1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky listener discretion advised. On a 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: cold February night in eighteen twenty, a group of men 4 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: gathered together in a dilapidated hayloft in London, just off 5 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: Edgeware Road. The men were as broken down as the 6 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: building they were gathered in, but all of that was 7 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: about to change. They had a plan that would upend 8 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,559 Speaker 1: the face of Great Britain, if not the world. The 9 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: men readied their weapons, pistols, muskets, knives, grenades, anything they 10 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: could get their hands on. As they cleaned firearms and 11 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:49,200 Speaker 1: sharpened blades, they talked through last minute details of their plan. 12 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: Most of the men were adrenalized with the idea of 13 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: changing the course of history and creating a better future 14 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: for everyone. But there were others among them who were 15 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: having cold feet and struggling to hold it together, trying 16 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: not to let it show. After all, this was no 17 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: simple intimidation mission, and from this point on there would 18 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:17,959 Speaker 1: be no turning back. They were about to ambush a 19 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:23,040 Speaker 1: nearby dinner hosted by Lord harrowby the President of the 20 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: Privy Council. It would be attended by all the British 21 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:30,679 Speaker 1: Cabinet members, as well as by the Prime Minister himself. 22 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: Once in, the men's plan was simple, kill everyone. These 23 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:43,839 Speaker 1: men would not stop until every government official had been assassinated. 24 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: As they were preparing to leave, they heard a noise 25 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: in the stable below them, footsteps, a shout. It was 26 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: the police, and they were followed by soldiers. The men 27 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:00,080 Speaker 1: were found out, They looked at one another wondering who 28 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: among them had been the mole. I'm Danish Schwartz, and 29 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: this is noble blood. When the world is going through 30 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: what we sometimes say are unprecedented times, it's tempting to 31 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:21,239 Speaker 1: think that this is the most crazy things in history 32 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: have ever been. It makes sense. Perhaps things truly are 33 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: the most unstable or uncertain that they've felt in our lifetimes. 34 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: But when we look back through history, we see story 35 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,359 Speaker 1: after story of wild events, both at home and abroad, 36 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: that would rival the goings on of our day or 37 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: any day to day. Stasis is a story we like 38 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:51,639 Speaker 1: to tell ourselves, but by and large, true progress has 39 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: been made by way of unpleasant, radical disruption and periods 40 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: of uncertainty and chaos, sometimes as in the case of 41 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: the Cato Street conspiracy, disruption doesn't pan out the way 42 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: it was planned, or really pan out at all. Their 43 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: plan had been radical, to wipe out the entirety of 44 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: the British cabinet and build a new government from the 45 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: ground up. You might be wondering, how did things get 46 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: to such an extreme place where anyone would have that plan. Well, 47 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: let's do a quick rundown of the vibes in regency 48 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: era England at this time. By the second decade of 49 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, England found itself in a particularly turbulent period. 50 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: The French Revolution had shown all of Europe just how 51 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: flimsy gilded walls could be, Governments could be toppled, kings 52 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: could lose their heads, and the whole social order could 53 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: be turned up so down. Then came Napoleon, stomping around 54 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: the continent for over a decade, nobody from nowhere, who 55 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: remade Europe in his image and declared himself an emperor. 56 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: Back in England, King George the Third was sliding into 57 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:21,480 Speaker 1: a mental decline from which he would never recover. The 58 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: Regency Act of eighteen eleven removed the king's power and 59 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: transferred it to his son, who would eventually become King 60 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: George the Fourth, who at this time ruled under the 61 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: title Prince Regent, hence Regency era. The Prince wasn't great 62 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: at taking the national temperature, or maybe he just didn't care. 63 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: Either way, he was widely disliked, an extravagant spender, and 64 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:55,359 Speaker 1: prone to scandals. So we have political instability at the 65 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: very top, combined with revolutionary ideas still perkle from across 66 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: the channel, stirred together with a healthy dose of wealth inequality. 67 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: The rich minority had become even richer thanks to the 68 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: Napoleonic Wars, while most British citizens were dealing with unemployment, poverty, 69 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:23,039 Speaker 1: and inflated costs. Parliamentary reform was being debated, but not 70 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: nearly fast enough for people who couldn't afford to put 71 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:31,159 Speaker 1: food on the table. It was a powder keg situation 72 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: and almost everyone knew it. But some folks were ready 73 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: to take matters into their own hands. Enter Arthur Thistlewood, 74 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:48,040 Speaker 1: an ex soldier turned semi professional malcontent who decided that 75 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: if the system wouldn't change peacefully, then it was time 76 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: to blow the whole thing up. Thistlewood wasn't alone. He 77 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 1: had managed to join with some fellow radicals, including a 78 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: shoemaker named Thomas Preston and doctor James Watson, an apothecary 79 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: with a taste for explosives. The three were not new 80 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: to the whole try to overthrow the government thing. In 81 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: eighteen seventeen, they had planned an insurrection after a reform 82 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,719 Speaker 1: meeting in London. We won't get into the details because 83 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: it's not that interesting, but their plan was thwarted and 84 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:31,359 Speaker 1: they narrowly escaped execution for treason. But that didn't slow 85 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:36,479 Speaker 1: them down. They kept meeting, kept plotting, and kept recruiting 86 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:40,919 Speaker 1: other like minded revolutionaries. This is the part of the 87 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: story where you can imagine the Ocean's eleven montage of 88 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: assembling the team. The group grew to include more tradesmen, 89 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 1: shoemakers John Brunt and Richard Tidd, along with a couple 90 00:06:54,720 --> 00:07:00,599 Speaker 1: ex soldiers, John Harrison and Robert Adams. There was James Ings, 91 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: a butcher who knew his way around sharp objects, and 92 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: William Davidson, a cabinet maker who had been born in 93 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: Jamaica to a Scottish farmer and a black Jamaican mother 94 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:16,800 Speaker 1: before making his way to London. There was also George Edwards, 95 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: an impoverished model maker who would become Thistlewood's second in command. 96 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:29,240 Speaker 1: Edwards was the ideal revolutionary recruit. Broke, bitter and hungry 97 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: for action. For months, the crew met regularly around London, 98 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: stockpiling weapons and stoking the fires of their resentment. They 99 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: also compiled a hit list with the names and addresses 100 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: of over thirty ministers and cabinet officials. Fueled by the 101 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: writings of revolutionary thinker Thomas Spence, the men truly believed 102 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: that an armed uprising could work in England, just as 103 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: it had in other places around the world. Spending time together, 104 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: agreeing with each other, bolstering each other up, one can 105 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 1: imagine the ways their small echo chamber created a sense 106 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: not just of certainty but also of inevitability. Their plans 107 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: stopped being theoretical and started getting practical. In eighteen nineteen, 108 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: after the horrific Peterloo massacre, at a peaceful reform meeting 109 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:35,080 Speaker 1: in Manchester, government forces charged into a crowd of unarmed protesters. 110 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:40,840 Speaker 1: Eighteen people, including a child, were killed and over six 111 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy were injured. The government's response to its 112 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 1: citizens asking for basic reforms was to mow them down 113 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: with cavalry. For Thistlewood and his crew, Peterloo was the 114 00:08:55,040 --> 00:09:00,959 Speaker 1: final straw. If the government was willing to massacre peaceful protesters, 115 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:06,080 Speaker 1: than peaceful protest was clearly off the table. They began 116 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: planning assassinations in earnest, initially targeting the Prince Regent before 117 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:19,040 Speaker 1: settling on the entire cabinet. The men's plans kept getting 118 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:24,559 Speaker 1: more ambitious and more desperate. First, they considered murdering the 119 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: entire House of Commons, but they realized there was a 120 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,319 Speaker 1: small hitch in the plan. They didn't have enough bullets. 121 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: Thistlewood then decided he only wanted to kill the ministers anyway, 122 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: so they scaled back their vision to better match their resources. 123 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: They planned to attack various dinners and events, but something 124 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: always went wrong. One potential target was too heavily guarded 125 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: by police. Another event was canceled because of King George 126 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:59,559 Speaker 1: the Third's death. The men considered picking off individual ministers 127 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: while the police and soldiers were attending the king's funeral, 128 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,680 Speaker 1: until someone pointed out that the ministers would probably be 129 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: at the funeral too far be it from me to 130 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: Monday morning quarterback. But the rebels really could have done 131 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:17,440 Speaker 1: with someone who maybe lacked muscle power but made up 132 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: for it with attention to detail. Then, in February eighteen twenty, 133 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: George Edwards, the model maker turned second in command, brought 134 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:31,960 Speaker 1: the group the perfect opportunity. He had spotted a piece 135 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:36,480 Speaker 1: in the newspaper which announced that Lord Harroby, the President 136 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:40,079 Speaker 1: of the Privy Council, was hosting a dinner for the 137 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:44,079 Speaker 1: entire cabinet. All of the ministers would be in one 138 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: place at one time with minimal security. It was exactly 139 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:54,000 Speaker 1: the opportunity they had been waiting for. What Thistlewood and 140 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:58,520 Speaker 1: the others didn't know was that Edwards, the second in command, 141 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 1: was also a police informant. In delivering the perfect opportunity 142 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:09,680 Speaker 1: to the rebels, Edwards was in reality planting the seed 143 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: for their ultimate downfall. On the surface, George Edwards was 144 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: another desperate revolutionary looking to overthrow the government, but in 145 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 1: reality he was a spy, an agent provocateur, working to 146 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:30,560 Speaker 1: help that government by taking down the rebellion from the inside. 147 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 1: Since at least early eighteen nineteen, Edwards had been pushing 148 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: for violent action in group meetings while feeding the conspirator's 149 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: plans directly to the Home Secretary. He was the perfect 150 00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: double agent, broke enough to seem authentic, clever enough to 151 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 1: gain Thistlewood's trust, and ruthless enough to send his comrades 152 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 1: straight into a trap that would cost many of them 153 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: their lives. Some of the other conspirators had their suspicions 154 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 1: about Edwards, but Thistlewood trusted him completely. Whether this says 155 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: more about Thistlewood's discernment of character, or his single minded 156 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:15,560 Speaker 1: devotion to the cause, or maybe just Edwards's ability as 157 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 1: a double crosser, is unclear. Remember that comedy of errors 158 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:25,080 Speaker 1: we talked about earlier, all those failed assassination attempts that 159 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:30,360 Speaker 1: kept getting derailed by inconvenient security details and dead kings. 160 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:35,520 Speaker 1: While Edwards had been dutifully reporting every single botched plan 161 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: back to his handlers. In December, he had told them 162 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: the group was talking about massacring the entire House of Commons, 163 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: but decided against it because, and it bears repeating, because 164 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,839 Speaker 1: it is a little ridiculous. They didn't have enough bullets. Again, 165 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: a logistics person really would have come in handy with 166 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 1: this crew. But after their sworded plan surrounding the King's 167 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 1: f funeral, these men were growing desperate, frustrated, and increasingly reckless, 168 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:12,200 Speaker 1: which is exactly when Edward struck. On Tuesday, February twenty second. 169 00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: Edwards burst into their meeting place practically vibrating with excitement. 170 00:13:17,559 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 1: He had just spotted an advertisement in the New Times 171 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: quote the Earl of Harrowby gives a grand cabinet dinner 172 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 1: tomorrow at his house in Grosvenor Square. That was just 173 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 1: ten minutes from the Hayloft in Cato Street where the 174 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: rebels held their meetings. After months of missed opportunities, the 175 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: whole cabinet would be there, sitting ducks. If Thistlewood had 176 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:49,680 Speaker 1: been thinking clearly, he might have found this a little suspicious. 177 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: The New Times was edited by a Tory loyalist, and 178 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: the advertisement didn't appear in any other paper. A reasonable 179 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,680 Speaker 1: person might have smelled a rat. It might as well 180 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: have been an announcement for a sitting duck convention. But 181 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: reasonable people don't usually plan to decapitate cabinet ministers, and 182 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 1: past delays had brought the group to an absolute fever pitch. 183 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: They took the bait completely, and what tempting bait it was. 184 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: The dinner was supposed to include Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, 185 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: Home Secretary Lord Sidmouth, and Foreign Secretary Lord Castlereagh, basically 186 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: the all star team of everyone the Radicals despised most. 187 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:44,280 Speaker 1: Lord Castlereagh was the big prize, the ultimate villain in 188 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 1: the conspirator's minds. As Irish Chief Secretary, he'd helped suppress 189 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: the seventeen ninety eight Irish rebellion with breathtaking brutality. Killing 190 00:14:56,240 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: him would not only eliminate a heated enemy, also potentially 191 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: bring the Irish Radicals to their side. The conspirators were 192 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:10,520 Speaker 1: absolutely drunk on the possibilities. They started divvying up which 193 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: minister each of them would personally execute, fantasizing about the 194 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: glorious changes that would follow. After the initial killing, ings 195 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 1: would quote cut off every head that was in the room, 196 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 1: with Castlereagh and Sidmuth's heads going into special bags. The 197 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: heads would then be stuck on hikes and paraded through London, 198 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 1: a gruesome pantomime of the punishment traditionally given to traders. 199 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: But the men weren't planning to stop with a simple massacre. 200 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: Once they'd eliminated the cabinet, they intended to set fires 201 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 1: across London seize weapons at the artillery ground, commandeer significant buildings, 202 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: and establish a provisional government. They genuinely believed their dramatic 203 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:04,480 Speaker 1: act would inspire uprisings across Britain. In their eyes, this 204 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,479 Speaker 1: swift and brutal act of violence would be the necessary 205 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,800 Speaker 1: spark to blow up the old way of life and 206 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:16,120 Speaker 1: make room for a more equal future for all. Tuesday 207 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 1: February twenty second was spent in frantic preparation. The men 208 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 1: gathered weapons from various hiding places. Davidson, the cabinet maker, 209 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 1: brought musket bullets and a handsaw, while Ings the butcher 210 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: sharpened his long knife, declaring it was specifically for Castlereat's head. Wednesday, 211 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:41,480 Speaker 1: the twenty third started off with revolutionary fervor and organized chaos. 212 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:46,960 Speaker 1: Thistlewood scrawled out placards for after their victory, quote your 213 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:51,800 Speaker 1: tyrants are destroyed, the provisional government is now sitting. Men 214 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,640 Speaker 1: were sent to watch Harrowby's house, though they got distracted 215 00:16:55,760 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: and ended up drinking at a nearby pub. Again not 216 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:05,399 Speaker 1: the best planners. Thistlewood had believed many others would be 217 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:10,199 Speaker 1: eager to join their cause, but strangely, mustering followers was 218 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:14,359 Speaker 1: proving challenging. Of the forty or so men they had 219 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,920 Speaker 1: been counting on, nearly half had failed to show up. 220 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:22,880 Speaker 1: James Wilson, an ex soldier turned milkman, said he had 221 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: to deliver milk first. Some who did show up were 222 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:31,520 Speaker 1: just desperate, like James Gilchrist, an unemployed cobbler who had 223 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 1: joined because he was starving. As evening approached, the men 224 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: in the cramped loft shared bread, cheese, and porter while 225 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:46,400 Speaker 1: loading their pistols. Tensions were running high. Two few men 226 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:50,040 Speaker 1: had shown up, and some were having second thoughts. Ings 227 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: began stamping and swearing, shouting, damn my eyes. If you 228 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 1: drop the concern now, I will cut my throat or 229 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:01,240 Speaker 1: shoot myself. Thistlewood tried to rally them, assuring the rebels 230 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:05,159 Speaker 1: that the whole massacre wouldn't take more than ten minutes. Again, 231 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: not the best logistical thinker, Their courage screwed to the 232 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 1: sticking place. The men prepared to leave the hayloft and 233 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 1: head for the square. Just then a voice called up 234 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: from below. Plain clothes officers known as the Bow Street 235 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:28,679 Speaker 1: Constables climbed the ladder and ordered everyone under arrest. The 236 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: dinner at Lord Harrowby's it wasn't real. It had been fake, 237 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:38,199 Speaker 1: a trap that the conspirators had walked straight into. The 238 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:44,760 Speaker 1: Cato Street conspiracy was over before it even begun. When 239 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:48,479 Speaker 1: the Bow Street runners burst into that cramped hayloft on 240 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:54,159 Speaker 1: Cato Street, chaos erupted. Some of the rebels surrendered immediately, 241 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,879 Speaker 1: but the rest fought back with the same violence they 242 00:18:57,880 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: had been planning to unleash on the cabin. These men 243 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:05,399 Speaker 1: were genuinely prepared to kill, and one officer found that 244 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 1: out the hard way. The arrival of the Coldstream Guards, 245 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,159 Speaker 1: who were a little late to the party, turned the 246 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: stable and surrounding alley into a scene of complete chaos. 247 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:21,320 Speaker 1: Some conspirators were captured, others tried to hide in the vicinity, 248 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,200 Speaker 1: and a few managed to slip away under cover of darkness. 249 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 1: Thistlewood was among those who escaped. Edwards, his trusted second 250 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:35,199 Speaker 1: in command, who had actually orchestrated the entire trap, was 251 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:39,679 Speaker 1: the one who helped Thistlewood find a hideout. Of course, 252 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: the police then showed up at that hideout and arrested him. 253 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,880 Speaker 1: Edwards had set up his leader before he disappeared forever, 254 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:52,720 Speaker 1: never to be seen again. When the conspirators were hauled 255 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:57,240 Speaker 1: before the courts, they faced a laundry list of conspiracy 256 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: and treason charges. Several of the men flipped, testifying against 257 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: their former comrades in exchange for reduced sentences. The authorities 258 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: wanted justice to be fast and merciless, so several of 259 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,119 Speaker 1: the men were released when it was clear there wasn't 260 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: quite enough strong evidence to prosecute them. Of the eleven 261 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 1: men who stood trial in late April, the sentences varied 262 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:27,280 Speaker 1: dramatically based on how willing they were to throw themselves 263 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: on the mercy of the court. Six changed their pleas 264 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: from not guilty to guilty during the trial. Five of 265 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 1: these six were sentenced to exile in Australia for life. 266 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: The sixth, James Gilchrist, the starving Scottish bootmaker, who had 267 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:47,160 Speaker 1: joined for the promise of a free meal, was believed 268 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:51,080 Speaker 1: by the authorities and given only a short prison sentence. 269 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: For the five who maintained their defiance, Thistlewood, tid Ings, 270 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 1: Davidson and Brunt, the court handed down the traditional sentence 271 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: for treason, They were to be hanged, drawn and quartered. 272 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:11,720 Speaker 1: This was later commuted to the slightly more humane punishment 273 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: of hanging, followed by beheading, but the message was clear, 274 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:21,800 Speaker 1: these men were to be made examples of. On the 275 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: morning of May one, eighteen twenty, the five men were 276 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 1: hanged at Newgate Prison in front of a crowd of thousands, 277 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:34,080 Speaker 1: with many paying top dollar to secure premium viewing spots. 278 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:38,160 Speaker 1: After the bodies had hanged for half an hour, an 279 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: unidentified figure in a black mask lowered them one by one. 280 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: He decapitated each corpse, then displayed their heads to the 281 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 1: assembled spectators with the traditional declaration, behold the head of 282 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:57,360 Speaker 1: a trader. Finally, the bodies were dumped into unmarked graves 283 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:01,679 Speaker 1: within the walls of Newgate Prison. The exact location of 284 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:06,480 Speaker 1: their final resting place is unknown. So what did this 285 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:12,879 Speaker 1: spectacular failure actually accomplish. The Cato Street conspiracy became the 286 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: most notorious plot against the British government since Guy Fowx 287 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:22,199 Speaker 1: in sixteen oh five and until the Iras attempt to 288 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 1: blow up Margaret Thatcher in nineteen eighty four. If they 289 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:30,679 Speaker 1: had succeeded, the entire course of British and world history 290 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,679 Speaker 1: would have changed, although almost certainly not in the utopian 291 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 1: direction the conspirators envisioned. But of course it never could 292 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 1: have succeeded because the plan itself was based on a lie. 293 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: The executions of the conspirators would mark the end of 294 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:53,359 Speaker 1: an era. The tradition of violent revolutionary politics that had 295 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:58,119 Speaker 1: been bubbling away since the French Revolution was officially dead 296 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:02,359 Speaker 1: and buried. The British state had shown both its weakness 297 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:06,439 Speaker 1: and its strength. Yes, it was vulnerable enough that a 298 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:11,760 Speaker 1: couple dozen desperate men with homemade weapons could come terrifyingly 299 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: close to eliminating the entire government, but not actually, because 300 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:22,000 Speaker 1: the government was still ruthless enough to anticipate, infiltrate, manipulate, 301 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:26,680 Speaker 1: and annihilate that threat from the inside before it actually happened. 302 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:32,760 Speaker 1: The whole affair became a public obsession. People flocked to 303 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 1: Cato street prints and illustrations of the crime scene and 304 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 1: executions let ordinary folks safely experience the thrill of violence 305 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: from a comfortable distance, sort of the equivalent of present 306 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: day true crime podcasts and documentaries. The humble hayloft where 307 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 1: the conspiracy was born, became as famous as Parliament itself, 308 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: at least for a time. There's been a tendency among 309 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:05,119 Speaker 1: many historians to dismiss Cato straight as the work of 310 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:10,880 Speaker 1: deluded fantasists, which it was, but that's also a bit 311 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: of an oversimplification that avoids reckoning with the situation that 312 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:19,120 Speaker 1: brought those men there in the first place. Yes, they 313 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:24,680 Speaker 1: may have absolutely lacked some crucial organizational and critical thinking skills, 314 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:29,520 Speaker 1: but they weren't random lunatics. They were products of their time, 315 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 1: shaped by economic desperation, political oppression, and a generation's worth 316 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: of warfare and revolution in the air. The Cato Street 317 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: conspiracy exemplifies what historian Mark Seltzer calls the quote wound 318 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: culture of early nineteenth century Britain, where violence had become 319 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:55,639 Speaker 1: so normalized that it was an addiction, an inescapable. Part 320 00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:01,280 Speaker 1: of the social fabric to be human was to practice violence, 321 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 1: and in an era of extreme inequality, it might have 322 00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:10,960 Speaker 1: seemed to some like the only solution. You can read 323 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:14,840 Speaker 1: this story multiple ways in the hands of a satirist. 324 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:20,200 Speaker 1: It's a razor sharp exploration of government paranoia and failed 325 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:25,639 Speaker 1: group dynamics as a tragedy. It's the story of desperate 326 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:30,119 Speaker 1: people driven to extremes by a system that then destroyed 327 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 1: them for daring to fight back. In a black humor 328 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 1: sort of way, this elaborate conspiracy that was orchestrated really 329 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:43,399 Speaker 1: based on nothing more than a fantasy. The Cato Street 330 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: Conspiracy was simultaneously a historical footnote and a pivotal moment, 331 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:54,000 Speaker 1: proof that even failed revolutions can reshape how a nation 332 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:58,400 Speaker 1: sees itself and its vulnerabilities. In the end, it stands 333 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: as a fascinating snapshot of England at one of its 334 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: most volatile moments, a time when the gap between the 335 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: rulers and the ruled had grown so wide that mass 336 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 1: political murder seemed like a reasonable solution to some very 337 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 1: unreasonable people. That's the story of the failed Cato Street Conspiracy. 338 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 1: But keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear 339 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:40,879 Speaker 1: a little bit more about one of the conspirators. What 340 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:45,600 Speaker 1: became of James Watson, the apothecary rebel with the taste 341 00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:49,800 Speaker 1: for explosives. Luckily for him, he was actually in Debtors 342 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:53,360 Speaker 1: prison at the time of the actual conspiracy in eighteen twenty, 343 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 1: and so he escaped arrest and trial entirely. At fifty four, 344 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,119 Speaker 1: he had been the oldest member of the group and 345 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:06,360 Speaker 1: possibly the most talented. Back in eighteen sixteen, Watson had 346 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:10,879 Speaker 1: created the world's first letter bomb, a volatile mixture of 347 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:15,440 Speaker 1: ground up silver, steel shavings and crushed flint that would 348 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 1: detonate at the moment someone opened an envelope. While other 349 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: pharmacists were helping people get better, Watson was coming up 350 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,440 Speaker 1: with new and creative ways to kill. He wrote coded 351 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 1: messages for the insurrectionists and never stopped inventing new weapons 352 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,679 Speaker 1: and ways of killings. Would he have been able to 353 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:38,880 Speaker 1: see through Edward's ploy if he had been involved when 354 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: the actual conspiracy came about. It's impossible to say, But 355 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: if anyone would have, my money is on doctor Watson. 356 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: Here was a man with genuine genius who spent it 357 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:56,280 Speaker 1: all on failed revolutions and experimental weaponry. It's hard not 358 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: to wonder what might have been accomplished if he had 359 00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:04,240 Speaker 1: channeled his brilliant into creation rather than destruction. But he 360 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,679 Speaker 1: was a victim of himself and of his times, just 361 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:12,240 Speaker 1: like his compatriots who found themselves on the wrong end 362 00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:24,320 Speaker 1: of the Hangman's news. Noble Blood is a production of 363 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:28,639 Speaker 1: iHeart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Noble 364 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:32,639 Speaker 1: Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing 365 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:37,240 Speaker 1: and research by Hannah Johnston. Hannaswick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit 366 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:41,400 Speaker 1: and Julia Milaney. The show is edited and produced by 367 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima Il Kaali and executive 368 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:51,360 Speaker 1: producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more 369 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 370 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:03,760 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.