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The Prince of Wales, the future George IV, takes of his plumed coronet and asks his father 'Papa, I want some paper to make a kite'. The King replies 'Takes some of these petitions and remonstrances they are fit for nothing else' as he points to 'the humble petition and remonstrance-' one of several scrolls strewn on the floor. A satire on the king's apparent lack of interest in public opinion

1 print : engraving ; platemark 10.7 x 16.4 cm

King George III sits at a table approached by his son, the Prince of Wales. Engraving, 1770.

The Convention of Cintra (Sintra) allowed the French forces in Portugal to leave Portugal after their defeat by British forces under Wellington

The submission of four petitions against the Convention of Cintra. Etching by J. Gillray.

Leaflet from Stonewall, written by Angela Mason, executive director, asking people to support Stonewall in their battle for the age of consent for gay sexual activity to be equalized with that of heterosexuals.

Homosexuality ephemera : Politics. Box 1

1 folded sheet (4 unnumbered pages) : colour ; 21 x 30 cm folded to 21 x 15 cm

Age of consent emergency- your last chance to act : write for the right to equality : sign the Stonewall postal petition for an equal age of consent / Angela Mason, Stonewall for lesbian and gay equality.

Anonymous poem occasioned by the Kentish petition of 8 May 1701. Possibly by Thomas Brown. Mentions hostilties with France and possible invasion of Britain. No indication of where it was produced but other copies appear to have been published in London and Edinburgh.

Advice to the Kentish long-tails : by the wise men of Gotham, in answer to their late sawcy petition to the parliament ... signed by the mayor, aldermen, and the Common-Council;all the inhabitants, both men and wpomen, and children, that could make their marks, at the quarter sessions holden at Gotham, in comitatu Essex, the 12th of May.

Refers to a story that the King had made a button in the course of his recreational craftwork at Kew. The King hands a swatch of buttons to a member of his court, while Sir William Beckford, the Lord Mayor of London, accompanied by aldermen, presents "the humble remonstrance of the City of L--don". "Attended by the aldermen and common councilmen of London, Beckford marched from Guildhall to St James's Palace on 14 March 1770, and presented to George III a strongly worded address, remonstrance, and petition complaining that by supporting the government's action in the Middlesex election, he was tampering with the constitution and pursuing a course similar to that which lost James II his crown. The king's answer to the remonstrance was couched in words of strong reproof. On 23 May of the same year Beckford, accompanied by the aldermen and livery, presented a second remonstrance to the crown from the City of London. When the king again expressed his dissatisfaction with the remonstrance, Beckford, either in an impromptu manner or by reading a prepared statement, had the temerity to respond to the king's reply. 'We do therefore, with the greatest humility and submission', he said, 'more earnestly supplicate your Majesty that you will not dismiss us from your presence without expressing a more favourable opinion of your faithful citizens, and without some comfort, some prospect, at least, of redress' ... The king made no reply. Beckford was widely criticized for violating all custom and precedent by delivering a speech which had not been previously submitted to the king. On the other hand, his supporters in the City and elsewhere regarded his speech as an honourable and dignified assertion of the privileges of the City and the rights of the people. William Pitt, now Lord Chatham, declared that he was rejoiced 'to hear that my lord mayor asserted the City with weight and spirit', and that 'the spirit of old England spoke, that never to be forgotten day' … Beckford died on 21 June 1770 while travelling from Fonthill to London, four weeks after his altercation with the king, from the effects of a violent fever, caused, as was supposed, by political excitement."—Oxford dictionary of national biography

1 print : engraving ; image 10.8 x 15.9 cm

The Lord Mayor of London kneels before King George III and presents a remonstrance on behalf of the City of London: the king has no time to read it as he is preoccupied with making buttons. Engraving, 1770.

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King George III sits at a table approached by his son, the Prince of Wales. Engraving, 1770.

The submission of four petitions against the Convention of Cintra. Etching by J. Gillray.

Age of consent emergency- your last chance to act : write for the right to equality : sign the Stonewall postal petition for an equal age of consent / Angela Mason, Stonewall for lesbian and gay equality.

The Lord Mayor of London kneels before King George III and presents a remonstrance on behalf of the City of London: the king has no time to read it as he is preoccupied with making buttons. Engraving, 1770.

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King George III sits at a table approached by his son, the Prince of Wales. Engraving, 1770.

The submission of four petitions against the Convention of Cintra. Etching by J. Gillray.

Age of consent emergency- your last chance to act : write for the right to equality : sign the Stonewall postal petition for an equal age of consent / Angela Mason, Stonewall for lesbian and gay equality.

The Lord Mayor of London kneels before King George III and presents a remonstrance on behalf of the City of London: the king has no time to read it as he is preoccupied with making buttons. Engraving, 1770.

Stay in the know

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