NORTHUMBERLAND ELECTION BROADSIDE – TO THE GENTLEMEN, CLERGY, AND FREEHOLDERS OF THE COUNTY OF NORTHUMBERLAND – Alnwick, March 7th, 1826

Alnwick: Smith, Printer, 1826.

Single-sheet election broadside, printed on one side only.

Folio (22.2 x 27.5 cm).

Condition: Near fine condition. Fold creases. A notably clean and well-preserved example with only light signs of age and handling.

Description

A scarce and historically significant Northumberland election broadside issued by Matthew Bell immediately following his successful return as one of the county’s parliamentary representatives in the celebrated election of 1826.

Dated Alnwick, March 7th, 1826, the broadside takes the form of a public address to the “Gentlemen, Clergy, and Freeholders of the County of Northumberland,” thanking the electorate for the confidence they had shown in electing him to Parliament. Bell expresses gratitude for the support and sacrifices made by his friends during what he describes as a severe contest and reflects upon the intense canvassing that characterised the election campaign.

The document provides an important contemporary record of the aftermath of one of the most fiercely contested county elections of the Georgian period. Bell notes that he entered the contest only eight or nine days before making his intentions publicly known, a reference to the dramatic circumstances surrounding the election following the death of the county’s sitting representative. The broadside therefore captures a pivotal moment in the political history of Northumberland, documenting Bell’s acknowledgement of victory and his efforts to consolidate support before the forthcoming general election.

Particularly noteworthy is Bell’s reaffirmation of his public principles and his declaration that the interests of the country required “a different line of conduct” from that pursued by his opponents. Such language reflects the wider political tensions that characterised county elections in the years immediately preceding the Reform Act of 1832, when questions of representation, aristocratic influence, electoral independence and public trust were increasingly debated throughout Britain.

The Northumberland election of 1826 generated an exceptional body of campaign literature, including speeches, addresses, songs, satirical broadsides and political squibs. Much of this material was produced for immediate use and subsequently discarded. Surviving examples therefore provide valuable evidence for the study of provincial political culture and electoral practice during the late Georgian era.

Matthew Bell and the Election of 1826

Matthew Bell of Woolsington was among the most influential political and commercial figures in Northumberland during the early nineteenth century. A prominent coal owner, industrialist and parliamentarian, Bell played a central role in county politics for many years.

The Northumberland election of 1826 became one of the defining political contests of the age. Contemporary observers regarded it as one of the most important county elections in Britain, involving Matthew Bell, Henry Thomas Liddell, Thomas Wentworth Beaumont and Lord Howick. The scale of the campaign produced an extraordinary quantity of printed election ephemera, much of which survives only in isolated examples.

This broadside is particularly appealing because it records Bell’s response to electoral success rather than merely his candidature. As such, it preserves a significant moment in the history of the contest and provides direct evidence of how successful candidates communicated with the electorate after the poll.

Institutional Records

Major repositories including the British Library, Bodleian Libraries and regional archival collections preserve substantial holdings of nineteenth-century election literature and Northumberland political ephemera.

However, no separate institutional record for this specific item has been traced. While election material relating to Matthew Bell and the Northumberland election of 1826 survives within institutional collections, this particular broadside dated March 7th, 1826, beginning “To the Gentlemen, Clergy, and Freeholders of the County of Northumberland,” does not appear to have been separately catalogued in the principal online databases consulted.

Historical Significance

Election broadsides were among the principal means by which candidates communicated directly with voters in the decades before parliamentary reform. They provide invaluable insight into contemporary political language, campaign tactics and the relationship between candidates and the electorate.

The present broadside is especially significant as a post-election address issued by one of the victorious candidates in a major county contest. It documents the conclusion of a hard-fought campaign and preserves Bell’s own interpretation of the result at a crucial moment in Northumberland’s political history.

As an apparently unrecorded survival from one of the most important county elections of the pre-Reform era, it possesses considerable historical, political and research value.

A particularly well-preserved example of scarce Northumberland election ephemera.

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