Arthur Thistlewood (1774–1 May 1820) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

radical activist and conspirator in the

Cato Street Conspiracy The Cato Street Conspiracy was a plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister Lord Liverpool in 1820. The name comes from the meeting place near Edgware Road in London. The police had an informer; the plotters fell into ...

. He planned to murder the cabinet, but there was a spy and he was apprehended with 12 other conspirators. He killed a policeman during the raid. He was executed for treason.

Early life

He was born in

Tupholme Tupholme is a village in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated east from Lincoln, and is the site of the ruined Tupholme Abbey on the road between Horncastle and Bardney. The population is included in the civil pa ...

in Lincolnshire, the extramarital son of a farmer and stockbreeder. He attended Horncastle Grammar School and was trained as a land surveyor. Unsatisfied with his job, he obtained a commission in the army at the age of 21. In January 1804, he married Jane Worsley but she died two years later giving birth to their first child. In 1808 he married Susan Wilkinson. He then quit his commission in the army and, with the help of his father, bought a farm. The farm was not a success and in 1811 he moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Thistlewood was the nephew of

Thomas Thistlewood Thomas Thistlewood (16 March 1721 ‒ 30 November 1786) was an English planter in colonial Jamaica. Thistlewood migrated to the western end of the Colony of Jamaica where he became a plantation overseer, plantation owner and slaver. His lengthy ...

(1721‒1786), a British-born slave owner and plantation overseer in

colonial Jamaica The Crown Colony of Jamaica and Dependencies was a British colony from 1655, when it was captured by the English Protectorate from the Spanish Empire. Jamaica became a British colony from 1707 and a Crown colony in 1866. The Colony was pr ...

Beginning of revolutionary involvement

Bodleian Libraries, Modern reformers in council, or - Patriots regaling

Travel in France and the United States exposed Thistlewood to revolutionary ideas. Shortly after his return to England, he joined the Society of Spencean Philanthropists in London. By 1816, Thistlewood had become a leader in the organisation, and was labelled a "dangerous character" by police, who watched him closely.

Spa Fields

On 2 December 1816, a mass meeting took place at

Spa Fields Spa Fields is a park and its surrounding area in the London Borough of Islington, bordering Finsbury and Clerkenwell. Historically it is known for the Spa Fields riots of 1816 and an Owenite community which existed there between 1821 and 1824. The ...

. The Spenceans had planned to encourage rioting all across England and then seize control of the British government by taking the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

and the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

. Police learned of the plan and dispersed the meeting. Thistlewood attempted to flee to North America. He and three other leaders were arrested and charged with

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

. When James Watson was acquitted, the authorities released Thistlewood and the others as well. In 1817 Thistlewood challenged the Home Secretary,

Lord Sidmouth Viscount Sidmouth, of Sidmouth in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 12 January 1805 for the former prime minister, Henry Addington. In May 1804, King George III intended to confer the titles ...

, to a duel and was imprisoned in Horsham gaol for 12 months.

Cato Street Conspiracy

On 22 February 1820 Thistlewood was one of a small group of Spenceans who decided, at the prompting of an undercover police agent George Edwards, to assassinate the British cabinet at a dinner the next day hosted by an earl. The group gathered in a loft in the Marylebone area of London, where police officers apprehended the conspirators. Edwards, a police spy, had fabricated the story of the dinner. Thistlewood was convicted of treason for his part in the

and, together with co-conspirators John Thomas Brunt,

William Davidson William or Bill Davidson may refer to: Businessmen * Bill Davidson (businessman) (1922–2009), Michigan businessman and sports team owner ** William Davidson Institute, University of Michigan, named in honor of Bill Davidson * William Davidson ( ...

, John Ings and Richard Tidd, was publicly hanged and decapitated outside Newgate Prison on 1 May 1820.

References

External links