The bidders came from all classes of society, bent on obtaining some keepsake of the sombre establishment. I see that procession now, some muffled to the ears, some blowing their finger-tips in the piercing cold, others stamping their feet, but all indulging in one form of humour or another to keep up their spirits in very dispiriting surroundings.
There were three lots on which the crowd bestowed special attention.
One was Jack Sheppard’s cell, from which he made his daring escape—a thrilling feat dear to the imagination of boys young and old.
JACK SHEPPARD, THE HIGHWAYMAN
This model is posed in the actual cell from the Newgate prison, from which he made his sensational escape.
Another lot was the cell in which Lord George Gordon, the instigator of the riots that bear his name, died of gaol fever on the 1st of November, 1793. His exploits will be remembered by readers of Barnaby Rudge.
The third lot was the famous bell which, for just upon a century and a half, had never failed to notify the good citizens of London the precise moment when a condemned prisoner had paid with his life for a life he had taken.
