May 1, 2019 • 6 mins
On this day in 1820, the conspirators who plotted to assassinate the entire British Cabinet were executed for high treason. Learn more about the conspiracy at https://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/cato-street-conspiracy.htm
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Welcome to This Day in History Class, where
History waits for no One. Today is May one, nineteen.
(00:22):
The day was May one, eight twenty. Radical activists Arthur
Thistlewood and four other men were executed in London for
high treason after plotting to assassinate the Prime minister's entire cabinet.
In the beginning of the nineteenth century, most of Britain
was still dealing in agriculture, but urbanization and industrialization were
(00:44):
taking over in some areas. The conclusion of the Napoleonic
Wars and the War of eighteen twelve had brought in
a bunch of returning soldiers and sailors looking for work. Inflation,
food shortages, and poor working conditions were rampant. Cities were
becoming overcrowded, and poverty, crime, and disease were quickly becoming
(01:07):
more of a problem. Workers had low pay and they
often faced harsh punishments for their mistakes. The Combination Acts
of seventeen forbade working men from collective bargaining and forming
trade unions. This caused a lot of unrest. By eight twenty,
people had already been protesting mechanization and calling for reform.
(01:32):
Arthur Thistlewood was one of these people, Fueled by his
drive to overthrow the government and his own financial woes.
This a Wood became involved in radical groups. He became
associated with Thomas Spence, a revolutionary who advocated for the
common ownership of land. The government did not perceive Thistlewood
(01:54):
as a threat at first, but after Thistlewood took part
in a failed plan to invite napole In to invade Britain,
the government took notice. Thomas Spence died in eighteen fourteen,
but his followers, the Spenciens, remained, and Thistlewood became one
of their organizers. In December eighteen sixteen, he helped plan
(02:16):
a riot at Spa Fields with the aims of seizing
the Bank of England and the Tower of London. Thistlewood
was later arrested, but he got off through either an
acquittal or withdrawn charges. By eighteen eighteen, Spenciens were tired
of failed plots, but Thistlewood was still stirring the pot.
(02:38):
He challenged Home Secretary Henry Addington, first Viscount Sidmus, a
former Prime Minister, to a duel. This earned Thistlewood a
year in prison for threatening a breach of peace, a
sentence that began in May eighteen eighteen, but Thistlewood's rebellion
did not in there Parliament passed the Sixth Act of
(03:00):
eighteen nineteen, which were created to suppress radical movements and
restricted people's rights to hold public meetings and distribute political literature.
Once this ale Wood was released from prison, he began
plotting to kill all of the prime minister's cabinet. He
and a group of co conspirators rented rooms on Cato
(03:20):
Street in London to get ready for the mass assassination.
This a Wood found out, possibly through a man named
George Edwards, that the cabinet ministers were planning on having
one of their regular dinners at the Earl of Haroldby's
home and Grosvenor Square on February eighteen twenty. He decided
(03:40):
that this would be the perfect time to assassinate the
cabinet so he could install a provisional government that worked
in the interests of the people. The conspirator's plan was
to rush in the Earl's home, subdue the servants, murder
all the cabinet ministers in the dining room then set
up the provisional Government and the Lord Mayor's home. But
(04:01):
Thomas Hyden, whom this ale Wood had tried to get
to join the plot, told Lord Castlereagh of the conspiracy.
Once Lord Harrold be found out, he canceled the dinner.
George Edwards was also a government spy, and he'd been
passing along information about Thistlewood the Bow Street Runners. A
(04:22):
police force rated the conspirators hide out on Cato Street
on the evening of the three as they were preparing
to leave. In the scuffle, Thistlewood ended up killing an
officer and escaping, but he was caught the next morning.
The childs for the conspirators began on April seventeen eighty.
(04:42):
In the end, all the men on trial were found
guilty of high treason. Five of the men's sentences were
commuted to transportation at New South Wales. About two weeks later,
on May one, thistle Wood, James Inks, James Brunt, William Davidson,
and Richard Tid were hanged and posthumously beheaded at Newgate Prison.
(05:06):
Around one hundred thousand people gathered to watch the execution.
So many people tried to climb a railing at St.
Sepulcher's Church, that it fell under the stress of the
load of people. This the Wood said in his last speech,
Albion is still in chains of slavery. I quit it
without regret. I shall be consigned to the grave, and
(05:29):
my body will be immured beneath the soil whereon I
first drew breath. My only sorrow is that that soil
should be a theater for slaves, for cowards, and for despots.
My motives, I doubt not, will hereafter be justly appreciated.
Albion just means Britain. Because government officials did not want
(05:50):
the execution to incite a riot, they deployed soldiers around
the prison and had the conspirators bodies interred in the
jail the same day. After the failure of the Catos conspiracy,
much of the radical activity around labor reform ended. The
Spencan philanthropists disbanded. The government pointed to the conspiracy as
(06:10):
proof that the Six Acts were necessary to maintain order.
I'm Eve Chef Cote, and hopefully you know a little
more about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd
like to learn more about this topic, you can listen
to the episode of Stuff You Missed in History class
called the Cato Street Conspiracy. If you haven't gotten your
(06:32):
fill of history after listening to today's episode, you can
follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at t d
i h C Podcast. Come back tomorrow for another tip
it from history
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Welcome to This Day in History Class, where
History waits for no One. Today is May one, nineteen.
(00:22):
The day was May one, eight twenty. Radical activists Arthur
Thistlewood and four other men were executed in London for
high treason after plotting to assassinate the Prime minister's entire cabinet.
In the beginning of the nineteenth century, most of Britain
was still dealing in agriculture, but urbanization and industrialization were
(00:44):
taking over in some areas. The conclusion of the Napoleonic
Wars and the War of eighteen twelve had brought in
a bunch of returning soldiers and sailors looking for work. Inflation,
food shortages, and poor working conditions were rampant. Cities were
becoming overcrowded, and poverty, crime, and disease were quickly becoming
(01:07):
more of a problem. Workers had low pay and they
often faced harsh punishments for their mistakes. The Combination Acts
of seventeen forbade working men from collective bargaining and forming
trade unions. This caused a lot of unrest. By eight twenty,
people had already been protesting mechanization and calling for reform.
(01:32):
Arthur Thistlewood was one of these people, Fueled by his
drive to overthrow the government and his own financial woes.
This a Wood became involved in radical groups. He became
associated with Thomas Spence, a revolutionary who advocated for the
common ownership of land. The government did not perceive Thistlewood
(01:54):
as a threat at first, but after Thistlewood took part
in a failed plan to invite napole In to invade Britain,
the government took notice. Thomas Spence died in eighteen fourteen,
but his followers, the Spenciens, remained, and Thistlewood became one
of their organizers. In December eighteen sixteen, he helped plan
(02:16):
a riot at Spa Fields with the aims of seizing
the Bank of England and the Tower of London. Thistlewood
was later arrested, but he got off through either an
acquittal or withdrawn charges. By eighteen eighteen, Spenciens were tired
of failed plots, but Thistlewood was still stirring the pot.
(02:38):
He challenged Home Secretary Henry Addington, first Viscount Sidmus, a
former Prime Minister, to a duel. This earned Thistlewood a
year in prison for threatening a breach of peace, a
sentence that began in May eighteen eighteen, but Thistlewood's rebellion
did not in there Parliament passed the Sixth Act of
(03:00):
eighteen nineteen, which were created to suppress radical movements and
restricted people's rights to hold public meetings and distribute political literature.
Once this ale Wood was released from prison, he began
plotting to kill all of the prime minister's cabinet. He
and a group of co conspirators rented rooms on Cato
(03:20):
Street in London to get ready for the mass assassination.
This a Wood found out, possibly through a man named
George Edwards, that the cabinet ministers were planning on having
one of their regular dinners at the Earl of Haroldby's
home and Grosvenor Square on February eighteen twenty. He decided
(03:40):
that this would be the perfect time to assassinate the
cabinet so he could install a provisional government that worked
in the interests of the people. The conspirator's plan was
to rush in the Earl's home, subdue the servants, murder
all the cabinet ministers in the dining room then set
up the provisional Government and the Lord Mayor's home. But
(04:01):
Thomas Hyden, whom this ale Wood had tried to get
to join the plot, told Lord Castlereagh of the conspiracy.
Once Lord Harrold be found out, he canceled the dinner.
George Edwards was also a government spy, and he'd been
passing along information about Thistlewood the Bow Street Runners. A
(04:22):
police force rated the conspirators hide out on Cato Street
on the evening of the three as they were preparing
to leave. In the scuffle, Thistlewood ended up killing an
officer and escaping, but he was caught the next morning.
The childs for the conspirators began on April seventeen eighty.
(04:42):
In the end, all the men on trial were found
guilty of high treason. Five of the men's sentences were
commuted to transportation at New South Wales. About two weeks later,
on May one, thistle Wood, James Inks, James Brunt, William Davidson,
and Richard Tid were hanged and posthumously beheaded at Newgate Prison.
(05:06):
Around one hundred thousand people gathered to watch the execution.
So many people tried to climb a railing at St.
Sepulcher's Church, that it fell under the stress of the
load of people. This the Wood said in his last speech,
Albion is still in chains of slavery. I quit it
without regret. I shall be consigned to the grave, and
(05:29):
my body will be immured beneath the soil whereon I
first drew breath. My only sorrow is that that soil
should be a theater for slaves, for cowards, and for despots.
My motives, I doubt not, will hereafter be justly appreciated.
Albion just means Britain. Because government officials did not want
(05:50):
the execution to incite a riot, they deployed soldiers around
the prison and had the conspirators bodies interred in the
jail the same day. After the failure of the Catos conspiracy,
much of the radical activity around labor reform ended. The
Spencan philanthropists disbanded. The government pointed to the conspiracy as
(06:10):
proof that the Six Acts were necessary to maintain order.
I'm Eve Chef Cote, and hopefully you know a little
more about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd
like to learn more about this topic, you can listen
to the episode of Stuff You Missed in History class
called the Cato Street Conspiracy. If you haven't gotten your
(06:32):
fill of history after listening to today's episode, you can
follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at t d
i h C Podcast. Come back tomorrow for another tip
it from history
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