William Hone was an early nineteenth century satirist who famously faced a three-day show trial in 1817. 

It was so dramatic that Ian Hislop wrote a play about it. But Georgian satire was so robust that it can put even Private Eye in the shade!

Hone was a big name in his day, and has since been described as one of the "fathers of modern media". Hone's illustrator George Cruikshank and the world-famous author Charles Dickens attended Hone's funeral at Abney in 1842.

This William Hone Memorial Lecture and walking tour will discuss Hone's career, his trial and show some of Cruikshank's savage cartoons.

Speaker bio:

Alan Gartrell has given tours of Abney Park for many years now. His topics spread a huge range from the history of Hackney's MPs to Abney Park's missionary links. He very modestly says he is not a historian, just a few clicks ahead of everyone else on Wikipedia.

Enter at the Church Street entrance and follow the path on the left side. The meeting point is at the William Booth Memorial, opposite the entry path.

The tour will last around 60 mins.
Please arrive 5 minutes early for the 2pm start.
Please wear suitably sturdy footwear.
There are no toilet facilities available.

Please check your emails on the morning of the event - we may need to cancel at short notice if the weather is adverse.