Broadside regarding 'Her Majesty's Accession to the Crown'

Commentary

This broadside begins: 'The true Copy of a Paper stuck upon the D. of M----'s Gate at St James's, on the 8th of March, being the Day of her Majesty's Accession to the Crown.' No publication details have been included on this sheet.

This broadside is referring to the accession to the throne in 1702 of Queen Anne, daughter of King James II of Great Britain and VII of Scotland. During the Glorious Revolution (1688-9), Anne supported her sister and brother-in-law, Mary and William, in their successful efforts to overthrow King James II. Although there were tensions in the relationship between Anne and the newly installed monarchs, Queen Mary and King William III, she went on to inherit the throne upon their deaths.

Broadsides are single sheets of paper, printed on one side, to be read unfolded. They carried public information such as proclamations as well as ballads and news of the day. Cheaply available, they were sold on the streets by pedlars and chapmen. Broadsides offer a valuable insight into many aspects of the society they were published in, and the National Library of Scotland holds over 250,000 of them.

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