William Davidson - Radicalist

BIRTH DATE
1786
BIRTH PLACE
Kingston, Jamaica
OCCUPATION
Political Activist
DIED
1st of May 1820, England

William davidson was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1786 and came to Britain at the age of 14.
He married a poor English widow with 4 sons and set up home in Marylbone. This was around a very unsettling time in England. William became alarmed at the news of the Peterloo massacre when eleven unarmed demonstrators had been killed and 500 people injured. he joined the Reading Society in 1819 in responce to the massacre.

Davidson had now become a radical and later held meetings in his house. He would even hold military drills on Sunday mornings.

The group grew stronger and a plot was initiated to blow up the House of Commons. George Edwards had persuaded the head man of the group, Arthur Thistlewood, to go ahead with the plans. As the group set out to destroy the House of Commons they were raided by the police who had infultrated their movements.

Thistewood, davidson and 3 others stood trial for high treason and were all found guilty. On the 1st of May 1820 the largest crowd turned up to see the five men hung and then beheaded. many of the audience vomitted and fainted as each man had been decapitated. This was to be the last public decapitation in England.

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