Radical Spaces: Venues of Popular Politics in London, 1790–C. 1845
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Radical Spaces Radical Spaces Venues of popular politics in London, 1790–c. 1845 CHRISTINA PAROLIN THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY E PRESS E PRESS Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/radical_spaces_citation.html National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Parolin, Christina. Title: Radical spaces : venues of popular politics in london, 1790 -1845 / Christina Parolin. ISBN: 9781921862007 (pbk.) 9781921862014 (eBook) Notes: Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: Radicalism--Great Britain--18th century. Great Britain--Politics and government--18th century. Great Britain--Social life and customs--18th century. Dewey Number: 320.53 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Cover image: Architectural view of the Surrey Rotunda, Sir Ashton Lever’s Museum in Blackfriars Road, London. Artist and date unknown. Copyright Wellcome Library, London. Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2010 ANU E Press Contents Acknowledgments vii Illustrations ix Abbreviations xiii Introduction 1 1. ‘Honourable House of Blasphemers’: The radical public of Newgate in the early nineteenth century 17 2. ‘Bastilles of despotism’: Radical resistance in the Coldbath Fields House of Correction, 1798–1830 49 3. The ‘She-Champion of Impiety’: Female radicalism and political crime in early nineteenth-century England 83 4. Radicalism and reform at the ‘Gate of Pandemonium’: The Crown and Anchor tavern in visual culture, 1790–1820 105 5. ‘Fresh Crown and Anchor sentiments’: Radical reform in the Strand, 1817–1847 147 6. ‘Temple of Knowledge and Reason’: Culture and politics at 3 Blackfriars Road, Surrey 179 7. ‘Bitten with the Rotunda notions’: Audience, identity and communication 1830–1832 213 8. ‘Pythoness of the Temple’: Eliza Sharples and the gendered public of the Rotunda 243 9. Conclusion 273 Bibliography 289 Index 329 Acknowledgments My opening thanks must go to Iain McCalman—who first introduced me to British radicalism during my undergraduate years—for his unfailing encouragement, generosity and guidance. At a chance meeting at a Canberra restaurant some years ago, Iain encouraged me to pursue further study and welcomed me to the rich intellectual climate of the Humanities Research Centre (HRC) at The Australian National University (ANU). This book is the outcome of research undertaken at that time. At the HRC, I found another mentor to whom I owe an immeasurable debt. The support provided by Paul Pickering—both during and since completing my PhD—has been outstanding. His intellectual generosity and insight, encouragement, advice and friendship have been appreciated more than he knows. I have simply learnt so much from him. I was fortunate to have undertaken this research at the ANU for many other reasons besides, including the friendship and support of my fellow PhD travellers. I am immensely grateful to the College of Arts and Social Sciences at the ANU for the prize which supported the publication of this book. I am also honoured that the ANU awarded this work the J.G Crawford prize for 2009. The assistance of staff at various London libraries and archives has been greatly appreciated, including the British Museum, the City of London Archives, the Wellcome Library, the Guildhall Library, the British Library, the Southwark Local History Library, the Bishopsgate Institute, the City of Westminster City Archives and the Hastings Museum. Considerable thanks are owed to those institutions that granted permission to publish the images contained herein for both the e-book and hardcopy version of this study. Particular mention must go to the staff of the Arundel Castle Archive who retrieved records, provided a beautiful space in which to peruse the title deeds and other records of the Crown and Anchor tavern and shared with me their tea, fruitcake and good humour. Sources from Arundel Castle Archives are reproduced by kind permission of His Grace the Duke of Norfolk. More recently, my colleagues at the Australian Academy of the Humanities are also owed a great deal of thanks for their support, encouragement and patience as I entered the final stages of writing. Of course, one’s personal life never stops to make way for a study of this kind. I am indebted to many family members: in particular, my parents, Robyne and Bruno, for their unwavering support and love, for reading drafts and for going well above and beyond their duties as grandparents. vii Radical Spaces To Jordan, Keelan and Jenna, who endured my absences—both in spirit and in person—and lived the stresses of the book far more than they ought to have, I offer my love and my thanks for inspiring me so much. To Wes goes my deepest gratitude for reasons beyond measure. He never once doubted that I would complete this book. Finally, I dedicate this book to the memory of my brother Michael, who faced his own, much more profound, challenges during the writing of this volume. His courage in the face of the most heartbreaking adversity is a more enduring testimony than anything I could hope to achieve in these pages. viii Illustrations 1.1 Newgate from Old Bailey Road. Thomas Malton, 1792. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 1.2 Newgate prison, following reconstruction after the Gordon riots. Drawing by George Dance, the Younger. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 1.3 Preparing for an Execution, Unknown artist, c. 1846. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 1.4 Soulagement en Prison, or Comfort in Prison, Richard Newton, 1793. Courtesy of The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University 1.5 ‘A Trifling Mistake’…Corrected…, George Cruikshank, London, 1820. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 2.1 An Exact Representation of the Principal Banners and Triumphal Car, which conveyed Sir Francis Burdett to the Crown and Anchor Tavern on Monday June 29th, 1807, Artist unknown. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 2.2 Citizens Visiting the Bastille, vide Democratic Charities, James Gillray, 1799. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 2.3 Elevation and section of Coldbath Fields House of Correction. Samuel Alken, 1800. Copyright City of London, London Metropolitan Archives 2.4 Interior view of Coldbath Fields. Thomas Ranson, 1819. Copyright City of London, London Metropolitan Archives 4.1 An early street view of the Strand and St Clement Danes Church, 1753. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.2 Horwood’s map of the Strand showing the Crown and Anchor before the renovation, c. 1799. Copyright Guildhall Library 4.3 Horwood’s map of the Strand showing the extended site of the tavern, 1807. Copyright Guildhall Library 4.4 Arundel Street entrance of the Crown and Anchor tavern. T. H. Shepherd, 1852. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum ix Radical Spaces 4.5 Ground-floor plan of the Crown and Anchor tavern. From the Deed of the Arundel Buildings Estate, Middlesex, R. & H. R. Abraham Architects, 1836. Duke of Norfolk Papers, Copyright His Grace the Duke of Norfolk (per the Archivist, Arundel Castle) 4.6 Revolution Anniversary or Patriotic Incantations, William Dent, 1791. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.7 Alecto and her Train at the Gate of Pandemonium…or…TheRecruiting Sargeant enlisting John Bull into the Revolution Service, James Gillray, 1793. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.8 ‘The Hopes of the Party, prior to July 14th…“From such wicked Crownand Anchor Dreams, good Lord deliver us”’, James Gillray, 1791. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.9 The Chancellor of the Inquisition marking the Incorrigibles, James Gillray, 1793. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.10 Sola ‘Virtus Invicta’…‘Vitue [sic] Alone is Invincible’, Richard Newton, 1798. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.11 The Crown and Anchor Desperdado or the Cracked Memberbelonging to the Bedlam Rangers, Charles Williams, 1803. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.12 Scene in the Crown and Anchor, J. T. Smith, 1802. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.13 The Grand Reform Dinner, Samuel De Wilde, 1809. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.14 ‘This is the House that Jack Built’, The Political House that JackBuilt, William Hone and George Cruikshank, London, 1819. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.15 ‘This is the House that Jack Built’, The Real or Constitutional House that Jack Built, London, 1819. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.16 ‘These are the Radicals—Friends of Reform’, The Real or Constitutional House that Jack Built, London, 1819. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.17 The Man in the Moon, William Hone and George Cruikshank, 1820. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 4.18 The Loyal Man in the Moon, Anon., 1820. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum x Illustrations 4.19 ‘Crown and Anchor’, The Loyal Man in the Moon, Anon., 1820. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 5.1 To Be…or…Not to Be the Clare MP: O’Connell and the Minister atthe Bar of the (Crown) and (Anchor), Charles Williams, 1828. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum 5.2 Great Room, Crown and Anchor Tavern, Whittington Club Soiree, Illustrated London News, 1848. 6.1 Map of Blackfriars Road, Parish of Christchurch, Surrey, c. 1820. Copyright Southwark Local History Library 6.2 Front Facade of the Leverian Museum, 3 Blackfriars Road. V. Davis, 1805. Copyright Wellcome Library, London 6.3 Floorplan of the Leverian Museum, prepared by a visitor, c. 1807. Possibly drawn by Richard Cuming. From the Cuming Collection. Copyright Southwark Local History Library 6.4 Rotunda, Leverian Museum, drawn by Sarah Stone, from A Companion to the Museum Late Sir Ashton’s, 1790.