrimonious county election campaigns of the late Georgian period.

Published in Newcastle on 28 March 1826, the broadside is anonymously signed “A Friend to Charity” and takes the form of a mock appeal for charitable donations to assist the electoral prospects of Henry Thomas Liddell, later 1st Earl of Ravensworth.

The piece is a striking example of the humour, ridicule and personal attack that characterised electioneering before the Reform Act of 1832. Written in an ironic tone throughout, the author pretends concern for the practical difficulties of transporting Liddell’s supporters to the poll while in reality delivering a sustained satirical assault upon the candidate and his backers.

Particularly notable are the references to contemporary steam navigation. One supporter is said to have proposed the use of a steam boat to carry voters to the election, prompting the writer to catalogue a succession of possible disasters, including machinery failure, boiler explosions, shortages of coal and navigational mishaps. Instead, the author sarcastically recommends the use of a traditional keel, a reference likely intended to amuse contemporary readers familiar with Tyne shipping.

The broadside proceeds to mock both Liddell and his supporters through a series of local allusions, including references to Newcastle brewing, coal trading and public houses, before concluding with an appeal for subscriptions to be collected throughout the county.

The text provides a vivid illustration of how elections were fought in the unreformed parliamentary era. Alongside formal addresses and committee notices, campaigns generated large quantities of satirical broadsides, squibs, lampoons and anonymous attacks intended to influence voters and damage opponents’ reputations. Most were ephemeral productions intended for immediate use and were rarely preserved.

Historical Context

The Northumberland election of 1826 ranks among the most important county contests of the period and involved some of the leading political figures of northern England.

Principal participants included:

• Henry Thomas Liddell (1797–1878), later 1st Earl of Ravensworth.
• Matthew Bell (1769–1849), Newcastle merchant and Whig politician.
• Thomas Wentworth Beaumont (1792–1848), major landowner and political reformer.
• Lord Howick (Charles Grey, 1792–1861), future Prime Minister and architect of the Reform Act of 1832.

The contest generated an extraordinary volume of election literature, much of it now scarce. This broadside belongs to the satirical wing of that output and preserves the humour, local references and partisan hostility that official election documents rarely capture.

Its references to steam vessels are especially interesting, appearing during a period when steam navigation was still sufficiently novel to provide material for political satire. The broadside therefore offers a glimpse not only of electoral culture but also of contemporary attitudes toward emerging technology.

Printing

Printed by Mackenzie & Dent of Newcastle, one of the principal printing firms active in the region during the early nineteenth century. Their imprint appears at the foot of the sheet.

Institutional Holdings

Election literature from the Northumberland contest of 1826 survives in a number of major archival collections associated with the Bell, Beaumont, Grey and Liddell families, as well as within specialist collections of British political ephemera.

However, individual satirical broadsides are considerably scarcer than formal election addresses and poll books. At the time of cataloguing, no separate institutional catalogue record has been identified for this specific broadside beginning “As it appears a Number of Persons are inclinable to come forward with their charitable Donations in Mr. Liddell’s Favour” and signed “A Friend to Charity.”

An attractive and uncommon survival from one of the most fiercely contested county elections of the Georgian period, combining political satire, local history, early steam-age references and Northumberland electoral history.

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