HANGED

[Henry Fauntleroy, banker and forger.] Autograph Letter Signed ('H Fauntleroy') to Sir Cuthbert Sharp, written from Cold Bath Fields Prison a few weeks before his hanging at Newgate in front of a crowd of 100,000.

Author: 
Henry Fauntleroy (1784-1824), banker and forger, hanged before Newgate after a trial at the Old Bailey [Sir Cuthbert Sharp (1781-1849), soldier and antiquary]
Publication details: 
'C. B. Fields [i.e. Cold Bath Fields Prison, London] October 14th 1824'.
£500.00

See Fauntleroy's entry in the Oxford DNB. Although accounts of his depravity are exaggerated, Fauntleroy led a dissolute life, and appropriated securities worth around £360,000. During his trial at the Old Bailey he called seventeen merchants and bankers to testify to his integrity, but his defence was unsuccessful, and he was hanged outside Newgate, before a crowd of 100,000. The present item is 1p, 4to. Bifolium, addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Sir Cuthbert Sharp | &c &c', with endorsement.

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