Owner Comments:
Middlesex Spence DH #708
Obverse: Advertising for Thomas Spence's bookstore. Under a radiation T SPENCE BOOKSELLER DEALER * IN PRINTS . & . COINS in 7 lines, surrounded by LITTLE TURN STILE NO. 8 HOLBORN LONDON
Reverse: A youth with a stick in his hand A BRIDEWELL BOY
Edge: SPENCE X DEALER X IN X COINS X LONDON X
Diesinker: Charles James
Manufacturer: Thomas Spence
Rarity: Common
Bridewell Hospital was located in the parish of St. Brides, Blackfairs, in the heart of London in a former royal palace. The Hospital was chartered by King Edward VI in 1553 as the countries first house of correction and workhouse. The hospital housed elderly arts masters where they accepted about 140 boys at a time as apprentices. Here the apprentices learned a useful trade. Until 1785 the Bridewell boys wore a distinctive outfit of a blue dress and a white hat.
Often referred to as the first socialist, Thomas Spence was born in 1750 in Newcastle-upon Tyne and was an English radical, advocating for common ownership of the land and equality of the sexes. He was one of the leading revolutionaries of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He left Newcastle for London in 1787 and had a book shop ‘The Hive of Liberty’ at 8 Little Turnstile, High Holborn. He published a weekly tabloid “Pigs Meat, or Lessons for the Swinish Multitude, Collected by the Poor Man’s Advocate” where he advocated for reforms. He was a member of the London Corresponding Society and was imprisoned multiple times. He spent 7 months in Newgate Goal in 1794 charged with high treason and 12 months in 1801 for seditious libel. He died in London on 8 September 1814.
One of Thomas Spence's many political tokens.
Atkins: Middlesex 541
Davisson Sale #30, 11 October 2011