Arthur Thistlewood
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Thistlewood, Arthur
Born 1774 in Tupholme, near Lincoln; died May 1, 1820, in London. English revolutionary democrat.
Thistlewood was strongly influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution. In 1814 he helped organize a society of followers of T. Spence. He advocated the overthrow of the government by force and favored conspiratorial tactics. He was repeatedly arrested. After Peterloo (1819), Thistlewood organized a new conspiracy to assassinate members of the government. Lacking mass support, the Thistlewood plot was doomed to failure. It was discovered by the authorities with the aid of an agent provocateur, G. Edwards, and Thistlewood and four of his associates were hanged.