Broadside concerning the execution of Hannah Halley, Derby, 1822

Commentary

This report begins: 'A particular account of the Execution of Hannah Halley, at Derby, on Monday last, March, 26, 1822, for the inhuman Murder of her own new-born infant, by crushing it into a jug, and pouring boiling water on it, with her reasons for committing the barbarous act.' The report was taken from the 'London Courier'.

It was relatively unusual for stories from other parts of the country to be published in Scotland. However, if it was a particularly shocking, interesting, or unusual story, it would sometimes be picked up by Scots publishers eager to boost sales. This sad story of a mill worker who tried to conceal her pregnancy and then, in what seemed to be a state of panic, killed her newborn child is one such example.

It was common for the publishers of broadsides to take information from other sources, most often newspapers, but sometimes other broadsides. Nowadays we are protected by copyright legislation, but in the mid-nineteenth century no such laws were in place.

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