'A Hackney Meeting', etching by James Gillray, London, 1796

Satirical print depicting a political meeting at the Mermaid Tavern, Hackney. The two MPs for Middlesex are addressing the crowd from a platform, George Byng on the left and William Mainwaring on the right. Byng has a piece of paper reading 'Treatise on the use of Cocoa' in his pocket. Charles James Fox, the Whig statesman, stands behind Byng, holding Byng's hat. On the platform are two notics reading 'Mermaid Hackney / Meeting of the Freeholders for obtaining a Repeal of the odious, detestable, obnoxious, unconstitutional, oppressive...' and 'Address to his Majesty by the ...'.

Given by the Hon. Arthur Villiers

The meeting at the Mermaid Tavern was held on 21 November 1795 to oppose the passage of the Treason and Sedition Bills. So many people attended that the meeting had to be moved outside to the gardens of the pub: the outside of the building is visible in the print. The meeting agreed to petition the king against the bills.
(See M. Dorothy George, 'Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum', VII, 1942)

This object was part of the John Edmund Gardner collection of topographical prints and drawings of London. After Gardner's death the collection passed to his son Edmund Thomas, but was sold to Edward Coates MP in 1910. The collection was sold again in 1923 after Coates' death, and was split between various institutions and private collectors. The portion connected with Hoxton, Homerton, Hackney and Bethnal Green was bought by the Hon. Arthur Villiers and donated to the Bethnal Green Museum.

E.4772-1923