Arthur Thistlewood Arthur Thistlewood ▼ Primary Sources ▼ Arthur Thistlewood Arthur Thistlewood was born in Tupholme in 1774. Arthur, the illegitimate son of a prosperous farmer and stockbreeder, was educated at Horncastle Grammar School and then trained as a land-surveyor. However, he disliked the work and at the age of twenty-one he obtained a commission in the army. In January 1804 Arthur Thistlewood married Jane Worsley but she died two years later giving birth to their first child. Four years later he married his second wife, Susan Wilkinson, the daughter of a butcher in Horncastle. Thistlewood left the army and with the help of his father purchased a farm. The farm was not a success and in 1811 he moved to London . Within a few months of arriving in London Arthur Thistlewood had joined the Spencean Philanthropists . By 1816 Thistlewood was being reported on by police spies who described him as a "dangerous character" who believed in revolution. Thistlewood, along with James Watson and Thomas Preston, was now a member of the five-man committee that ran the organisation.

John Castle , a police spy, was also a member of the committee and was able to provide the authorities with a detailed account of Spencean activities. In October 1816 Castle reported to John Stafford , supervisor of Home Office spies, that the Spenceans were planning to overthrow the British government. The plan was to encourage rioting at a mass meeting and while this was going on, to seize power by taking the Tower of London and the Bank of England . The mass meeting was organised to take place at Spa Fields, Islington, on 2nd December 1816. The speakers at the meeting included Henry 'Orator' Hunt and James Watson . The magistrates decided to disperse the meeting and while Stafford and eighty police officers were doing this, one of the men, Joseph Rhodes was stabbed. The leaders of the planned uprising went into hiding. Thistlewood decided to emigrate to America with his wife and child but was arrested as he boarded the ship on the Thames. The other leaders were also arrested and charged with high treason. James Watson was the first to be tried. However, the main prosecution witness was the government spy, John Castle .

The defence council was able to show that Castle had a long criminal record and that his testimony was unreliable. The jury concluded that Castle was an agent provocateur (a person employed to incite suspected people to some open action that will make them liable to punishment) and refused to convict Watson. As the case against Watson had failed, it was decided to release Arthur Thistlewood, Thomas Preston and John Hopper, the other three men who were due to be tried for the same offence. The Spenceans continued to meet in 1817. A new police spy who had joined the group, John Williamson, reported to John Stafford that Thistlewood was still trying to organise an armed uprising. James Watson now doubted the wisdom of this strategy and although he still attended meetings, he gradually lost control of the group to the more militant ideas of Thistlewood. In 1817 Thistlewood wrote to Lord Sidmouth , the Home Secretary, demanding payment of £180, the cost of the three tickets that he purchased for the trip to America. When Sidmouth failed to respond to the letter, Thistlewood challenged him to a duel. Sidmouth ordered Thistlewood's arrest and he was charged with threatening a breach of the peace.

Thistlewood was found guilty and sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment in Horsham Jail. Thistlewood wrote several letters to the Home Office complaining about the conditions in prison. One of his complaints was that three men had to share one bed and a cell measuring only seven feet by nine feet. Arthur Thistlewood played an important role in the protest meetings that followed the Peterloo Massacre . He organised the public reception of Henry Hunt after he arrived back in London after the massacre. The Times estimated that over 300,000 people turned up to see Hunt and to hear speeches from Sir Francis Burdett , Major John Cartwright , James Watson and John Thelwall . However, these men tried to distance themselves from Thistlewood because of his known revolutionary beliefs. On 22nd February 1820, George Edwards pointed out to Thistlewood an item in the New Times that several members of the British government were going to have dinner at Lord Harrowby's house at 39 Grosvenor Square. Thistlewood and a small group of Spenceans decided to take part in a plot to kill the government ministers dining at Lord Harrowby's house on 23rd February.

William Davidson had worked for Lord Harrowby in the past and knew some of the staff at Grosvenor Square. He was instructed to find out more details about the cabinet meeting. However, when he spoke to one of the servants, he was told that the Earl of Harrowby was not in London. When Davidson reported this news back to Thistlewood he insisted that the servant was lying and that the assassinations should proceed as planned. On the 23rd February Thistlewood's gang assembled in a hayloft in Cato Street , a short distance away from Grosvenor Square. However, government ministers were not meeting at the home of Earl of Harrowby. The Spenceans had been set up by George Edwards , a government spy who had infiltrated the Spencean Society . Thirteen police officers led by George Ruthven stormed the hay loft. Several members of the gang refused to surrender their weapons and one police officer, Richard Smithers, was killed by Thistlewood. Four of the conspirators, Thistlewood, John Brunt , Robert Adams and John Harrison escaped out of a window. However, George Edwards had given the police a detailed list of all those involved and the men were soon arrested.

Drawing of Arthur Thistlewood killing Richard Smithers On the 23rd February Thistlewood's gang assembled in a hayloft in Cato Street , a short distance away from Grosvenor Square. However, government ministers were not meeting at the home of Earl of Harrowby. The Spenceans had been set up by George Edwards , a government spy who had infiltrated the Spencean Society . Thirteen police officers led by George Ruthven stormed the hay loft. Several members of the gang refused to surrender their weapons and one police officer, Richard Smithers, was killed by Thistlewood. Four of the conspirators, Thistlewood, John Brunt , Robert Adams and John Harrison escaped out of a window. However, George Edwards had given the police a detailed list of all those involved and the men were soon arrested. Eleven men were eventually charged with being involved in the Cato Street Conspiracy . Charges against Robert Adams and John Monument were dropped when they agreed to give evidence against the other men involved in the plot. On 28th April 1820, Arthur Thistlewood, William Davidson , James Ings , Richard Tidd , and John Brunt were found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death.

John Harrison, James Wilson, Richard Bradburn, John Strange and Charles Copper were also found guilty but their original sentence of execution was subsequently commuted to transportation for life. Arthur Thistlewood was executed at Newgate Prison on the 1st May, 1820. The Execution of Arthur Thistlewood at Newgate (1820) Arthur Thistlewood (1774-1820) Biography I am happy that you are using this web site and hope that you found it useful. Unfortunately, the cost of making this material freely available is increasing, so if you have found the site useful and would like to contribute towards its continuation, I would greatly appreciate it. Click the button to go to Paypal and make a donation. Arthur Thistlewood (1774-1820) Thistlewood was born at either Bardney or Tupholme in Lincolnshire; he was baptised on 24 December 1774. His father was a successful farmer but there is some evidence to show that Thistlewood was actually the illegitimate son of Ann Burnet who had been the housekeeper for Thistlewood's father.

Thistlewood was educated privately with a view to him becoming a land surveyor but he did not wish to go into this line of work. At the start of the French Wars , Thistlewood joined the army and went to the West Indies. There he resigned his commission and visited the United States and France; he returned to England in 1794 convinced that the first duty of a patriot was to overthrow the government. In 1795 he became a Lieutenant in a militia regiment and married Miss Bruce who had a property with an annual income of £300. His wife died in 1797, at which point Thistlewood discovered that she had only a life interest in her property and her death had left him penniless. Thistlewood got deep in debt from his gambling and fled to France. He inherited an English estate from a relative which he sold for an annuity of £850; he married a Miss Wilkinson and tried to settle down. The estate owner went bankrupt and left Thistlewood without an income once more. His father and brother gave him a farm but Thistlewood soon discovered that he could not make it pay; he left for London and became involved in radical politics.

He attended meetings of the Spenceans , a group regarded as dangerously extreme, and made particular friends of a man called Preston and the Watsons, father and son. This group was probably not totally sane and attracted others who had a grudge against society. However, Thistlewood provided a strong opposition to the failure of the government to address the ' Condition of England Question ' in the 18-teens. In December 1816, Thistlewood helped to plan the meeting at Spa Fields at which Henry Hunt was to speak. The meeting resulted in a riot in which the Bank of England and the Tower of London were to be seized. After the rioters were dispersed, Thistlewood and another conspirator were arrested but were eventually acquitted. Thistlewood was imprisoned for eighteen month in 1818-19 for issuing a challenge to a duel to Viscount Sidmouth , the Home Secretary who was responsible for the Six Acts of 1819, which were intended to suppress radical movements. After his release from prison, Thistlewood resumed his revolutionary activities.

He learned that Lord Liverpool and the Cabinet had arranged to dine at the Earl of Harrowby 's house in Grosvenor Square on 23 February 1820 and concocted what became known as the Cato Street Conspiracy . The police heard of Thistlewood's plot to murder the Cabinet members, and, on that evening, as Thistlewood and several armed accomplices were preparing to leave a room in Cato Street for Grosvenor Square, officers appeared and arrested some of them. Thistlewood himself escaped but was captured the next day. The government put up bill-posters in the attempt to find Thistlewood: he is described as being about forty-eight years of age, five feet ten inches high, has a sallow complexion, long visage, dark hair, (a little grey) dark hazel eyes and arched eyebrows, a wide mouth and a good set of teeth, has a scar under his right jaw, is slender made, and has the appearance of a military man; was born in Lincolnshire, and apprenticed to an apothecary at Newark; usually wears a blue long coat and blue pantaloons, and has been a lieutenant in the militia.

Found guilty of high treason, he and four others were hanged on 1 May 1820. Thistlewood was also decapitated, as prescribed for traitors. Arthur Thistlewood | British revolutionary | Britannica.com British revolutionary Jane Austen Arthur Thistlewood, (born 1774, Tupholme, Lincolnshire, Eng.—died May 1, 1820, London ), revolutionary who in 1820, a time of economic distress and radical unrest in England , organized the Cato Street Conspiracy to assassinate all the members of the British Cabinet. The son of a successful farmer, Thistlewood visited the United States and France and returned to England in 1794 obsessed with the idea that the first duty of a patriot was to overthrow the government. He served in the army briefly, then drifted rather aimlessly until December 1816, when he helped plan an uprising (the Spa Fields Riot) in which the Bank of England and the Tower of London were to be seized. After the rioters were dispersed, Thistlewood and another conspirator were arrested but were eventually acquitted.

Thistlewood was imprisoned (1818–19), however, for issuing a challenge to a duel to the 1st Viscount Sidmouth, a former prime minister. (As home secretary Sidmouth had been chiefly responsible for the Six Acts of 1819, which were intended to suppress radical movements.) Released from prison, Thistlewood learned that the Cabinet ministers had arranged to dine at the Earl of Harrowby’s house in Grosvenor Square, London, on Feb. 23, 1820. The police heard of Thistlewood’s plot to murder the Cabinet members, and, on the evening of the 23rd, as Thistlewood and several armed accomplices were preparing to leave a room in Cato Street for Grosvenor Square, officers appeared and arrested some of them. Thistlewood himself escaped but was captured the next day. Found guilty of high treason, he and four others were hanged.

Learn More in these related articles: The Cato Street Conspiracy: 23 February 1820 The Cato Street Conspiracy: 23 February 1820 [ Victorian Web Home —> Political History —> Nineteenth-Century Riots and Civil Disorders ] group of radicals calling themselves the Spencean Philanthropists after Thomas Spence had been involved with such episodes as the Spa Fields riots in 1816. Their beliefs were a strange mixture of radical socialism and violent republicanism; the sanity of some of them may be questioned. One of the main players at both Spa Fields and in the Cato Street Conspiracy was Arthur Thistlewood. Whether the Spencean Philanthropists had really intended an insurrection in 1817 is debatable; however, the small group that continued to meet after then did turn its thoughts to violence and agents provocateurs were still part of it. Under the influence of these spies, Thistlewood and his comrades cooked up the plot known as the Cato Street Conspiracy early in 1820. Their plan was to overthrow the government and set up a Committee of Public Safety which would supervise a radical revolution.

On 29 January 1820, George III died; this precipitated a constitutional crisis and the calling of a general election. George Edwards, one of the Spenceans, suggested that the group should seize the opportunity to kill the entire cabinet during this time of crisis. An advertisement in the newspapers announced that a 'grand Cabinet dinner' was to be held at the home of the Lord President of the Council (Lord Harrowby) in Grosvenor Square. This provided an ideal location for the conspirators to do their work. Thistlewood set out the plan as follows: I propose going to the door with a note to present to Earl Harrowby; when the door is opened, the men will rush in directly, seize the servants that are in the way, present a pistol to them, and directly threaten them with death, if they offer the least resistance or noise. This done, a party will rush forward to take command of the stairs. One man is to have fire arms and he will be protected by another holding a hand grenade; a couple of men will take the head of the stairs leading to the lower part of the house.

If any servants attempt to make a retreat these men with the hand grenades are to clap fire to them, and fling them in amongst them. All these objects are for the securing of the house and those men who are to go in for the assassination are to rush in directly after. James Ings announced that he would enter the room first, armed with a pair of pistols, a cutlass and knife. He intended to behead every member of the Cabinet and to remove the heads of Castlereagh and Sidmouth in bags, so the heads could be displayed on pikes on Westminster Bridge. Unfortunately, Edwards was a government spy; he was responsible for the advertisement in the New Times with the full knowledge of Lord Liverpool 's government. When the conspirators met for the last time prior to carrying out the plan, they were arrested. Thistlewood stabbed and killed one of the Bow Street Runners; the conspirators were put on trial, during which the Attorney-General said It was thought by Englishmen, that the assassination of all His Majesty's ministers would be a proper commencement of the revolution which they wished to bring about . . .

Having effected that, they intended to set fire to various parts of this metropolis, to endeavour to obtain possession of the cannon at the artillery ground, and at the stable of the City Light Horse Volunteers, I believe in Grays-inn-lane — to create as much confusion and dismay as they could by these various operations, and then to establish, what in their various expectations they had imagined themselves capable of erecting, a provisional government, the seat of which was to be at the Mansion House. [State Trials, vol.33 Col. 719] The defence counsel's response was one of incredulity: The possession of London! . . . I should have thought that . . . any man who had seen the march of a single regiment, would have said at once, there is nothing less probable, than that you would have taken possession of any one parish in London — of any one populous street... I have looked . . . to the list of witnesses for the Crown, I find the name of one Edwards . . .

not a prisoner — not taken up upon this charge — not tainted as an accomplice by government — no treason that we have known of against him - a man cognizant of all the facts - a man present at all the conversations - a man who pointed out the New Times newspaper, and saw and knew and guided everything, and yet that man is not called - the spy is not called because the contrivance would have been made evident by his cross-examination . . . If all the circumstances could be investigated, it would prove that the treasonable part is altogether the brewing of a spy and an informer, to implicate in a charge of high treason, a man who had gone far enough towards losing his own life, but not to the length of that greatest of crimes. [State Trials, vol.33 cols. 864, 889] histlewood, Ings, Brunt, Tidd and Davidson were executed on 1 May 1820; five others were transported. The government used the incident to justify the Six Acts, passed in 1819. The Cato Street Conspiracy was the last major attempt at insurrection in the post-war period.

British Executions - Arthur Thistlewood - Cato Street Conspiracy 1820 - 1820 ARTHUR THISTLEWOOD, JAMES INGS, JOHN THOMAS BRUNT, RICHARD TIDD AND WILLIAM DAVIDSON Leaders in the Cato Street Conspiracy ON the cessation of the war which ended in Bonaparte being exiled to St Helena, Great Britain found herself subject to those temporary domestic difficulties which always succeed a return from hostility to peace. Agriculture, trade and commerce became, for the instant, almost torpid, and thousands of the labouring classes were thrown out of employment. In this moment of paramount distress the evil-minded and the designing, taking advantage of the disposition of the people, and urged by personal considerations, continued those attacks upon the Ministry of the country which they had hitherto made without success, and the people, whose attention was now withdrawn from the object which had hitherto served to keep their minds occupied, were easily led away and persuaded that the dangers and difficulties which appeared to exist were the result of bad management only, and were of a nature likely to be permanent, and most injurious to their well-being.

The existence of the evil was attributed to some defects which were pointed out in the representative system; and as this was considered to be the root of the evil, the name of Radical (from radix, the Latin word for a root) was given to the persons who espoused these new opinions. The party in itself, both as regarded reputation and numbers, was contemptible to a degree. Arthur Thistlewood, Dr James Watson, James Watson, jun., Thomas Preston, John Hooper, and a man named Hunt, who eventually became a Member of Parliament, were the most notorious of these agitators. Meetings were held in various parts of the kingdom, for the ostensible purpose of petitioning for parliamentary reform, and the metropolis followed the example. The first meeting took place, 15th of November, 1816, in the Spafields, then a wild unenclosed space. The circulation of some addresses proved that the object of the meeting was not of that peaceful nature which its promoters pretended to ascribe to it. On the day appointed, soon after twelve o'clock, the assemblage of the mob commenced, and in less than half-an-hour about five thousand persons had collected round a party supporting tricoloured flags.

A cart was placed on this spot, and in a short time Dr Watson, his son, and Mr Hooper, all carrying tricoloured cockades in their hats, ascended this rostrum, and were hailed with loud cheers. The Doctor and his son then addressed the meeting in most inflammatory speeches; and the latter, having wound himself up to a pitch of the most ungovernable fury, called upon the people to follow him, and jumping from his elevated position he rushed, pistol in hand, at the head of the mob, towards Clerkenwell. The mob rushed the shop of Mr Beckwith, a gunmaker, and carried away all the arms they could find. They then marched under the guidance of their leader to the Tower, and then, while young Watson endeavoured to win the soldiers from their allegiance, by assuring them of the good feeling which prevailed towards them on the part of the people, and that they should receive a hundred guineas per man if they would join them, the mob continued to scour the neighbourhood in search of arms.

While, however, the great body of the rioters had thus followed in the steps of their leader, others pursued a different direction, and, taking St Giles's, St Clement's and the Strand in their march, despoiled every shop which they approached of such articles as they deemed might be useful to them. The eruption was so sudden that the means of opposing the proceedings of the rioters could not speedily be obtained. The Lord Mayor, Sir Matthew Wood, showed great determination; and, notwithstanding the most violent proceedings on the part of these fellows, he and Sir James Shaw, the Chamberlain, succeeded in securing three of the insurgents, who had entered the Royal Exchange, and were armed with guns. The military at length appeared, and many of the rioters were secured, while the others, having thrown away their arms, quickly disappeared. Young Watson, however, was nowhere to be found; and it appears that immediately after he quitted the Tower, being alarmed at his position, he hastily returned to his lodgings, and possessing himself of some papers and other articles went to a public-house in Fetter Lane, where he found his father and Thistlewood.

The trio considered themselves as being likely to be taken into custody, and they in consequence quitted London for Northampton immediately. On their arriving at Highgate, however, they were seized, on suspicion of being footpads, but a scuffle taking place, the elder Watson alone remained in the hands of their assailants, while his companions effected their escape. The Government had received information of a formidable and dangerous conspiracy, in which Dr Watson and others were stated to be deeply implicated, and the parties were in consequence apprehended, and with the Doctor were committed to the Tower. A bill being found by the grand jury, Watson, Thistlewood, Preston and Hooper were brought up from the Tower to the Court of King's Bench, on the 17th of May, 1817. They severally pleaded not guilty, and were then taken back to the Tower, from which they were again brought up on the 9th of June. Dr Watson was first arraigned, and John Castles was the witness called to prove the most material facts against him.

He said that he became acquainted with the prisoner about a month before the Spafields meeting, and saw him at the Cock, in Grafton Street, where he went to meet a society called the Spenceans. On the following night he met Watson and Preston by appointment at the Mulberry Arms, Moorfields, at a society of the same description; and he there saw present young Watson, Hooper, Thistlewood, the two Evanses, father and son, and one John Harrison. After the meeting broke up he walked away with the elder Watson, who observed that it was a very easy matter to upset Government, provided a few good fellows would act together. He then said that he had drawn out a plan that would debar the cavalry from acting, by interrupting the horses, and that he had got several people who had solicited at different houses, and that they had formed a committee, which was sitting, to devise the best modes and plans. He inquired where the witness lived, and promised to call the next morning, and show him the plan.

In pursuance of this appointment he called at the lodging of Castles on the following Sunday morning, and produced several papers, one of which was a plan of the Tower, and another a plan of the machine, which he had described on the Thursday before, for obstructing the cavalry. It was to run upon four wheels, with sharp knives, which were to be on each side, and spikes in the middle. The knives were to be something like scythes, and placed horizontally. There were also several other drawings of the Tower Bridge, and different places and entrances about the Tower. "He then," continued Castles, "asked me how many men I could bring; and how many I knew. I told him I knew a great many, but I did not know whether they would act when put to the test; he begged I would exert myself as much as I could. I told him that I was a smith, and that I had nothing but my little business to live on; but he said never to mind that; they would find something better for me than that; they had plenty of money for everything. We then made another appointment, and I met him at one Newton's.

Similar conversation took place there, and he said they had got a committee consisting of five -- namely, Harrison, Preston, Thistlewood and his son, and himself -- and that I should be made one of the generals, and head a party of pikemen and other men, and that I should hear further in a few days, and might consider myself as one of the committee from that time; that I should make the sixth, and they would not have any more. "Shortly afterwards I met the elder Watson, and we went to King Street barracks, and across the Park to a small magazine in Hyde Park, where the powder is kept, to examine the whole of the avenues, and determine which was the best place for setting fire to the barracks. There was also one Skinner with us, but he left us in the Park, and Watson said he had thought that Skinner was a cleverer man than he really was; that he had intended to have made an officer of him, but he found him not at all as he had calculated, as he had not any cultivated idea whatever. "About this time I was introduced to Thistlewood, by one John Harrison.

Thistlewood asked me how much money it would take to make a few hundred pikes, and how long it would take me. I told him it would depend entirely on their size, and the steel or iron they should be made of. He said they should be about nine or ten inches long; and I told him that they would come to about fourpence or fourpence-halfpenny a pound. He wished me to make one for a pattern; and I told him I would, but that I had no place to make them in. Harrison replied that he knew a person who would lend me the use of his forge. Hooper and Harrison went with me to a little shop in a cellar, kept by a man of the name of Bentley, in Hart Street. I asked him to allow me to make use of his forge to make a pike, to put round a rabbit-warren or fishpond. He told me that if I would look out a piece of iron he would make it himself. When it was done it was given to me, and I took it away.

I afterwards carried it to one Randall's, where I met the two Watsons, and Thistlewood, Harrison and Hooper; and Watson said that it was a famous instrument. Watson then wrote down the name of the house where the committee sat, No. 9 Greystoke Place, on a paper for me. "A day or two afterwards the committee met in Greystoke Place, to deliberate upon the best plan to set fire to the barracks, and to get all the men we could together. When we met, Thistlewood produced a map of London. It was marked out with which were the best roads to take; and we arranged the number of men who were to be collected together at the different barracks and places to be attacked. The whole of the committee were to act as generals; to have their several stations, and were to attack the separate barracks at one given time and moment. Watson proposed Thistlewood as the head general.

Thistlewood and young Watson were to take the guns and two field-pieces that were in the artillery ground in Gray's Inn Lane; Preston was to attack the Tower; Harrison the artillery barracks near Regent's Park; and I was to set fire to the King Street barracks, and either to take the men prisoners or kill those that might attempt to escape; the elder Watson was to set fire to the Portland Street barracks. We were to attack the whole of those places at a given hour, and set them on fire at one in the morning; we were to take any person we met and make them join us -- such as gentlemen's servants; and coachmen were to be taken from their carriages, and those who could ride were to have the horses, which were to form a cavalry, and the coaches and carriages were to be used to barricade the entrances. After I had set fire to the King Street barracks, and after we had seen that all were in flames, and that none had made their escape, I was to meet the elder Watson at the top of Oxford Street.

Harrison was to join us with the artillery, which he was to bring from the barracks by Regent's Park, and as soon as that was done there was to be a volley fired, to let the remainder know we had got possession of the artillery. Piccadilly Gate was to be fastened and chained, and a party stationed there to fire upon the horse if they attempted to come from the barracks, and then others were to proceed towards Charing Cross and Westminster Bridge, and barricade there all the avenues upon that side, to prevent them coming round by Chelsea and that way, and then young Watson and Thistlewood, after getting possession of the guns, were to break open all the oil-shops and gunsmiths' shops, in which they could find either combustibles or arms. They were then to blockade Chancery Lane and Gray's Inn Lane to St Giles's, where Thistlewood was to make his grand stand. One gun was to be pointed up Tottenham Court Road and the other up Oxford Street. "Preston, if he had not succeeded in taking the Tower, was to barricade London Bridge, to prevent the artillery coming from Woolwich.

He was then to barricade Whitechapel, to prevent any troops coming from the country that way; and then, when he had a body sufficient, the main body was to have met at the Bank." Witness proceeded to give many more details of the plot, and described how, when an attempt was made to carry it into effect, the mob threw down their arms at the approach of the military, while the ringleaders escaped into the country. On his cross-examination it appeared that the witness was a Government spy, and that his morals admirably fitted him for such an employment. There were few crimes, short of murder, with which he was not made to charge himself. On the sixth day of the trial Mr Hunt and several other witnesses were called, whose testimony went to impeach the credit of Castles and others for the prosecution, after which counsel was heard for the prisoner, and the Attorney-General spoke in reply. Watson having declined to make any defence after the ability displayed by his counsel, Lord Ellenborough proceeded to charge the jury, who returned a verdict of acquittal, founded apparently upon the incredibility of the testimony of the witness Castles.

It was not until the 24th of February, 1820, that the public were made aware of another plot to which Dr Watson was a party and which had for its object the assassination of the whole of his Majesty's Ministers. On the morning of that date a proclamation was plentifully distributed throughout the metropolis, offering a reward of a thousand pounds for the apprehension of the notorious Arthur Thistlewood, on a charge of high treason and murder, and pronouncing the heaviest penalties against all who should harbour or conceal him from justice. It would appear that it had been long known to the Members of the Government that a plan was in meditation by which they would all be murdered, and that Thistlewood was one of the originators of and prime movers in the horrid design; but in accordance with the system which then existed -- of waiting until the crime should be all but matured, in order to secure a conviction of the offenders -- they determined to make no effort to crush the scheme until a period should have arrived when their own safety rendered it necessary.

The conspirators, meanwhile, having weighed various plans and projects for the accomplishment of their object, eventually determined to select the evening of Wednesday, the 23rd of February, as that on which they would carry out their plot, and it was deemed advisable that this night should be fixed upon because it became known to them, by an announcement in the newspapers, that a Cabinet dinner would then be held at the house of Lord Harrowby, in Grosvenor Square. Contemptible as the means possessed by the conspirators were to carry their design fully into execution, it is certain, from the confession of one of them, that the first part of their project was planned with so much circumstantial exactness that the assassination of all the Ministers would have been secured. It would appear that it was arranged that one of the party should proceed to Lord Harrowby's house with a parcel addressed to his lordship, and that when the door was opened his companions should rush in, bind or, in case of resistance, kill the servants, and occupy all the avenues of the house, while a select band proceeded to the chamber where the Ministers were at dinner, and massacred the whole of them indiscriminately.

To increase the confusion, hand-grenades were prepared, which it was intended should be thrown lighted into the several rooms, and one of the party engaged to bring away the heads of Lords Castlereagh and Sidmouth in a bag, which he had provided for that purpose. Thus far the conspirators might probably have carried their plans into effect, but of the scheme for a general revolution which these men -- whose number never exceeded thirty -- appear to have considered themselves capable of accomplishing we cannot seriously speak. Among other arrangements, the Mansion House -- selected, we suppose, for its proximity to the Bank -- was fixed upon for the "palace of the provisional government." The place chosen for the final organisation of their proceedings, and for collecting their force previous to immediate action, was a half-dilapidated tenement in an obscure street called Cato Street, near the Edgware Road. The premises were composed of a stable, with a loft above, and had been for some time unoccupied. The information upon which Ministers proceeded in frustrating the schemes of the conspirators was derived from a man named Edwards, who pretended to enter into their views, for the purpose of betraying them.

Thus accurately informed of the intentions of the gang, measures were taken for their apprehension. A strong body of constables and police officers, supported by a detachment of the Guards, was ordered to proceed to Cato Street, under the direction of Mr (afterwards Sir Richard) Birnie, the magistrate. On arriving at the spot they found that the conspirators had taken the precaution to place a sentinel below, and that the only approach to the loft was by passing up a ladder, and through a trap-door so narrow as not to admit more than one at a time. Ruthven led the way, followed by Ellis, Smithers and others of the Bow Street patrol, and on the door being opened they discovered the whole gang, in number between twenty and thirty, hastily arming themselves. There was a carpenter's bench in the room, on which lay a number of cutlasses, bayonets, pistols and sword-belts, and a considerable quantity of ammunition. Ruthven, upon bursting into the loft, announced himself as a peace officer, and called upon them to lay down their arms.

Thistlewood stood near the door with a drawn sword, and Smithers advanced upon him, when the former made a lunge, and the unfortunate officer received the blade in his breast, and almost immediately expired. About this time the Guards, who had been delayed in consequence of their having entered the street at the wrong end, arrived, under the command of Captain (Lord Adolphus) Fitzclarence, and mounted the ladder; but, as the conspirators had extinguished the lights, fourteen or fifteen of them succeeded in making their escape, and Thistlewood, the chief of the gang, was among the number. A desperate conflict now took place, and at length nine persons were made prisoners -- namely, Ings, Wilson, Bradburn, Gilchrist, Cooper, Tidd, Monument, Shaw and Davidson. They were all immediately conveyed to Bow Street, together with a large quantity of arms, consisting of pistols, guns, swords and pikes, and a large sackful of hand-grenades, besides other ammunition, which had been found in the loft.

The same means by which the conspiracy had been discovered was now adopted in order to procure the discovery of the hiding-place of Thistlewood, and it was found that, instead of his returning to his own lodgings in Stanhope Street, Clare Market, on the apprehension of his fellows, he had gone to an obscure house, No. 8 White Street, Moorfields. On the morning of the 24th of February, at nine o'clock, Lavender and others of the Bow Street patrol were dispatched to secure his apprehension; and after planting a guard round the house, so as to prevent the possibility of his escaping, they entered a room on the ground floor, where they found the object of their inquiry in bed, with his stockings and breeches on. In his pockets were found some ball cartridges and flints, a black girdle or belt, which he was seen to wear at Cato Street, and a military sash. He was first conveyed to Bow Street, and there shortly examined by Sir R. Birnie, by whom he was subsequently conducted to Whitehall, where he was introduced to the presence of the Privy Council.

He was still handcuffed, but he mounted the stairs leading to the council chamber with great alacrity. On his being informed of the nature of the charges made against him by the Lord Chancellor, he declined saying anything, and was remanded to prison. In the course of the week several other persons were apprehended as being accessories to the plot; and, on the 3rd of March, Thistlewood, Monument, Brunt, Ings, Wilson, Harrison, Tidd and Davidson were committed to the Tower as state prisoners, the rest of the persons charged being sent back to Coldbath Fields Prison, where they had been previously confined. The case of the parties to this most diabolical conspiracy immediately received the attention of the law officers of the Crown; and on the 15th of April, 1820, a special commission being issued, the prisoners were arraigned at the bar of the Old Bailey on the charge of high treason, and also of murder, in having caused the death of the unfortunate Smithers.

There were eleven prisoners -- Arthur Thistlewood, William Davidson (a man of colour), James Ings, John Thomas Brunt, Richard Tidd, James Wilson, John Harrison, Richard Bradburn, John Shaw Strange, James Gilchrist and Charles Cooper -- and they all pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against them. Counsel having been assigned to the prisoners, and the necessary forms having been gone through, Thistlewood received an intimation that his case would be taken on Monday morning, the 17th of the same month, and the prisoners were remanded to that day. At the appointed time, accordingly, Arthur Thistlewood was placed at the bar. He looked pale, but evinced his usual firmness. The jury having been sworn, and the indictment read, the Attorney-General stated the case at great length, and twenty-five witnesses were examined in support of the prosecution, among whom were several accomplices, whose testimony was satisfactorily corroborated. Some of those who appeared to give evidence had been apprehended on the fatal night in Cato Street, but were now admitted witnesses for the Crown. After a trial which occupied the Court four days, Thistlewood was found guilty of high treason.

He heard the verdict with his wonted composure, seeming to have anticipated it; for when it was pronounced he appeared quite indifferent to what so fatally concerned him. The evidence against Tidd, Ings, Davidson and Brunt, whose trials came on next in succession, differed little from that upon which Thistlewood was convicted, and they were also found guilty. Their trials, being separate, occupied the Court six days. On the evening of the tenth day the six remaining prisoners, at the suggestion of their counsel, pleaded guilty -- having been permitted to withdraw their former plea -- by which they eventually escaped capital punishment. On Friday, the 28th of April, the eleven prisoners were brought up to receive sentence. After a most admirable and affecting speech, the Lord Chief Justice passed sentence in the usual form upon them, directing that, after they should have been hanged, their heads should be severed from their bodies, and their bodies divided into four quarters, which should be at the disposal of his Majesty. The execution of Thistlewood, Ings, Brunt, Davidson and Tidd took place on the following Monday, at Newgate.

Davidson was the only prisoner who did not reject religious consolation; and Thistlewood, when on the scaffold, turned away from the ordinary with an expression of indifference and contempt. Another Version Thomas Spence, a schoolteacher from Newcastle arrived in London in December 1792. Over the next twenty-two years Spence developed a reputation as an important radical figure in Britain. He wrote books, pamphlets and produced a journal, Pigs Meat, where he argued for the radical transformation of society. The publication of this material resulted in him enduring several periods of imprisonment. Spence did not believe in a centralized radical body and instead encouraged the formation of small groups that could meet in local public houses. At these meetings Thomas Spence argued that "if all the land in Britain was shared out equally, there would be enough to give every man, woman and child seven acres each". At night the men walked the streets and chalked on the walls slogans such as "Spence's Plan and Full Bellies" and "The Land is the People's Farm". In 1800 and 1801 the authorities believed that Spence and his followers were responsible for bread riots in London.

However, they did not have enough evidence to arrest them for this offence. Drawing of Arthur Thistlewood killing Richard Smithers Thomas Spence died in September 1814. He was buried by "forty disciples" who pledged that they would keep his ideas alive. They did this by forming the Society of Spencean Philanthropists. The men met in small groups all over London. These meetings mainly took place in public houses and they discussed the best way of achieving an equal society. Places used included the Mulberry Tree in Moorfields, the Carlisle in Shoreditch, the Cock in Soho, the Pineapple in Lambeth, the White Lion in Camden, the Horse and Groom in Marylebone and the Nag's Head in Carnaby Market. The government became very concerned about this group that they employed a spy, John Castle, to join the Spenceans and report on their activities. In October 1816 Castle reported to John Stafford, supervisor of Home Office spies, that the Spenceans were planning to overthrow the British government. On 2nd December 1816, the Spencean group organised a mass meeting at Spa Fields, Islington.

The speakers at the meeting included Henry 'Orator' Hunt and James Watson. The magistrates decided to disperse the meeting and while Stafford and eighty police officers were doing this, one of the men, Joseph Rhodes, was stabbed. The four leaders of the Spenceans, James Watson, Arthur Thistlewood, Thomas Preston and John Hopper were arrested and charged with high treason. George Cruikshank, Cato Street Conspiracy (1820) James Watson was the first to be tried. However, the main prosecution witness was the government spy, John Castle. The defence council was able to show that Castle had a criminal record and that his testimony was unreliable. The jury concluded that Castle was an agent provocateur (a person employed to incite suspected people to some open action that will make them liable to punishment) and refused to convict Watson. As the case against Watson had failed, it was decided to release the other three men who were due to be tried for the same offence. The Spenceans continued to meet after the trial but the members now disagreed about the future strategy of the group. Arthur Thistlewood was convinced a successful violent revolution was possible.

James Watson now doubted the wisdom of this strategy and although he still attended meetings, he gradually lost control of the group to the more militant ideas of Thistlewood. The government remained concerned about the Spenceans and in January, 1817 John Stafford asked a police officer, George Ruthven, to join the group. Ruthven discovered that the Spenceans were planning an armed rising. Arthur Thistlewood, claimed at one meeting that he could raise 15,000 armed men in just half an hour. As a result of this information, John Williamson, John Shegoe, James Hanley, George Edwards and Thomas Dwyer were also recruited by Stafford to spy on the Spenceans. The Peterloo Massacre in Manchester increased the amount of anger the Spenceans felt towards the government. At one meeting a spy reported that Arthur Thistlewood said: "High Treason was committed against the people at Manchester.

I resolved that the lives of the instigators of massacre should atone for the souls of murdered innocents." On 22nd February 1820, George Edwards pointed out to Arthur Thistlewood an item in the New Times that said several members of the British government were going to have dinner at Lord Harrowby's house at 39 Grosvenor Square the following night. Thistlewood argued that this was the opportunity they had been waiting for. It was decided that a group of Spenceans would gain entry to the house and kill all the government ministers. The heads of Lord Castlereagh and Lord Sidmouth would be placed on poles and taken around the slums of London. Thistlewood was convinced that this would incite an armed uprising that would overthrow the government. This would be followed by the creation of a new government committed to creating a society based on the ideas of Thomas Spence. Over the next few hours Thistlewood attempted to recruit as many people as possible to take part in the plot. Many people refused and according to the police spy, George Edwards, only twenty-seven people agreed to participate.

This included William Davidson, James Ings, Richard Tidd, John Brunt, John Harrison, James Wilson, Richard Bradburn, John Strange, Charles Copper, Robert Adams and John Monument. William Davidson had worked for Lord Harrowby in the past and knew some of the staff at Grosvenor Square. He was instructed to find out more details about the cabinet meeting. However, when he spoke to one of the servants he was told that the Earl of Harrowby was not in London. When Davidson reported this news back to Arthur Thistlewood, he insisted that the servant was lying and that the assassinations should proceed as planned. One member of the gang, John Harrison, knew of a small, two-story building in Cato Street that was available for rent. The ground-floor was a stable and above that was a hayloft. As it was only a short distance from Grosvenor Square, it was decided to rent the building as a base for the operation. Edwards told Stafford of the plan and Richard Birnie, a magistrate at Bow Street, was put in charge of the operation.

Lord Sidmouth instructed Birnie to use men from the Second Battalion Coldstream Guards as well as police officers from Bow Street to arrest the Cato Street Conspirators. Birnie decided to send George Ruthven, a police officer and former spy who knew most of the Spenceans, to the Horse and Groom, a public house that overlooked the stable in Cato Street. On 23rd February, Ruthven took up his position at two o'clock in the afternoon. Soon afterwards Thistlewood's gang began arriving at the stable. By seven thirty Richard Birnie and twelve police officers joined Ruthven at Cato Street. The Coldstream Guards had not arrived and Birnie decided he had enough men to capture the Cato Street gang. Birnie gave orders for Ruthven to carry out the task while he waited outside. Inside the stable the police found James Ings on guard. He was quickly overcome and George Ruthven led his men up the ladder into the hayloft where the gang were having their meeting. As he entered the loft Ruthven shouted, "We are peace officers. Lay down your arms." Arthur Thistlewood and William Davidson raised their swords while some of the other men attempted to load their pistols.

One of the police officers, Richard Smithers, moved forward to make the arrests but Thistlewood stabbed him with his sword. Smithers gasped, "Oh God, I am..." and lost consciousness. Smithers died soon afterwards. Some of the gang surrendered but others like William Davidson were only taken after a struggle. Four of the conspirators, Thistlewood, John Brunt, Robert Adams and John Harrison escaped out of a back window. However, George Edwards had given the police a detailed list of all those involved and the men were soon arrested. Eleven men were eventually charged with being involved in the Cato Street Conspiracy. After the experience of the previous trial of the Spenceans, Lord Sidmouth was unwilling to use the evidence of his spies in court. George Edwards, the person with a great deal of information about the conspiracy, was never called. Instead the police offered to drop charges against certain members of the gang if they were willing to give evidence against the rest of the conspirators. Two of these men, Robert Adams and John Monument, agreed and they provided the evidence needed to convict the rest of the gang. William Davidson said in court: "It is an ancient custom to resist tyranny...

And our history goes on further to say, that when another of their Majesties the Kings of England tried to infringe upon those rights, the people armed, and told him that if he did not give them the privileges of Englishmen, they would compel him by the point of the sword... Would you not rather govern a country of spirited men, than cowards? I can die but once in this world, and the only regret left is, that I have a large family of small children, and when I think of that, it unmans me." On 28th April 1820, Arthur Thistlewood, William Davidson, James Ings, Richard Tidd, and John Brunt were found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death. John Harrison, James Wilson, Richard Bradburn, John Strange and Charles Copper were also found guilty but their original sentence of execution was subsequently commuted to transportation for life. Thistlewood, Davidson, Ings, Tidd and Brunt were executed at Newgate Prison on the 1st May, 1820.

1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Thistlewood, Arthur - Wikisource, the free online library 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Thistlewood, Arthur 1154696 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 26 — Thistlewood, Arthur THISTLEWOOD, ARTHUR (1770-1820), the principal instigator of the Cato Street conspiracy, a plot formed to murder many British ministers in 1820. A son of William Thistlewood, and born at Tupholme in Lincolnshire, young Thistlewood passed his early years in a desultory fashion; he became a soldier and visited France and America, imbibing republican opinions abroad and running into debt at home. Then taking up his residence in London he joined the Spencean Society, a revolutionary body; associated himself with James Watson (d.

1838) and other agitators; and in December 1816 helped to arrange a meeting in Spa Fields, London, which was to be followed by the seizure of the Tower of London and the Bank of England, and by a general revolution. The proposed rising was a dismal failure, but the Habeas Corpus Act was suspended and Thistlewood and Watson were seized, although upon being tried they were acquitted. Becoming more violent Thistlewood formed other plots, talked of murdering the prince of Wales, and was sentenced to a year's imprisonment for challenging the home secretary, Lord Sidmouth, to a duel. After his release in May 1819, having broken away from Henry Hunt and the more moderate reformers, he prepared a new and comprehensive plot. On the 23rd of February 1820, at a time of great distress and during the unrest caused by the death of George III., the cabinet ministers had arranged to dine at the earl of Harrowby's house in Grosvenor Square. Thistlewood knew of the dinner. With some associates he hired a room in the neighbouring Cato Street, collected arms and made ready to fall upon Harrowby's guests.

However the authorities had been informed of the plot, probably by one of the conspirators named George Edwards; officers appeared upon the scene and arrested some of the conspirators; and although Thistlewood escaped in the confusion he was seized on the following day. Tried for high treason, Thistlewood and four others were sentenced to death, and were hanged on the 1st of May 1820. See Sir S. Walpole, History of England (1890), vol. i. Thistlewood, Arthur | Article about Thistlewood, Arthur by The Free Dictionary Thistlewood, Arthur | Article about Thistlewood, Arthur by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Wikipedia . Thistlewood, Arthur, 1770–1820, British conspirator. He acquired revolutionary views while traveling in France and America and, after his return to England, joined the revolutionary Spencean Society (see Spence, Thomas Spence, Thomas, 1750–1814, English agrarian socialist.

A forerunner of the single taxers (see single tax), he devised a scheme by which the parishes would assume ownership of the land and rent paid to the parish corporation would be the sole tax. ..... Click the link for more information. ) in London. In 1816 he organized a public meeting at Spa Fields, at which a revolution was to be started. However, the meeting was easily dispersed, and Thistlewood was arrested and narrowly escaped conviction for treason. A year later he was imprisoned for challenging Lord Sidmouth, the home secretary, to a duel. Upon his release (1819) Thistlewood, dissatisfied with the milder efforts of his colleagues, plotted the assassination of cabinet members at a cabinet dinner. The government, apprised of the conspiracy, surprised the plotters at their arsenal in a Cato Street loft. Thistlewood was subsequently convicted of treason and executed for his part in what is known as the Cato Street Conspiracy. Thistlewood, Arthur The Cato Street Conspiracy: 23 February 1820 The Age of George III I am happy that you are using this web site and hope that you found it useful.

Unfortunately, the cost of making this material freely available is increasing, so if you have found the site useful and would like to contribute towards its continuation, I would greatly appreciate it. Click the button to go to Paypal and make a donation. The Cato Street Conspiracy: 23 February 1820 After the end of the French Wars, it became increasingly clear that England was suffering from great social, economic and political upheavals. These problems collectively became known as the ' Condition of England Question '. Many of these problems would have occurred eventually but had been speeded up by the effects of the French Wars on the country. Most of the major changes were the direct result of the French Wars. Others came from natural growth and change. The distress and discontent caused by these enormous changes were manifested in a series of events in the period 1811-19. As a result of these occurrences, the government passed the Six Acts in 1819: the apparent harshness seemed justified with the events of 1820. A group of radicals calling themselves the Spencean Philanthropists after Thomas Spence had been involved with such episodes as the Spa Fields riots in 1816.

Their beliefs were a strange mixture of radical socialism and violent republicanism; the sanity of some of them may be questioned. One of the main players at both Spa Fields and in the Cato Street Conspiracy was Arthur Thistlewood . Whether the Spencean Philanthropists had really intended an insurrection in 1817 is debatable; however, the small group that continued to meet after then did turn its thoughts to violence and agents provocateurs were still part of it. Under the influence of these spies, Thistlewood and his comrades cooked up the plot known as the Cato Street Conspiracy early in 1820. Their plan was to overthrow the government and set up a Committee of Public Safety which would supervise a radical revolution. On 29 January 1820, George III died; this precipitated a constitutional crisis and the calling of a general election. George Edwards, one of the Spenceans, suggested that the group should seize the opportunity to kill the entire cabinet during this time of crisis. An advertisement in the newspapers announced that a 'grand Cabinet dinner' was to be held at the home of the Lord President of the Council ( Lord Harrowby ) in Grosvenor Square.

This provided an ideal location for the conspirators to do their work. Thistlewood set out the plan as follows: I propose going to the door with a note to present to Earl Harrowby; when the door is opened, the men will rush in directly, seize the servants that are in the way, present a pistol to them, and directly threaten them with death, if they offer the least resistance or noise. This done, a party will rush forward to take command of the stairs. One man is to have fire arms and he will be protected by another holding a hand grenade; a couple of men will take the head of the stairs leading to the lower part of the house. If any servants attempt to make a retreat these men with the hand grenades are to clap fire to them, and fling them in amongst them. All these objects are for the securing of the house and those men who are to go in for the assassination are to rush in directly after. James Ings announced that he would enter the room first, armed with a pair of pistols, a cutlass and knife.

He intended to behead every member of the Cabinet and to remove the heads of Castlereagh and Sidmouth in bags, so the heads could be displayed on pikes on Westminster Bridge. Unfortunately, Edwards was a government spy ; he was responsible for the advertisement in the New Times with the full knowledge of Lord Liverpool's government . When the conspirators met for the last time prior to carrying out the plan, they were arrested. Thistlewood stabbed and killed one of the Bow Street Runners; the conspirators were put on trial, during which the Attorney-General said It was thought by Englishmen, that the assassination of all His Majesty's ministers would be a proper commencement of the revolution which they wished to bring about... Having effected that, they intended to set fire to various parts of this metropolis, to endeavour to obtain possession of the cannon at the artillery ground, and at the stable of the City Light Horse Volunteers, I believe in Grays-inn-lane - to create as much confusion and dismay as they could by these various operations, and then to establish, what in their various expectations they had imagined themselves capable of erecting, a provisional government, the seat of which was to be at the Mansion House. (State Trials, vol.33 Col.

719) The defence counsel's response was one of incredulity: The possession of London! ... I should have thought that... any man who had seen the march of a single regiment, would have said at once, there is nothing less probable, than that you would have taken possession of any one parish in London - of any one populous street... I have looked ... to the list of witnesses for the Crown, I find the name of one Edwards ... not a prisoner - not taken up upon this charge - not tainted as an accomplice by government - no treason that we have known of against him - a man cognizant of all the facts - a man present at all the conversations - a man who pointed out the New Times newspaper, and saw and knew and guided everything, and yet that man is not called - the spy is not called because the contrivance would have been made evident by his cross-examination... If all the circumstances could be investigated, it would prove that the treasonable part is altogether the brewing of a spy and an informer, to implicate in a charge of high treason, a man who had gone far enough towards losing his own life, but not to the length of that greatest of crimes.

(State Trials, vol.33 cols. 864, 889) Thistlewood, Ings, Brunt, Tidd and Davidson were executed on 1 May 1820; five others were transported. The government used the incident to justify the Six Acts , passed in 1819. A. Arthur Thistlewood

Question: Arthur Thistlewood was the main conspirator in which plot of 1820?
Answer: 'CATO STREET CONSPIRACY'