Trial, Sentence and Execution of W.G. Youngman, for the Murder of his Mother, two Brothers and Sweetheart at Walworth

Execution broadside printed with an account of the crime, trial and sentencing of William Youngman convicted of murdering his sweetheart Mary Streeter in Walworth. The broadside notes that, although also accused and tried for the murder of his Mother and two brothers Youngman (aged 24) was only found guilty of the murder of Mary Streeter and executed at Horsemonger Lane on 4th September 1860.

Until 1868 public hangings were a popular form of entertainment for the London crowd. Such occasions provided an opportunity for cheap printers and street vendors to 'turn a penny on the street' by selling accounts of the crimes, trial and 'dying speeches' of executed criminals as souvenirs to the baying spectactors. As soon as the trap fell the street vendors began running amongst the crowd selling the broadsides. Execution broadsides were published by a small number of printers many of whom, such as Thomas Birt, James Catnach and James Pitts were based around the Seven Dials area of London. Spelling and grammar was often poor and the details not always accurate. Up to 250,000 copies of such broadsides were quickly run off the printing presses to satisfy the public's appetite for celebrity and sensation. Although usually printed between the end of the trial and the date of the execution (usually a gap of a few weeks) they could often be quickly changed to accomodate last minute information such as reprieves and dying confessions. Type-faces were used so often that they were often ' worn to a degree of indecipherability that hid their almost complete irrelevance to the text they were supposed to illustrate.' Battered woodcuts used for the gallows scene comprised a stock block with a pierced central section to allow the sex and required number of hanging figures to be changed as required. Female criminals were depicted by using a block for a male figure, cut square at the knee to represent a skirt.