Anne Esdall ( Middleton; c. 1718 – c. 1795) was an Irish printer, publisher, and bookseller.
Life
Anne Esdall was born Anne Middleton around 1718. She married the printer, publisher, and bookseller, James Esdall, on 31 August 1745. In her husband's absences due to legal issues regarding the content of his newspapers ''The Censor'', or ''Citizen's Journal'' and ''The Censor Extraordinary'', Esdall would run his printing shop from Copper-Alley on Cork Hill,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
. This led to serious financial and emotional distress. Esdall kept ''The General News-letter'', also known as ''
Esdall's News-letter'' from 1745–1755, going while raising the couple's four children.
It was unusual for women to be involved in the print trade in the 1700s, the small number of women running businesses were widows who inherited them. She was examined by the
Irish House of Commons in December 1749 when she was asked to reveal the identity of an author from her husband's publications who wrote "scandalous" paragraphs, which she did. The author was
Charles Lucas
Sir Charles Lucas, 1613 to 28 August 1648, was a professional soldier from Essex, who served as a Cavalier, Royalist cavalry leader during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Taken prisoner at the end of the First English Civil War in March 1646, ...
, a controversial politician, with whom James Esdall had a long relationship. As a result of the session in the House of Commons, copies of the ''Censor'' and other works by Lucas were burned publicly and the Guild of St Luke was warned to control its members.
Her husband returned to Dublin in 1750, and continued to publish controversial works including ''The case and tryal of John Peter Zenger'' (1750), but his health had been affected by the Lucas case. He died on 24 March 1755, at which time Esdall intended to carry on the business. However, in June 1755 she sold the printing materials, shop stock, and household furniture. The ''News-letter'' was taken over by her husband's apprentice, Henry Saunders, in 1755 and he renamed it the ''Saunder's News-letter''. Lucas' reputation was later rehabilitated and he was elected MP in 1761.
Esdall petitioned the Guild of St Luke for relief in 1768, and later in 1795 due to "distressed circumstances" following the death of her son and was granted three guineas. It is likely she died soon after this date. The Esdalls had four children, including the artist and engraver, William Esdall (c. 1750 – 1795).
See also
*
List of women printers and publishers before 1800
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esdall, Anne
1710s births
1790s deaths
18th-century publishers (people)
Irish publishers (people)
18th-century Irish businesswomen