Gertrude Bell, Kingmaker? – January 2020

Newcastle University Special Collections and Archives holds over 1,800 letters written by Gertrude Bell to her family. One in particular was written on the 12th January 1920, where Gertrude Bell writes to her stepmother describing her concerns about the delicate political situation in the Middle East, her hopes for resolution and how she seeks to contribute. Through this and her other writing she demonstrates a depth of knowledge and involvement which contributes significantly to our understanding of early 20th Century politics in the region.

Gertrude’s journey to becoming an important figure in Middle Eastern politics began when she was born into a wealthy family at Washington New Hall in 1868 where she also spent her childhood. After studying at and graduating from Oxford University she was able to travel widely in the first years of the 20th century and developed a deep interest in the Arab region and people. Her knowledge of the region led to her being involved with the British Intelligence Service during the First World War and by 1920 she had been appointed as Oriental Secretary to the British High Commission in Iraq.

Throughout her time in the Middle East she regularly corresponded with her family in Britain, updating them on her life, travels, and thoughts about her work and the political situation in the Middle East. She wrote one such letter on the 12th of January 1920 to her stepmother, Florence Bell.

A transcript of part of this letter is below:

You say that when you open the papers the world seems tempestuous – one does not need to open the papers to realize that here. The Turks to the north of us, exasperated and embracing Bolshevik propaganda, destructive Bolshevism which is all the Turks are capable of – or the Russians either, for that matter, up to the present; the Kurds ready to anyone who holds out the hope that the massacres of Christians shall go unpunished, as in justice they should not, but we’re powerless to enforce justice; the Arab Syrian state to the east of us, feeble and angry, bound to founder in financial deeps, if not in any other, and yet determined not to accept the only European help offered, namely that of France. And then Egypt, turned into a second Ireland largely by our own stupidity; and this country, which way will it go with all these agents of unrest to tempt it? I pray that the people at home may be rightly guided and realize that the only chance here is to recognize political ambitions from the first, not to try to squeeze the Arabs into our mould and have our hands forced in a year – who knows? perhaps less, the world is moving so fast – with the result that the chaos to north and east overwhelms Mesopotamia also. I wish I carried more weight. I’ve written to Edwin and this week I’m writing to Sir A. Hirtzel. But the truth is I’m in a minority of one in the Mesopotamian political service – or nearly – and yet I’m so sure I’m right that I would go to the stake for it – or perhaps just a little less painful form of testimony if they wish for it! But they must see, they must know at home. They can’t be so blind as not to read such gigantic writing on the wall as the world at large is sitting before their eyes.

Well there! I rather wish I were at Paris this week.

I’ve telegraphed to Father saying I hope he’ll come. I would love to show him my world here and I know if he saw if he would understand why I can’t come back to England this year. If they will keep me, I must stay. I can do something, even if it is very little to preach wisdom and restraint among the young Baghdadis whose chief fault is that they are ready to take on the creation of the world tomorrow without winking and don’t realize for a moment that even the creator himself made a poor job of it.

I’ll go to Blanche for a month or 6 weeks in the middle of the summer.

We have no news yet who our new G.O.C. in C. is to be. It’s rather a disaster at this juncture to have a new man who does not know the country, but I expect that’s what it will be.

In this letter she describes the political situation in the region, her concerns and hopes about how the British Government might seek to resolve the situation and details how she hopes to play a part in setting the future direction for the Middle East.

Pages from a letter from Gertrude Bell to her step mother, Florence Bell, written on the 12th January 1920
Pages from a letter from Gertrude Bell to her step mother, Florence Bell, written on the 12th of January 1920
Letter from Gertrude Bell to her step mother, Florence Bell, written on the 12th of January 1920, a full transcript of the letter can be viewed online. Ref: GB/LETT/370

The following year she was present at the conference held at the Semiramis Hotel in Cairo in March 1921 alongside others including T.E. Lawrence and Winston Churchill. Here, the British Government met to discuss the future political shape of the Arab region and it was decided that the choice that Gertrude advocated, Faisal I bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi, would become the first king of the newly formed Kingdom of Iraq. The events of the Cairo Conference are also documented in the letters she sent to her family in Britain and are part of the archive.

The Gertrude Bell Archive is one of the most important and widely accessed within Newcastle University Library’s Special Collections and Archives. It contains over 1,800 letters, 8,000 photographs, diaries and other papers including lecture notes, reports and newspaper cuttings. Together they document her life and travels and form an important record of the archaeology, culture and political landscape of the Middle East in the early decades of the 20th Century. The archive has been recognised for its significance, including the insight it gives into political developments in the Middle East and the formation of Iraq in 1921, through its inclusion on UNESCO’s International Memory of the World Register (a press release regarding UNESCO’s recognition of the archive in 2017 can be found here).

Most of her letters have been fully transcribed and can be browsed and searched on our dedicated Gertrude Bell website. Additionally the photographs she took can also be seen on the website. These photographs, digitised in the 1990s, document many of the archaeological sites that particularly interested her, as well as the people and places she encountered on her earlier travels.

As the photographs are now over 100 years old, and the historic negatives are now unstable and fragile, a project is currently underway to re-digitise the collection to bring it up to current day standards, revealing hitherto unseen detail, and preserving the photographs for future generations.

Contemporary Poetry Collections: Poets and their Archives

To coincide with ‘Transformations: Newcastle Poetry Festival 2019‘, which ran from 1st-4th May 2019, Special Collections and Archives showcased Contemporary Poetry Collections: Poets and their Archives, using material from our recently acquired and catalogued contemporary poetry archives. Material from the archives of poets Sean O’Brien, Jack Mapanje, Selima Hill, Peter Bennet and Moniza Alvi were on display to provide an insight into the varied voices of contemporary poetry and literary archives held by Newcastle University Special Collections. Contemporary Poetry Collections exhibition poster

Poets from the exhibition are highlighted below;

Moniza Alvi

Moniza Alvi was born in Lahore, Pakistan, and came to England when she was a few months old.  She grew up in Hertfordshire and studied at the Universities of York and London.  After working for many years as a secondary school teacher, she is now a freelance writer and tutor.

Alvi’s poetical career was launched after winning the Poetry Business Prize in 1991, a prize she won jointly with fellow poet Peter Daniels.  Her first independent collection, The Country at My Shoulder (1993), was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Whitbread Poetry Award. She has since published seven further collections of poetry with Oxford University Press and subsequently Bloodaxe Books.  Alvi received a prestigious Cholmondeley Award in 2002.

The themes of Alvi’s work are often those of duality, division, identity and feminism.

An Unsafe Subject.  Trauma is the central theme of ‘Europa’, Alvi’s 2008 collection, in particular the trauma of rape.

This is explored in Alvi’s re-imagining of the Greek myth of the rape of the beautiful Europa by Zeus (chief of gods).

Following the publication, Alvi was asked to write the foreword to Feminism, Literature and Rape Narratives.  Here, Alvi considers how rape is still often considered a taboo subject and explores whether this is a result of rape being primarily considered a women’s issue.

Front cover of 'Europa'. Bloodaxe Books Collection, 821.914 ALV

Front cover of ‘Europa’. Bloodaxe Books Collection, 821.914 ALV

Poetry in Progress.  Pages from Alvi’s notebook and draft typescript provide an insight into Alvi’s writing process of ‘At the Time of Partition’ (2013). This was Alvi’s first new poetry book since her T.S. Elliot Prize shortlisted collection ‘Europa’ (2008).

Pages from notebook containing notes, poetical sketches and drafts, poetical ideas and suggestions for the creative process. Alvi (Moniza) Alvi, ALV/5/1

Page from a manuscript draft of ‘At the Time of the Partition’ including comments. Alvi (Moniza) Archive, ALV/1/1/1/2

Peter Bennet

Peter Bennet was born in Staffordshire in 1942. He won a scholarship to King’s School Macclesfield before attending Manchester College of Art and Design where he studied art.  He then went on to teach art in secondary schools.

Later, Bennet worked with around 1000 redundant steelworkers following the closure of Consett Steel Works.  The job was to teach basic English, which evolved into exploring literature. This exploration and experience was to kick start Bennet’s writing career.

Bennet has published poetry collections with Bloodaxe Books and Flambard Press. He has received major awards from New Writing North and Arts Council England, and has won numerous poetry competitions.

Bennet’s themes include folklore, legend and transformation – inspired by living off-grid in the ‘Wilds of Wanney’, Northumberland, for thirty-three years. Below are some items from the Bennet (Peter) Archive.

Inspired by the Landscape.
Much of Bennet’s work was inspired by his surroundings. “Snow at Fourlawshill Top” references the Wanney Hills, which was Bennet’s home for many years.

Hareshaw Linn is one of Northumberland’s most spectacular waterfalls.  It is also a Site of Scientific Interest for its rare ferns and lichens.

Notebook containing Drafts of Poems, 1985 Bennet (Peter) Archive, PB/1/5-3

Pages from notebook containing Drafts of Poems, including drafts of Hareshaw Linn, 1985. Bennet (Peter) Archive, PB/1/5/1

‘Sir John Fenwick’s Skull’ – Award Winning Poem.
Early versions of ‘Sir John Fenwick’s Skull’ poem give a snapshot of how it evolved into the winner of the Basil Bunting prize.

Sir John Fenwick’s skull and helmet, the inspiration for the poem, were returned to Hexham Abbey following his death at the Battle of Marston Moor (1644).  The skull is currently on display at Hexham Old Gaol.

'Sir John Fenwick's Skull' - Final version, 1987. Bennet (Peter) Archive, PB/6

‘Sir John Fenwick’s Skull’ – Final version, 1987. Bennet (Peter) Archive, PB/6

Jack Mapanje

Jack Mapanje was born in Malawi in 1944.  He worked as a secondary school teacher before moving to the University of Malawi, first as a lecturer and then as Head of English.

Mapanje began writing poetry out of despair at the political situation in his homeland, an authoritarian one-party state.  His first poetry collection, Of Chameleons and Gods, was published in the UK in 1981, winning critical acclaim around the world.  It was ‘withdrawn from circulation’ in Malawi by the governing dictatorship in 1985.

He was arrested in 1987 and detained without charge or trial. During his incarceration, Mapanje continued to compose poetry, but denied access to pen and paper, he crafted most of these poems in his head.  On occasion, Mapanje was able to write poems on toilet roll, soap packets or similar scraps – which were then smuggled out of prison.  After numerous international campaigns, Mapanje was finally released after 3 years, 7 months and 16 days with no explanation.

His next two volumes of work, The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison (1993) and Skipping without Ropes (1998), were largely composed during his time in prison.

Poems from Prison.  The majority of poems in the Mapanje (Jack) Archive were composed during his incarceration.  As pen and paper were forbidden, these poems were mainly created and crafted in Mapanje’s head, often coming back into his consciousness after his release. Letters and poems were often also written on toilet paper, such as the below letter from Jack Mapanje to David Kerr.

Letter written on toilet paper tissue by Jack Mapanje to David Kerr whilst a prisoner in Mikuyu Prison in Malawi

Extract from a letter written by Jack Mapanje to David Kerr whilst a prisoner in Mikuyu Prison in Malawi. Mapanje (Jack) Archive, MAP/6/3/43

During his time in prison, Mapanje wrote his second collection of poetry, ‘The Chattery Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison’ (1993), and much of his third, ‘Skipping without Rope’ (1998).

Page from a typescript draft of 'The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison', which includes drafts of two poems included in the collection. Mapanje (Jack) Archive, MAP/2/8/3

Page from a typescript draft of ‘The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison’, which includes drafts of two poems included in the collection. Mapanje (Jack) Archive, MAP/2/8/3

Selima Hill

Selima Hill was born into a family of painters in 1945 and grew up in rural England and Wales.  She later attended boarding school before winning a scholarship to study Moral Sciences at Cambridge.  After marrying and starting a family, Hill published her first collection of poetry, Saying Hello at the Station (1984).

She has won the Cholmondeley Award and the Arvon International Poetry Competition.  Her collection Violet (1997) was shortlisted for three British poetry awards, and Bunny (2001) won her the Whitbread Poetry Award.

As well as writing poetry, Hill has worked on a variety of multimedia projects including collaborations with the Royal Ballet, Welsh National Opera, Science Museum and Imperial War Museum.

Hill has also taught creative writing in hospitals and prisons, and was Writer in Residence at the Royal Festival Hall.

Hill’s themes include mental health issues, sexual abuse and family conflicts, often written in a surrealist style.

The Hill Method (Hill (Selima) Archive, SH/8/4). This was a creative way Hill invented to write a poem – it’s definitely worth a try! Her notebooks, like many of the poets featured here in this post, give an insight into Hill’s creative process – often including notes, drawings, collages and personal reflections.

Page from a notebook containing poems, notes, drawings and personal reflections. Hill (Selima) Archive, SH/4/10

Page from a notebook containing poems, notes, drawings and personal reflections. Hill (Selima) Archive, SH/4/10

Pages from notebook containing notes relating to draft poems. Hill (Selima) Archive, SH/4/91

Pages from notebook containing notes relating to draft poems. Hill (Selima) Archive, SH/4/91

Sean O’Brien

Sean O’Brien was born in 1952 in London.  He grew up in Hull and was educated at the University of Cambridge.

O’Brien is a poet, critic, anthologist, broadcaster and short fiction writer.  He has also written for television and radio.

He has won numerous poetry awards including the Eric Gregory Award (1979), the Somerset Maugham Award (1984) and the Cholmondeley Award (1988).  O’Brien is only one of two poets to have won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same collection of poems – The Drowned Book. (2007)

He was Writer in Residence at Newcastle Live Theatre between 2001 and 2003 (which he held jointly with the late novelist and poet, Julia Darling) and was Vice President of the Poetry Society.  He is currently Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University.

O’Brien’s themes include social history, politics and class – written with a mix of detailed realism and dark surrealism.

The Frighteners was published in the aftermath of one of Britain’s most divisive events, the year-long miners’ strike of 1984-85.  Not only was there a North–South divide, communities all over the country were torn apart.  In this interview, O’Brien discusses his thoughts and experiences of the time and how it influenced The Frighteners.

Front cover of 'The Frighteners'. Bloodaxe Books Collection, 821.914 OBR

Front cover of ‘The Frighteners’. Bloodaxe Books Collection, 821.914 OBR

Development of poems in ‘The Frighteners’These hand written and annotated versions of the poem Cousin Coat, gives a small insight into O’Brien’s thought process.  The words come and go, crossings out made and annotations drawn, highlighting how the poem evolved into the final published version for inclusion in ‘The Frighteners’.

Page from a draft of Cousin Coat, a poem by Sean O'Brien - a hand written manuscript draft of a poem for inclusion in Sean O'Brien's poetry collection 'The Frighteners'. O'Brien (Sean) Archive, OBR/1/1/2/4

Page from a draft of Cousin Coat, a poem by Sean O’Brien – a hand written manuscript draft of a poem for inclusion in Sean O’Brien’s poetry collection ‘The Frighteners’. O’Brien (Sean) Archive, OBR/1/1/2/4

Page from a draft of Cousin Coat, a poem by Sean O'Brien - a hand written manuscript draft of a poem for inclusion in Sean O'Brien's poetry collection 'The Frighteners'. O'Brien (Sean) Archive, OBR/1/1/2/4

Page from a draft of Cousin Coat, a poem by Sean O’Brien – a hand written manuscript draft of a poem for inclusion in Sean O’Brien’s poetry collection ‘The Frighteners’. O’Brien (Sean) Archive, OBR/1/1/2/4

The exhibition was planned, designed and curated by an MA Art Museum and Gallery Studies placement student.

——————————————————

Find other Literary Archive collections available online on our Collections Guide.

Listen to oral histories with depositors behind our Special Collections and Archives via Collected Voices. These recordings give a privileged insight into creators, collectors and significant figures with close links to the personal and professional activities, borne out through these unique research resources.

Also, explore the Bloodaxe Books Archive and creative responses to it in a variety of innovative ways, online here.

The Blaydon Brick: Joseph Cowen

Joseph Cowen exhibition poster

Newcastle University Library’s Special Collections holds pamphlets and books that were formerly owned by Joseph Cowen Jnr. (1829-1900). Joseph Cowen was an M.P. for Newcastle upon Tyne, he supported cultural institutions in the region. The family brickworks was inspired by his nickname, ‘the Blaydon Brick’.

The below material are highlights from the ‘Blaydon Brick: Joseph Cowen‘ exhibition which was on display in the Philip Robinson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne. It draws upon the pamphlets and books as well as portraits, speeches and cartoons from other collections, to explore Joseph Cowen’s political career.


The Cowens

The Cowen family moved from Lindisfarne (Holy Island) in  Northumberland to Stella on Tyneside soon after the Reformation and dissolution of the monasteries. Looking for a safe haven, the Catholic Cowens found themselves in the shelter of the prosperous Tempest family of Stella Hall, near Blaydon. Eventually, after establishing his family and various successful businesses around Blaydon Burn, Joseph Cowen Senior would buy Stella Hall…

The Cowens found work at Sir Ambrose Crowley’s steelworks at Winlaton. Crowley was an exceptional employer for that era, providing free schooling for the children of the village, and paying for a doctor to treat his employees and their families. He also established a fund to support workers forced to stop working due to age or disability. Crowley’s practices clearly had an impact on the Cowens. The factory closed in 1816.

Photo of Crowley tombstone.
From M. W. Flinn, Men of Iron: The Crowleys in the Early Iron Industry (1962) (338.273 FLI, Philip Robinson Library)

Joseph Cowen Senior (1800-1873) was born at Greenside, near Blaydon, and
worked as a chain maker in Ambrose Crowley’s factory. Interested in the social conditions of his fellow workers, he became a member of ‘Crowley’s Clan’, the tightly-knit group of Crowley’s employees protecting workers’ rights.

By 1850, Joseph Cowen Senior had become a successful businessman and bought Stella Hall, the former home of the Tempest family which had offered his ancestors a refuge during the Reformation.

Stella Hall was essentially an Elizabethan house with 18th century additions. The last member of the Cowen family, Jane, died in 1948 and the house was demolished in 1953. The only remaining part of the Hall is now known as the Grade II-listed Stella Hall Cottage.

Cowen bookplate. The Library of Reason
Most of the books in our Cowen Tracts contain his engraved booklate, showing a Bewick-like view of Stella Hall with the spire of Newcastle’s St Nicholas’ Casthedral in the background.

In 1853 Cowen was elected to the Newcastle Municipal Council and became Liberal MP for the city in 1865.

His son, Joseph Cowen Junior (1829-1900) was born at Blaydon Burn House, Blaydon. After private education in Burnopfield, he attended Edinburgh University, where he became interested in European revolutionary political movements, influenced by his teacher, Scottish preacher Dr. John Richie. Richie was a fearless radical and fiery orator and influenced Joseph’s social conscience.

Joseph Cowen portrait

Portrait of Joseph Cowen Junior (1829–1900)


The Blaydon Brick

In 1828, Cowen Senior went into business with his brother-in-law Anthony Forster to manufacture fire bricks, under the company name Joseph Cowen & Co. The business quickly developed, helped by the superior quality of the local fireclay.

On returning from Edinburgh, Joseph Junior took a very active role in the family business and workers’ conditions. His developing interest in domestic politics and revolutionary European politics was also evident; his views were much stronger than his father’s.

Cowen Junior became a frequent speaker at workers’ trade clubs and mechanics’ institutes, reputedly speaking at every colliery village in Northumberland and Durham. His skills as an orator were widely recognised later in his life when he became an MP. He himself built up an extensive library of speeches by others, and his own speeches were collected in various volumes.

From the Nineteenth Century, industrial development expanded rapidly along the Blaydon Burn to include a number of industries related to the processing of coal. The supply of cheap local fuel and good transport links led to the development of coke works, steelworks, iron foundries, and brickworks, making Blaydon Burn one of the most industrialised parts of the region.

Cowen bricks, made from the superior clay found in the area, can still be found in parts of Blaydon Burn Nature Reserve. They are easily recognisable, with the prominent ‘COWEN’ stamp.

Cowen brick walkway at Roche Harbour, San Juan Island, Washington, USA

Photograph of the Cowen brick walkway at Roche Harbour, San Juan Island, Washington, USA Cowen bricks were exported all over the world and can still be seen in many locations.

Short in stature and uncouth in appearance, Cowen spoke with a distinctive Tyneside burr. When he entered Parliament in 1874, after the death of his father, his manner initially shocked members of the House of Commons. Eventually, his genuine eloquence established him as one of the best-known politicians in the country. He became known as the ‘Blaydon Brick’ – a reference to his physical appearance, attitude, and, of course, the family business in Blaydon.

This satirical cartoon (below) shows Cowen astride his political ‘support’ – various bricks named after his extensive business interests (bricks, fire clay, the Tyne Theatre, and the Newcastle Daily Chronicle).

After the Ballot

‘After the ballot’ [A volume of printed ephemera, broadsides, posters, cartoons, referring to election in Northumberland, Necwcastle and Tyneside divisions, 1826-1931] (RB 942.8 ELE Quarto, Rare Books Collection)


Cowen and Domestic Politics

Cowen, a formidable political force in the North East, represented Newcastle upon Tyne as its Liberal MP from 1874–1886. In 1858 he established the Northern Reform Union and, in 1867, was Chair of the Manhood Suffrage Committee. These organisations shared a common ambition to bring about reform, particularly through extended enfranchisement (the right to vote). On Tyneside particularly, Cowen helped to politicise the miners and to bring reformers from the middle and working classes together. (He counted Robert Spence Watson, a social and education reformer from Bensham Grove in Gateshead, among his friends.)

Cowen encouraged political debate and persuaded communities to participate in local, national and even international political struggles. His independence, and his support of an Irish Parliament and Home Rule, brought him into conflict with the Liberal caucus and split the party into radical and moderate factions.

The death of the incumbent MP, Joseph Cowen Snr., occasioned a Newcastle upon Tyne by-election on 14 January 1874.

The by-election was won by the Liberal candidate, Joseph Cowen Junior, who defeated the Conservative, Charles Frederic Hamond, with a majority of 1,003. This cartoon depicts the scales of justice weighing the votes, with Hamond tying casks of beer to the
Conservative scalepan in a bid to tip the balance.

This is significant because the Liberals (led by William Ewart Gladstone) were not united: the education policies upset nonconformists; trade union laws and restrictions on drinking upset the working-class; and the party was divided over Irish Home Rule. Parliament was dissolved just nine days after the Newcastle by-election, prompting another contested election. Again Cowen won but, this time, those supporting a more moderate faction of the Liberal party supported Thomas Emerson Headlam. Despite winning the popular vote, the Liberals lost the general election to the Conservatives (led by Benjamin Disraeli). Newcastle upon Tyne was one of few constituencies to remain under Liberal control.

‘Weighed in the balance and found wanting’

‘Weighed in the balance and found wanting’
[A volume of printed ephemera, broadsides, posters, cartoons,
referring to elections in Northumberland, Newcastle and Tyneside
divisions, 1826–1931] (RB 942.8 ELE Quarto, Rare Books Collection)

In the Nineteenth Century, the word ‘caucus’ was widely used, particularly in reference to the highly-structured system of management and control within the Liberal Party. The Liberal caucus was vilified by socialists and trade unionists who found their route to parliamentary representation blocked by the party’s management structures.

In this cartoon (below), the caucus is depicted as a group of insignificant people who want their candidates to think and speak as they do. The caucus is backing another Liberal candidate, Ashton Wentworth Dilke, but is prepared to offer Joseph Cowen a role as Dilke’s colleague. The people of Tyneside, however, are firmly and loudly behind Cowen. Cowen’s oration, 1 February 1880, is a rejection of Gladstone’s Liberalism in favour of the pursuit of radical principles.

'Master Joseph offends the caucus...' 

‘Master Joseph offends the caucus…’ 
[A volume of printed ephemera, broadsides, posters, cartoons,
referring to elections in Northumberland, Newcastle and Tyneside divisions, 1826–1931] (RB 942.8 ELE Quarto, Rare Books Collection)

Gladstone was anti-imperialist, whereas Cowen was an imperialist who supported the Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli’s foreign policy. Cowen was returned to Parliament in the 1880 election (Cowen 11,766 votes; Dilke 10,404 votes; and the Conservative candidate Hamond 5,271 votes). When the 1885 general election was held Cowen, still popular on Tyneside, campaigned and won without the support of the Liberal caucus. However, his clashes with the Liberal Party would soon cause him to retire from politics.


Cowen and International Politics

In the wider political sphere, Cowen was an ardent supporter of European revolutionary movements. He championed their causes in Britain through the press and fundraising campaigns, and directly assisted their movements by smuggling propaganda and clandestine material into Europe in consignments of bricks. He counted many of the key revolutionaries of the time as his friends, and organised their visits to Tyneside.

Despite his radical views, Cowen was also a supporter of British imperial ambitions. As with his domestic politics, his views on imperial policies caused considerable tension between him and the Liberal Party. The Russian Empire in particular was seen by Cowen as being not only a threat to the British Empire, but also to the freedom of other European peoples.

Cowen delivered a speech in the Town Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne (1880) titled ‘The Foreign Policy of England‘ (M082 PAM Sundries III, John Theodore Merz Collection) This speech by Cowen highlights his antagonism towards the Russian Empire and his call for freedom for peoples oppressed by the Russians, particularly the Poles.

Cowen helped Polish-Hungarian refugees who had arrived in the country in 1851, including a group who settled on Tyneside. He organised public meetings, speeches, and collections for Polish exiles. Cowen was also involved in more clandestine activities, such as assisting the efforts of the Polish Democratic Society, a radical political organisation, by arranging for funds, arms, and propaganda to be smuggled to Eastern Europe. He destroyed much of his correspondence with the revolutionaries in order to obscure his involvement in their affairs.

Cowen came under attack within the Liberal Party over his imperialist views. For example, he supported the Tory government’s pro-Ottoman stance during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), as the Ottomans were a useful counterweight to Russian power. However, the Liberals strongly campaigned against Ottoman support due to atrocities committed in Bulgaria by Ottoman forces.

In this Liberal cartoon (below), the ‘Russian Bear’ ridicules Cowen for his apparent hypocrisy as ‘Freedom’s Priest’. The Bear remarks that, while Cowen may comment on the Russian treatment of the Poles, Cowen supported ‘the Jew’ to ‘rob and murder little Afghan’. The Bear was referencing Jewish Tory Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–80).

Birds of a Feather

‘Birds of a Feather’
[A volume of printed ephemera, broadsides, posters, cartoons, referring to elections in Northumberland, Newcastle and Tyneside divisions, 1826–1931] (RB 942.8 ELE Quarto, Rare Books Collection)


Cultural Activities: The Route to Citizenship

Cowen’s desire for an expanded franchise (right to vote) also manifested itself through the facilitation of cultural activities. Cowen believed in the necessity of an educated democracy and saw participation in cultural activities as pathways to full citizenship. He thought that self-improvement, through intellectual activities and enjoyment of performing arts, would lead to an expanded democracy.

Cowen served on the committee of the Arts Association of Newcastle upon Tyne and took leading roles in the founding of the Tyne Theatre and Opera House and Newcastle Public Library Service. By the early-Twentieth Century, the working-class had a prominent culture in Newcastle.

Joseph Cowen recognised that the press could be an effective way of promoting his radical brand of politics. He bought the Newcastle Chronicle in 1859. The newspaper was already well-established as a political vehicle, with a middle-class readership and influence over the Whigs. (The Whigs were a political party that, by the Nineteenth Century, drew support from emerging industrial interests and supported the supremacy of Parliament over the monarchy, free trade, Catholic emancipation, the abolition of slavery and extending the vote.) He invested heavily in the paper, including a new rotary press, and re-launched it as the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle.

The repeal of tax on advertisements, duty on paper, and stamp on news led to the increased production of newspapers and Cowen took full advantage. Sports reports, serialised literature, and features on mining communities and co-operatives attracted new readers: by 1873, daily sales exceeded 40,000. But Cowen was on a mission to inform and educate his readers and kept them up to date with issues such as the Polish struggle against Russian oppression and with the fight for Home Rule in Ireland.

Cowen used the newspaper to: garner support for the establishment of a College of Science in Newcastle; sell the benefits of his Co- Operative Union; publicise the take-up, by prospective employees, of shares in the Ouseburn [engineering] Works; highlight the plight of female agricultural workers; subsidise the Italian revolutionary general Garibaldi; and, generally, to promote radical causes. The Chronicle press allowed him to influence public opinion significantly.

The ‘Carrion Chro’ verse (below) plays on the word ‘crow’ to make a derogatory statement about Cowen’s Chronicle. Carrion crows are noisy birds that perch on vantage points and beat their wings slowly but deliberately. They actively harass predators and competitors and can engage in mobbing behaviour. Carrion crows are scavengers. In making this comparison, the author of the poem accuses Cowen of running stories that feed on a festering underlife: ‘Manslaughters & murders, elopements & rapes, / Divorces & scandals …. quack med’cine & betting’. The Chronicle, says the poem’s author, is Cowen’s vehicle for engaging ‘the mob’.

‘The Carrion Chro’

‘The Carrion Chro’
[A volume of printed ephemera, broadsides, posters, cartoons, referring to elections in Northumberland, Newcastle and Tyneside divisions, 1826–1931] (RB 942.8 ELE Quarto, Rare Books Collection)

Joseph Cowen co-founded the Tyne Theatre and Opera House. Thomas Forster (solicitor) and George Stanley (an actor-manager that ran the Tyne Concert Hall on Neville Street) wanted to build a theatre in Newcastle that would satisfy public taste for spectacle. When the city magistrates denied Stanley a licence to stage drama, Cowen was incensed, went into partnership with Stanley and financed the building of the Tyne Theatre and Opera House on Westgate Road. The money and, possibly, the building materials, came from Cowen’s Blaydon Brickworks.

The theatre opened on 23rd September 1867 with Dion Boucicault’s Arrah-Na-Pogue: a melodramatic tale of  misadventure, villainy and romance, set during the Irish rebellion of 1798. The play’s theme – the struggle for Irish independence – is aligned with Cowen’s support of Irish nationalists. It played to full houses.

Stanley managed the theatre with a stock company until 1881. During this period, and in the decades to come, the theatre became a venue for staging bold, socially-motivated dramas, as well as functioning as a forum for controversial debates. Richard William Younge managed the theatre in the 1880s and provided free shows for poor children and members of the bird conservation society, the Dicky Bird Society.

Photograph of Tyne Theatre

Photograph, Tyne Theatre, Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, c.1900 (008908, Newcastle City Libraries)

In 1870, Dr Henry Newton took up his late father’s campaign for a public library. Joseph Cowen’s commitments to democracy and to educating the people motivated him to take a leading role in supporting the cause, especially through the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle. The lending library was temporarily housed in the Mechanic’s Institute until the opening of the first public library building in Newcastle, in 1880. This library was built on New Bridge Street West and was later extended with the construction of the Laing Art Gallery.

Newcastle was late in establishing a public library. The Public Libraries Act had been passed in 1850, with The Royal Museum and Public Library in Salford being the first to open in the UK, in 1850. Philanthropists (people that perform deeds for public good, or ‘dogooders’) seeking to ‘improve the public’ campaigned for public libraries in the face of opposition from the Conservatives, who feared the cost implications and the potential for social transformation.

Engraving depicting Newcastle Library in the 19th century (ILL/11/198, Local Illustrations)

Newcastle’s Library of the Literary and Philosophical Society had been established as a conversation club in 1793 but it has always been a subscription library. When it opened, the rate of membership was one guinea (roughly £58.83 in today’s spending worth). This was beyond the financial reach of working people. In 1855, the rate for using a public library was one penny and, in 1919, reform of the public libraries made them free to use.

Joseph Cowen was the first person to borrow a book from the new library. The book that was issued to him was On Liberty by J.S. Mill, 1859 (M323.44 MIL, John Theodore Merz Collection) in which the philosopher J.S. Mill sets out his ideas on the relationship between authority and liberty. It was a hugely influential work that continues to underpin liberal political thought today.


Cowen’s Legacy

Cowen could be said to have advanced the primacy of urban environments. He saw the concentration of people as a strength because larger populations were less vulnerable to being oppressed by the elite. Industrialised cities, he said, brought the benefits of economic growth, science and medicine and the possibilities of liberty and social elevation to everyone.

As the MP for Newcastle upon Tyne, he represented the town and then city (Newcastle became a city on 3 June 1882). However, in  campaigning for better housing and social welfare reform, in championing workers’ unions and in encouraging self-improvement through the provision of Co-operatives, libraries, places of learning, mining and mechanics institutes and public entertainment, he arguably embodied the spirit of Newcastle.

Cowen’s Library

Books and pamphlets that were owned by Joseph Cowen were given to Newcastle University in 1950. Almost 2,000 pamphlets from his private library have been kept together in Special Collections, in a collection called the Cowen (Joseph) Tracts.

Pamphlets were an effective form of public debate because they could be widely distributed and their authors could hide behind anonymity. The Cowen Tracts discuss such issues as: Irish politics; foreign policy; women’s rights; education; and public health.

These tracts, like all of our Special Collections holdings, can be used by anyone that has an interest – even if they are not a member of the University and its library. The books, many being literary works, were dispersed across various collections as well as the general holdings of the University Library.

Lifelong Learning Centre

Joseph Cowen lends his name to the Joseph Cowen Lifelong Learning Centre, in Newcastle. The Centre has changed its location several times over the course of its existence. In the 1960s, it was based at Barras Bridge, in the building seen on the right of the photograph below.

Today, the centre has charitable status and aims to provide opportunities for lifelong learning across the North East. It achieves this through a programme of talks, workshops and visits (called Explore) that are open to all adults, irrespective of their knowledge and qualifications.

The link between Cowen and education is a strong one: he had been Chairman of the Education League in Newcastle; and advocated for the availability and quality of education for all, most notably for non- Sectarian education and extending education beyond primary school for working class children. He donated money to support Mechanics’ Institutes, reading rooms and libraries. He also played a role in the establishment of a College of Physical Science in Newcastle (now Newcastle University).

Photograph of Barras Bridge, Newcastle

Photograph of Barras Bridge, Newcastle (c.1965) (Newcastle University Archives)

Joseph Cowen Chair of English Literature

The first Chair of English Literature was established at Newcastle University (then it was known as the College of Physical Science) in 1898. It is an endowed chair, founded by the family of Joseph Cowen. Ever since 1909, it has been officially called the Joseph Cowen Chair of English Literature.

Peter Ure held the Joseph Cowen Professor of English Language and Literature at Newcastle University 1960–1969.

Joseph Cowen bookplate

Ex Libris bookplate for the Peter Ure Collection

Electoral Reform

Cowen demonstrated his commitment to democracy by being a staunch advocate of electoral reform, particularly in 1867 when he was heavily involved in the campaign for the Second Reform Bill. He was also a vocal supporter of women’s suffrage at the time of the 3rd Reform Bill. He played a leading role in securing an amendment to the Bill when it was discovered that it disadvantaged miners who could not meet the complex property qualifications for the vote.

‘Nottingham election: the hustings in the Market-Place’

‘Nottingham election: the hustings in the Market-Place’ in The Illustrated London News (May 19, 1866) (19th C. Coll. 030 ILL Folio, 19th Century Collection)

Community Relations

Cowen fostered harmonious relationships between local people and ‘minorities’ who settled in the region (most notably the Irish community who experienced extreme prejudice and hostility in many other British towns and cities – Liverpool, Glasgow and London, for example). He challenged the various Irish Coercion Acts in the House of Commons in the early 1880s and pledged his support for Irish Home Rule long before Gladstone presented it as official Liberal policy. His attitude to migrants remains a cornerstone of the region’s reputation for fairmindedness and tolerance.

‘The division in the House of Commons on the Irish Home Rule question’

‘The division in the House of Commons on the Irish Home Rule’
question’ in The Illustrated London News (June 12, 1886) (19th C. Coll. 030 ILL Folio, 19th Century Collection)

Statue of Joseph Cowen

Cowen is commemorated by a bronze statue in Newcastle city centre, which can be found opposite the Tyne Theatre, at the junction of Westgate Road and Fenkle Street. The statue was erected in 1906 and was funded by public subscription. It was created by renowned Scottish sculptor John Tweed.

Statue of Joseph Cowen

Statue of Joseph Cowen

We would like to thank Dr Joan Allen for her contribution to this
exhibition.

James Gillray and the Art of Derision

Poster for the 'James Gillray and the Art of Derision' exhibition: an exhibition from the Philipo Robinson Library's Special Collections & Archives

Gillray on…Royalty and Aristocracy.

Gillray’s work was almost unprecedented for the caustic way in which it decried the royal family. Although caricaturing the monarchy was not invented by Gillray, he brought the act to a daring and personal level.

His depictions of the hapless King George III are among his most humorous and famous works. Gillray exploited George III’s reputation for austerity and miserliness unbefitting of his status. Moreover, the King’s bouts of madness and his reputedly ugly and dull wife, Queen Charlotte, were a gift to the Georgian caricaturist. Gillray made full use of his skills in exaggerating her goggling eyes and pointed chin.

In contrast, their son, the Prince of Wales, detested his parents and their lifestyle, and lived a life of debauchery and excess. This was equally a source of ridicule in Gillray’s work.

However, following the beginning of hostilities with France in 1793, Gillray moderated his attitude towards the royal family. Although the English nation was represented most frequently by the fictional John Bull, George III occasionally stood in a proxy, portrayed in a simple, yet affable and harmless manner as ‘Farmer George.’

Not only was Gillray concerned with political events of the time, he was also enthralled by the absurd antics and follies of the Georgian aristocracy. In particular, the fops and society figures who frequented the area of London around Bond Street and St. James. Gillray lived in the area and found it captivating to observe this foolish behaviour and recreate it in ludicrous images in his own inimitable, ruthless style. His subjects, in a suitably egotistic manner, were more than eager to purchase the unrelenting prints.

Satirical cartoon, satirises King George III and Queen Charlotte’s austere lifestyle. Although they surround themselves with the trappings of royalty, they are seen humbly feasting on eggs and sauerkraut ; the King economizing further by using the table cloth as a napkin.
Temperance enjoying a Frugal Meal, 1792 [Gillray (James) Archive, JG/2/12] – Satirises King George III and Queen Charlotte’s austere lifestyle. Although they surround themselves with the trappings of royalty, they are seen humbly feasting on eggs and sauerkraut ; the King economizing further by using the table cloth as a napkin.

James Gillray: The Man Behind the Mischief…

Oval portrait of James Gillray.
Portrait of James Gillray. Image attribution: Charles Turner / Public domain (image not part of Newcastle University Library Special Collections and Archives)

James Gillray (1756 – 1815) was a caricaturist of unparalleled popularity and international repute during and after his lifetime. Active during the tempestuous ‘Age of Revolution’, he built on the tradition of visual satire and himself revolutionised the art of personal caricature, skewering the recognisable elite and everyday with his acerbic and sometimes controversial craft and wit.

Born into a strict Moravian home in Chelsea, James Gillray’s early life was joyless and austere. His artistic skill, however, become clearly visible from a very early age. He gained an apprenticeship as an engraver and in 1778 was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools in London. Although initially attempting to distance himself from the ‘low’ form of satirical art, the monotony of ‘serious’ artistic work and the public appetite for the bawdy drew him to the style that would define (and be defined by) him.

These works of satire often depicted scenes which could be described as vulgar and somewhat pornographic in nature, showing perverse scenes in and around seedy, low-life establishments. He was also gifted material in the political strife and aristocratic melodramas of the times on both sides of the Atlantic. His personal, instantly recognisable caricatures of ‘celebrities’ such as Napoleon, King George III, William Pitt the Younger, and the symbolic figure of John Bull were a particular forte.

Working with several London publishers, Gillray’s more popular images were housed and sold by Hannah Humphrey, with whom the artist lodged and was reputed to have had a personal involvement with. She became the exclusive seller of his prints from 1791.

His personal character, perhaps fuelled by memories of his severe upbringing, was, in stark contrast to his art, morose and solitary, exacerbated by an excessive drinking habit. His health became affected, impacting on the quality and quantity of his output, and by about the end of 1811 he sank almost into imbecility. He died on 1st June 1815 aged 58 years old.

A Voluptuary under the Horrors of Digestion

Satirical cartoon, depicts an obese George, Prince of Wales and later Prince Regent and George IV. A man renowned for his self-indulgence and wantonness, he reclines in his dining chair having gorged himself on a huge meal. Previously regarded as possessed of striking good looks, the Prince’s corpulence and greed as he approached 30 is mercilessly satirised; his waistcoat barely fastened over his distended stomach as he rudely picks his teeth with a fork.
A Voluptuary under the Horrors of Digestion, 1792 [Gillray (James) Archive, JG/2/8]

Gillray here depicts an obese George, Prince of Wales and later Prince Regent and George IV. A man renowned for his self-indulgence and wantonness, he reclines in his dining chair having gorged himself on a huge meal. Previously regarded as possessed of striking good looks, the Prince’s corpulence and greed as he approached 30 is mercilessly satirised; his waistcoat barely fastened over his distended stomach as he rudely picks his teeth with a fork.

The scene is set amid obvious symbols showing the detritus of debauchery: the overflowing chamber pot covering lengthy unpaid bills; emptied flagons of wine peeping out from beneath the tablecloth; dice thrown on the floor next to debtors’ notes and ‘The Newmarket List’, highlighting his penchant for gambling.

On the wall to the right, we see the Prince of Wales’ coat of arms parodied by the introduction of a crossed knife and fork and the candles held in a wine glass and decanter. Beneath this rests a stand holding jelly glasses, amongst which is placed a small pot labelled ‘For the Piles’ , another with a tag ‘For a Stinking Breath’, and a tub of pills and a decanter etched with ‘Velnos Vegetable Syrup’, all of which would indicate that his grossly unsavoury lifestyle had led to unpleasant health problems.

A Connoisseur examining a Cooper

Satirical cartoon, depicts King George III examining Samuel Cooper's famous miniature portrait of Oliver Cromwell.
A Connoisseur examining a Cooper, 1792 [Gillray (James) Archive, JG/2/12R]

Gillray depicts King George III examining Samuel Cooper’s famous miniature portrait of Oliver Cromwell. The King was a great supporter of the Arts and had, in 1768, given his signature to the foundation of the Royal Academy of Arts, contributing drawings, books and antique casts from his own collection to the Royal Academy Schools. He considered himself a connoisseur and favoured the flamboyant style of Allan Ramsay and the Neo-classicism in the work of Benjamin West.

Already prejudiced against Gillray for his political prints and satires of the royal family, the King was said to have blithely and dismissively declared after examining some of the satirist’s sketches, “I don’t understand these caricatures!”

Gillray duly sought his revenge in this print. The profiled figure of the monarch scrutinises the instantly recognisable image of Cromwell by candle-light; the most famous of the English Monarchy’s adversaries. Although painted by Cooper “warts and all” at his own insistence, Cromwell by Gillray’s hand appears almost regal in contrast to the oafish visage of the King peering on. Designed to question his connoisseurship, the context of the monarchy fearing a new English Revolution sparked by events in France would equally not have been lost on a contemporary audience.

Even the candle is intended as a jibe at the King, held as it is in a ‘save-all’ candlestick. This was a device designed to use up the last fragments of a candle by collecting the melted wax. The witticism here refers to the notorious frugality of the King and his household.

Gillray on…Politics

With his adult life spanning the four decades between the American Revolution and the Battle of Waterloo, Gillray lived in a time well suited to the development of his craft and ‘maturation’ of his political satires.

During the 1780s and 90s, the artist was mainly preoccupied with domestic politics. The party divisions were embraced by Gillray, who regularly attended the House of Commons with small sketch cards to refine his portrayal of certain political figures. Whigs such as Charles James Fox and reformist Francis Burdett, or the Tory Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, were gifted orators and committed to their respective causes. More importantly for Gillray, they also had easily caricatured habits and appearances.

However, any overt allegiance to one political stance seems motivated by commercial interests. In 1797, when The Anti-Jacobin magazine was launched by future Tory Prime Minister George Canning, aimed at discrediting the opposition, an annual pension to Gillray of £200 for submissions earned the Tories a temporary loyalty. Speaking to a friend who had commented upon his apparent disdain for the Whig party, Gillray responded that “they are poor, they do not buy my prints, and I must draw on the purses of the larger parties.”

With the death of two of his great subjects Fox and Pitt in 1806, followed closely by the decline of Lord Grenville’s ‘Ministry of All the Talents’ in 1807, Gillray’s enthusiasm for politics waned. Many of his later works turned back towards social and moral satire rather than depicting the high drama of English politics. These were consistent only in their championing of virtue through the denunciation of vice, excesses of those in authority, and sympathy with the victims of oppression.

Satirical cartoon, satarises the conflict between Pitt and his Lord Chancellor Edward Thurlow as a scene in Milton’s Paradise Lost. Pitt is depicted as death on the left and Thurlow satan on the right, with Queen Charlotte in the centre protecting Pitt, which along with the crown he wears represent his favour with the monarchy.
Sin, Death, and the Devil – vide Milton, 1792 [Gillray (James) Archive, JG/2/5Ra] – Satarises the conflict between Pitt and his Lord Chancellor Edward Thurlow as a scene in Milton’s Paradise Lost. Pitt is depicted as death on the left and Thurlow satan on the right, with Queen Charlotte in the centre protecting Pitt, which along with the crown he wears represent his favour with the monarchy.

The Revolution will be Satirised

Satirical cartoon, depicts the dynastic ambitions of Napoleon on the Continent. He creates new Kinglings in his 'New French Oven', helped by his Minister of Foreign Affairs Talleyrand.
TIDDY DOLL the great French Gingerbread-Baker, drawing out a new Batch of Kings, 1806 [Gillray (James) Archive, JG/2/13] – Depicts the dynastic ambitions of Napoleon on the Continent. He creates new Kinglings in his ‘New French Oven’, helped by his Minister of Foreign Affairs Talleyrand.

From the outbreak of the French Revolution until the end of his career in 1810, much of Gillray’s output was propagandist, being concerned with the momentous events across the channel. Like many, Gillray appears to have been initially in sympathy with the leaders of the French Revolution, but quickly grew disillusioned as events grew bloodier with the Jacobin extremists in late 1792; especially as it seemed France might increasingly pose a threat to British security. As a result, Gllray’s Frenchman were quickly turned into his stereotypically sub-human sans-culottes; depraved, malnourished, hairy, child-eating and with teeth and nails filed to points.

The central focus of Gillray’s sarcasm and ire eventually found a home in Napoleon. Although Gillray had never seen him in the flesh, he conjured up an iconic and instantly recognizable recurring figure, taken up by many of Gillray’s contemporaries and immortalised as ‘Little Boney.’ As his threat to Britain increased, Gillray reduced Napoleon’s physical stature accordingly.

Satirical cartoon, depicts a grotesque French family, representing the popular portrayal of the sub-human  sans-culottes; depraved, malnourished, hairy, child-eating and with teeth and nails filed to points.
Un petit souper, a la Parisienne; – or – a family of sans-culotts refreshing, after the fatigues of the day, 1792 [Gillray (James) Archive, JG/2/5Rb] – Depicts a grotesque French family, representing the popular portrayal of the sub-human sans-culottes; depraved, malnourished, hairy, child-eating and with teeth and nails filed to points.

John Bull Taking a Luncheon

Satirical cartoon, depicts a celebration of Lord Horatio Nelson's recent naval success at Abokir Bay. John Bull, a symbol of England, is served a large meal courtesy of other British naval victors, including Admirals Warren, Gardiner, Howe, Bridport, St. Vincent, and Duncan. The opposition Whig MPs Charles Fox and Richard Brinsley Sheridan can be seen fleeing in a state of shock outside the window.
John Bull Taking a Luncheon: – or – British Cooks, cramming Old Grumble-Gizzard with Bonne-Chére, 1798 [Gillray (James) Archive, JG/2/15] – Depicts a celebration of Lord Horatio Nelson’s recent naval success at Abokir Bay. John Bull, a symbol of England, is served a large meal courtesy of other British naval victors, including Admirals Warren, Gardiner, Howe, Bridport, St. Vincent, and Duncan. The opposition Whig MPs Charles Fox and Richard Brinsley Sheridan can be seen fleeing in a state of shock outside the window.

This print celebrates the victory of the British navy at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798, with Gillray exalting their achievements with nationalistic fervour.

The main figure depicted is John Bull, a regular in Gillray’s work used to personify England. Here, appearing as Old Grumble-Gizzard, Bull sits at a table spread with cannons, battered ships and side dishes including gun-boats, complaining ungraciously about the excess of victories on offer.

Opposite Bull, Lord Horatio Nelson offers a main course of Fricassée à la Nelson, while a List of French Ships Taken Burnt and Destroyed hangs from his pocket. A variety of further dishes are proffered by other heroic British admirals symbolizing previous naval triumphs. A large frothing jug of True British Stout on the floor decorated with the Royal Arms further reinforces the exaltation of British superiority, while, outside the window, members of the opposition, including Charles James Fox, are seen in flight .

The New Dynasty; – or – the little Corsican Gardiner planting a Royal Pippin Tree

This print depicts Napoleon planting new dynasties in his expanding Empire with the help of his his Minister of Foreign Affairs Talleyrand. The Pippin Tree represents the genealogy of Lord Moira, who was seen as a Whig overly sympathetic to the French and boastful of his own supposed royal lineage.  The ""Royal Oak"" of British constitutionalism is hacked at by supposed domestic sympathisers; fellow Whig MPs Lord Howick, Lord Grenville, and the Marquis of Buckingham.
The New Dynasty; – or – the little Corsican Gardiner planting a Royal Pippin Tree [Gillray (James) Archive, JG/2/17]

This print depicts Napoleon planting new dynasties in his expanding Empire with the help of his his Minister of Foreign Affairs Talleyrand. The Pippin Tree represents the genealogy of Lord Moira, who was seen as a Whig overly sympathetic to the French and boastful of his own supposed royal lineage.  The “”Royal Oak”” of British constitutionalism is hacked at by supposed domestic sympathisers; fellow Whig MPs Lord Howick, Lord Grenville, and the Marquis of Buckingham.

Details shown below;

The Royal Pippins

The royal pippins behind Napoleon, which have already been planted and have taken root, forming the ‘Imperial Garden.’ Already grafted are the rulers for Etruria, Wurtemburg, Saxon, Holland, and Italy—Napoleon’s Empire at the time of publication.

The Royal Pippin Tree

The Royal Pippin Trees itself bears the crowned head of Lord Moira and the brances and roots bear derogatory memorials of his ancestors, including William the Norman Robber (William I) and Crooked backed Richard (Richard III). Gillray implicates Lord Moira as a Whig overly sympathetic to the French and boastful of his own supposed royal lineage.

The Royal Pippin Trees itself bears the crowned head of Lord Moira and the brances and roots bear derogatory memorials of his ancestors, including William the Norman Robber (William I) and Crooked backed Richard (Richard III). Gillray implicates Lord Moira as a Whig overly sympathetic to the French and boastful of his own supposed royal lineage.

‘Grafts of King Pippins’

Gillray highlights the potential future nature of Napoleon’s threat to Britain as on the ground we see a basket labelled 'Grafts of King Pippins for Brentford, Wimbledon, and Botley', and carries the crowned heads of prominent reformists (all charged with treason) Horne Tooke, Cobbett, and Burdett.

Gillray highlights the potential future nature of Napoleon’s threat to Britain as on the ground we see a basket labelled ‘Grafts of King Pippins for Brentford, Wimbledon, and Botley’, and carries the crowned heads of prominent reformists (all charged with treason) Horne Tooke, Cobbett, and Burdett.

Napoleon planing a new Royal Pippin Tree

Gillray satirizes the direction of Napoleon’s ambitions by showing him planting a new Royal Pippin Tree to create new royal dynasties himself. Napoleon achieves this with the help of his Corsican Grafting Knife; a poke at his own, less grand lineage.

Gillray satirizes the direction of Napoleon’s ambitions by showing him planting a new Royal Pippin Tree to create new royal dynasties himself. Napoleon achieves this with the help of his Corsican Grafting Knife; a poke at his own, less grand lineage.

Talleyrand, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Napoleon is assisted by his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Talleyrand, a skilled and influential diplomat, who digs the hole for his Emperor. In his pocket, a piece of paper reads 'projet pour aggrandiser les Jardins Imperials', roughly translated as project to aggrandise the Imperial Gardens.

Napoleon is assisted by his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Talleyrand, a skilled and influential diplomat, who digs the hole for his Emperor. In his pocket, a piece of paper reads ‘projet pour aggrandiser les Jardins Imperials’, roughly translated as project to aggrandise the Imperial Gardens.

Lord Howick, the Marquis of Buckingham

The oak is being hewn by Lord Howick, the Marquis of Buckingham, and Lord Grenville; representing some of the ‘Ministry of All the Talents’, founded upon the death of Pitt. Grenville has a crucifix hanging from his back and wields a Catholic Cleaver, indicating his unpopular support for Catholic Emancipation.

The oak is being hewn by Lord Howick, the Marquis of Buckingham, and Lord Grenville; representing some of the ‘Ministry of All the Talents’, founded upon the death of Pitt. Grenville has a crucifix hanging from his back and wields a Catholic Cleaver, indicating his unpopular support for Catholic Emancipation.

Chopping down of the Royal Oak

Meanwhile, the Royal Oak is being chopped down. Representing the British monarchy, it also bears the fruit of 'Protestant Faith, Integrity of the Lords, Liberty of the Press and Independence of the Commons', thereby also symbolising the British constitution.

Meanwhile, the Royal Oak is being chopped down. Representing the British monarchy, it also bears the fruit of ‘Protestant Faith, Integrity of the Lords, Liberty of the Press and Independence of the Commons’, thereby also symbolising the British constitution.

More images from the Gillray (James) Archive have been digitised and made available online via CollectionsCaptured.