NORTHUMBERLAND ELECTION BROADSIDE – State Of The Poll On Thursday The 23rd – 1826

[Alnwick or Newcastle?], [23 February 1826].

Rare printed poll slip from the celebrated Northumberland county by-election of 1826, recording the state of the poll on Thursday 23 February, the third day of polling:

Mr. Bell — 720
Hon. Mr. Liddell — 672

Single sheet, letterpress printed on one side. Contemporary manuscript note to verso: “State of the Poll / 23 Feby 1826 / 3rd day”, with additional contemporary arithmetical notation. Sheet size approximately 22.4 × 15.8 cm.

The 1826 Northumberland by-election followed the death of Charles John Brandling and became one of the most expensive and fiercely contested county elections of the period. The candidates were Matthew Bell and Henry Thomas Liddell, later 1st Earl of Ravensworth. The contest was prolonged, public and highly charged, generating a large body of ephemeral printed matter: addresses, squibs, songs, broadsides and daily poll notices such as this.

A vivid survival from the mechanics of Georgian electoral culture, giving a daily snapshot of voting before the final result. Bell is here shown ahead by 48 votes on the third day of polling.

Condition: Old folds, light creasing and handling wear, minor closed tears, slight marginal roughness and minor soiling; very good overall.

No exact institutional or commercial copy located. Apparently unrecorded as a separate survival.

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