Author: [JOHN FRANCIS]
Title: Trial of John Francis, for High Treason! With the Evidence of All the Witnesses.
Description: Paul, printer, [1842] Broadside, 355 x 250 mm. woodcut illustration of the trial. Remarkably, John Francis made two attempts on the Queen's life on consecutive days, May 29th and 30th, 1842. After the failure of his first attempt when his small flintlock pistol failed to fire, he disappeared, only to try the following day when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert circled central London in an open carriage in an attempt to flush him out. This time Francis managed to get a shot off, but missed and was tackled by police. He was tried, found guilty and sentenced to be hung drawn and quartered: the Queen commuted his sentence to transportation for life on Norfolk island. He lived the rest of his life in Australia, fathering 10 children, dying in 1883. He was the only one of Queen Victoria's assailants to be sentenced to death.

Keywords: Ephemera


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