NORTHUMBERLAND ELECTION BROADSIDE – TENAX – To the Hon. H. T. Liddell – Newcastle, Mackenzie & Dent, Printers – 3 April 1826

Single-sheet political election broadside. Newcastle: Mackenzie & Dent, Printers, 1826.

Dimensions: 22.8 x 14.1 cm.

Condition: Near fine. Old horizontal fold. Minor creasing and light signs of handling. A clean, well-preserved example.

A scarce Northumberland election broadside issued during the fiercely contested parliamentary election campaign of 1826, addressed to the Hon. Henry Thomas Liddell, later first Earl of Ravensworth and Member of Parliament for Northumberland.

The broadside takes the form of an open political letter signed “TENAX”, dated 3 April 1826, questioning statements allegedly made by Liddell concerning Matthew Bell, one of the most influential political figures in Northumberland. The anonymous author asks why Bell continued to enjoy the support of leading gentlemen throughout the county if the accusations levelled against him were true, and further questions why so many prominent county figures should unite against a young man of Liddell’s standing and character.

The document belongs to the celebrated and often bitter Northumberland election of 1826, one of the most extensively documented county contests of the Regency period. The election generated a substantial body of pamphlets, broadsides, requisitions, songs, satirical pieces and political squibs as rival factions sought to influence public opinion. Contemporary collections of election literature survive in institutional archives and demonstrate the intensity with which the contest was fought.

Henry Thomas Liddell (1797–1878), subsequently created Earl of Ravensworth, was a leading Tory landowner whose candidature attracted considerable attention throughout the county. After an unsuccessful contest earlier in the year, he was returned as one of Northumberland’s Members of Parliament at the General Election of 1826 alongside Matthew Bell.

Printed by the Newcastle firm of Mackenzie & Dent, the broadside represents a typical example of the ephemeral political literature that flourished during the unreformed electoral system before the Reform Act of 1832. Intended for immediate circulation and generally discarded after use, such election broadsides possess a significantly lower survival rate than contemporary books and pamphlets.

An attractive and uncommon survival from one of the most notable county election campaigns of the late Georgian period, combining Northumberland political history, parliamentary reform-era debate, and provincial printing.

The Northumberland election of 1826 generated a substantial body of printed ephemera including broadsides, handbills, songs and political addresses, much of which survives in institutional collections. No institutional example of the present ‘TENAX’ broadside has been located during the preparation of this catalogue.

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