Curio

State Library of New South Wales
'Awful Confession of Greenacre to the Murder of Hannah Brown'

'Awful Confession of Greenacre to the Murder of Hannah Brown'

Printed broadside

PXE 910/ f.1

Purchased Aug 2003


In 1837, James Greenacre was found guilty of the murder of his fiancé Hannah Brown and sentenced to hang. Sarah Gale was convicted of consorting with Greenacre, aiding and assisting him in his crime, and sentenced to transportation to New South Wales for the rest of her natural life. The trial for this sensational crime drew huge crowds to the Old Bailey, and public interest ensured a ready market for broadsides and penny portraits of the notorious pair, which would have been produced quickly and sold cheaply on the streets of London during the days of the trial.


A broadside is a large sheet of paper printed on one side only. Historically, broadsides were posters, announcing events or proclamations, or simply advertisements.

Broadsides were commonly sold at public executions in the 18th and 19th centuries. These were often produced by printers who specialised in them and typically included a crude illustration of the crime or a portrait of the criminal, or a generic woodcut of a hanging taking place. There would be a written account of the crime and of the trial and often the criminal's confession of guilt.

George Smeeton, Printer, 74 Tooley Street, Southwark, London