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William Davidson (c. 1781 – May 1, 1820) was a British African-Caribbean radical executed for his role in the Cato Street Conspiracy against Lord Liverpool's government in 1820.

Early years[edit]

Davidson was the illegitimate son of Robert Sewell (1751 – 30 April 1828), the Attorney General of Jamaica, and a local black woman.^[1] At the age of 14, Davidson travelled to Glasgow to study law.^{[citation needed]} In Scotland he became involved in the movement for parliamentary reform.^{[citation needed]} He was apprenticed to a Liverpool lawyer, but ran away to sea. Later, he was press-ganged into the Royal Navy.^[1]

After his discharge, he returned to Scotland. His father arranged for him to study mathematics in Aberdeen.^{[citation needed]} Davidson withdrew from study, moved to Birmingham, and started a cabinet-making business. He courted the daughter of a prosperous merchant. Her father suspected that Davidson was after her £7,000 dowry, and arranged for Davidson to be arrested on a false charge. When Davidson discovered she had married someone else he attempted suicide by taking poison.

Davidson's cabinet-making business failed, and he moved to London. He married Sarah Lane, a working-class widow with four children.^[1] They had two more children. Davidson became a Wesleyan Methodist, and taught at the Sunday School. However, he left after he was accused of attempting to seduce a female student.^{[citation needed]}

Political activism[edit]

Following the Peterloo Massacre, William Davidson became involved in radical politics again. In October 1819 Richard Carlile was found guilty of blasphemy and seditious libel, and sentenced to three years imprisonment. Davidson said that this had caused him to lose his belief in God. He joined the Marylebone Union Reading Society, a club that offered a reading room of radical newspapers such as The Republican and the Manchester Observer for a subscription of twopence a week. He also read the works of Thomas Paine.

Davidson met John Harrison at the Marylebone Union. Harrison was a member of the Spencean Philanthropists in London. Davidson soon became a Spencean. He met Arthur Thistlewood, and after a few months he became one of the Committee of Thirteen that ran the organisation.

In February 1820, George Edwards, a government provocateur, drew Davidson and Thistlewood and 27 other Spenceans into a plot to kill government cabinet officers as they dined at the Earl of Harrowby's house at 39, Grosvenor Square on 23 February. Thistlewood selected Davidson as one of an Executive of Five to organise the assassinations. (The dinner was a fictitious construction.)

Davidson had worked for Lord Harrowby in the past, and knew some of his staff at Grosvenor Square. His job was to find out more details about the cabinet meeting. One of the servants told him that the Earl of Harrowby was not in London. Davidson relayed this information to Arthur Thistlewood, who believed that the servant was lying, and ordered the conspirators to proceed with the plot.

On 23 February, the Cato Street Conspiracy met in a hayloft on Cato Street, near Grosvenor Square. However, there was no cabinet meeting: the Spenceans had been set up by an undercover police agent, George Edwards.

George Ruthven led 13 police officers to storm the hayloft. Several revolutionaries refused to surrender their weapons. Thistlewood killed police officer Richard Smithers with a single sword-thrust.^[2] Davidson had been acting as look-out.^[3]

When the co-conspirators tried to escape, Benjamin Gill hit Davidson on the wrist with his truncheon, and he dropped his blunderbuss. Four conspirators, Thistlewood, John Brunt, Robert Adams and John Harrison escaped through a window. However, their identities were given to the police by Edwards and they were quickly arrested.

Eleven men were charged with involvement in the Cato Street Conspiracy. Robert Adams testified against the other men, and charges against him were dropped. Davidson pleaded innocence and claimed the court was prejudiced against black people. However, his presence at the scene with a blunderbuss led to his conviction.

On 28 April 1820, William Davidson, James Ings, Richard Tidd, Arthur Thistlewood, and John Brunt were found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to death. John Harrison, James Wilson, Richard Bradburn, John Strange and Charles Copper were also found guilty. However their death sentences were subsequently commuted to transportation for life.

William Davidson, with his four fellow conspirators, was publicly hanged and decapitated outside Newgate Prison on 1 May 1820.^[2]^[4]

Representation in media[edit]

William Davidson is featured in the short animation Cato Street to Newgate, written and directed by Jason Young. It was screened as part of Southwark Black History Month in 2020.^[5]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c Sherwood, Marika (23 September 2004). "Davidson, William (1786–1820), conspirator". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1 (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/57029.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ ^a ^b Execution of Thistlewood, Brunt, Ings, Tidd and Davidson. 1820. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
^ Kitchener, Caitlin (2023). "Cato Street Conspiracy and Consuming Crime: How Radical Politics Fed into the Public's Passion for Violent Media Coverage *". Parliamentary History. 42 (1): 51–74. doi:10.1111/1750-0206.12670. ISSN 0264-2824.
^ "Execution of Thistlewood and Others for High Treason". The Morning Chronicle. No. 15915. London. 2 May 1820. p. 3.
^ "Cato Street to Newgate". Southark Council. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020.

External links[edit]

William Davidson on Spartacus

[:0-1] Sherwood, Marika (23 September 2004). "Davidson, William (1786–1820), conspirator". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1 (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/57029.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[Execution_of_Thistlewood,_Brunt,_Ings,_Tidd_and_Davidson-2] Execution of Thistlewood, Brunt, Ings, Tidd and Davidson. 1820. Retrieved 23 January 2017.

[3] Kitchener, Caitlin (2023). "Cato Street Conspiracy and Consuming Crime: How Radical Politics Fed into the Public's Passion for Violent Media Coverage *". Parliamentary History. 42 (1): 51–74. doi:10.1111/1750-0206.12670. ISSN 0264-2824.

[4] "Execution of Thistlewood and Others for High Treason". The Morning Chronicle. No. 15915. London. 2 May 1820. p. 3.

[5] "Cato Street to Newgate". Southark Council. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020.

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+{{Short description|Jamaican activist, born 1781}}
-'''William Davidson''' (1781-1820) was an [[African Caribbean]] radical executed by the [[British Empire|British]] government
+{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2014}}
+[[File:William Davidson conspirator.JPG|thumb|right|200px|William Davidson]]
+'''William Davidson''' (c. 1781 – May 1, 1820) was a [[British African-Caribbean people|British African-Caribbean]] radical executed for his role in the [[Cato Street Conspiracy]] against [[Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool|Lord Liverpool]]'s government in 1820.
+==Early years==
-William was the illegitimate son of the Jamaican Attorney General by local [[African people|African]]. At the age of fourteen he went to [[Glasgow]] to study law. While in [[Scotland]] he became involved in the movement for [[parliamentary reform]]. Hewas apprenticed to a [[Liverpool]] lawyer but soon ran away to sea. Later he was [[press gang]]ed into the [[Royal Navy]].
+Davidson was the illegitimate son of [[Robert Sewell (lawyer)|Robert Sewell]] (1751 – 30 April 1828), the Attorney General of Jamaica, and a local black woman.<ref name=":0">{{Cite ODNB|last=Sherwood|first=Marika|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-57029|title=Davidson, William (1786–1820), conspirator|date=2004-09-23|year=2004|volume=1|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/57029}}</ref> At the age of 14, Davidson travelled to [[Glasgow]] to study law.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} In [[Scotland]] he became involved in the [[Friends of the People Society|movement for parliamentary reform]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} He was apprenticed to a [[Liverpool]] lawyer, but ran away to sea. Later, he was [[Impressment|press-ganged]] into the [[Royal Navy]].<ref name=":0" />
-After his discharge he went back to Scotland. His father arranged for him to study mathematics in [[Aberdeen]]. Davidson tired of  his studies and moved to [[Birmingham]]. Here he started a cabinet-making business. Davidson courted the daughter of a prosperous merchant. The father, disapproving of his daughter's relationship, suspected that Davidson was after her £7,000 dowry. He arranged for him to be arrested on a false charge. When Davidson subsequently discovered she had married someone else he tried to commit suicide by taking poison.
+After his discharge, he returned to Scotland. His father arranged for him to study mathematics in [[Aberdeen]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} Davidson withdrew from study, moved to [[Birmingham]], and started a cabinet-making business. He courted the daughter of a prosperous merchant. Her father suspected that Davidson was after her £7,000 dowry, and arranged for Davidson to be arrested on a false charge. When Davidson discovered she had married someone else he attempted suicide by taking poison.
-His cabinet-making business did not prosper and William decided to move to London. Here he met and married Sarah Lane. She was working-class widow with four children. They had two more children together had two more. Davidson became a [[Wesleyan]] [[Methodist]] teaching at the local [[Sunday School]]. However he was accused of attempting to seduce a female student and left this post.
+Davidson's cabinet-making business failed, and he moved to London. He married Sarah Lane, a working-class widow with four children.<ref name=":0" /> They had two more children. Davidson became a [[Wesleyanism|Wesleyan]] [[Methodist]], and taught at the [[Sunday School]]. However, he left after he was accused of attempting to seduce a female student.{{cn|date=January 2023}}
+==Political activism==
-Following the [[Peterloo Massacre]], William Davidson became involved in radical politics again. In October 1819 [[Richard Carlile]] was found guilty of blasphemy and [[seditious libel]] and sentenced to three years imprisonment. Davidson said that this had caused him to lose his belief in God. He now joined the Marylebone Union Reading Society a club which offered a reading room of radical newspapers such as the Republican and the ''[[Manchester Observer]]'' for a subscription of twopence a week. He also read the works of [[Tom Paine]].
+{{Moresources|section|date=January 2023}}
+Following the [[Peterloo Massacre]], William Davidson became involved in radical politics again. In October 1819 [[Richard Carlile]] was found guilty of blasphemy and [[seditious libel]], and sentenced to three years imprisonment. Davidson said that this had caused him to lose his belief in God. He joined the Marylebone Union Reading Society, a club that offered a reading room of radical newspapers such as [[Richard Carlile#Peterloo and The Republican|''The Republican'']] and the ''[[Manchester Observer]]'' for a subscription of twopence a week. He also read the works of [[Thomas Paine]].
-Davidson met [[John Harrison] at the Marylebone Union. Harrison was a member of the [[Thomas Spence|Spencean]] Philanthropists in London. Davidson soon also became a Spencean. He met [[Arthur Thistlewood]] and aftera few months he became one of the Committee of Thirteen that ran the organisation.
+Davidson met John Harrison at the Marylebone Union. Harrison was a member of the [[Thomas Spence|Spencean Philanthropists]] in London. Davidson soon became a Spencean. He met [[Arthur Thistlewood]], and after a few months he became one of the Committee of Thirteen that ran the organisation.
-In February 1820, George Edwards, a government provocateur, drew Davidson and Thistlewood and twenty seven other Spenceans into a plot to kill the government cabinet as they dined at Lord [[Harrowby]]'s house at 39 [[Grosvenor Square]] on 23 February. Thistlewood selected Davidson as one of an Executive of Five charged with organising the assassinations.
+In February 1820, George Edwards, a government [[Agent provocateur|provocateur]], drew Davidson and Thistlewood and 27 other Spenceans into a plot to kill government cabinet officers as they dined at the [[Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby|Earl of Harrowby]]'s house at 39, [[Grosvenor Square]] on 23 February. Thistlewood selected Davidson as one of an Executive of Five to organise the assassinations. (The dinner was a fictitious construction.)
-Having worked for Lord Harrowby in the past Davidson knew some of the staff at Grosvenor Square. His job was to find out more details about the cabinet meeting. However, one of the servants told him that the Earl of Harrowby was not in London. When Davidson told Arthur Thistlewood of this, Thistlewood insisted that the servant was lying. The "assassination" should proceed as planned.
+Davidson had worked for Lord Harrowby in the past, and knew some of his staff at Grosvenor Square. His job was to find out more details about the cabinet meeting. One of the servants told him that the Earl of Harrowby was not in London. Davidson relayed this information to Arthur Thistlewood, who believed that the servant was lying, and ordered the conspirators to proceed with the plot.
-On the 23rd February the [[Cato Street conspirators]] met in a hayloft in Cato Street, near Grosvenor Square. However, there was no cabinet meeting: the Spenceans had been set up by George Edwards.
+On 23 February, the [[Cato Street Conspiracy]] met in a hayloft on Cato Street, near Grosvenor Square. However, there was no cabinet meeting: the Spenceans had been set up by an undercover police agent, George Edwards.
+George Ruthven led 13 police officers to storm the hayloft. Several revolutionaries refused to surrender their weapons. Thistlewood killed police officer Richard Smithers with a single sword-thrust.<ref name="Execution of Thistlewood, Brunt, Ings, Tidd and Davidson">{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YSwoAAAAYAAJ&q=sheriff+london+1820&pg=PA441| title= Execution of Thistlewood, Brunt, Ings, Tidd and Davidson | year= 1820 |access-date = 23 January 2017}}</ref> Davidson had been acting as look-out.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kitchener |first=Caitlin |date=2023 |title=Cato Street Conspiracy and Consuming Crime: How Radical Politics Fed into the Public's Passion for Violent Media Coverage * |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1750-0206.12670 |journal=Parliamentary History |language=en |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=51–74 |doi=10.1111/1750-0206.12670 |issn=0264-2824}}</ref>
-George Ruthven led thirteen police officers who stormed the hay loft. Several of the revolutuonaries refused to surrender their weapons and Arthur Thistlewood shot one of the police officers, Richard Smithers, dead. When the conspirators tried to escape  Benjamin Gill hit Davidson on the wrist with his truncheon and he dropped his [[blunderbuss]]. Four other conspirators, Thistlewood, John Brunt, Robert Adams and John Harrison escaped through a window. However they were soon arrested thanks to a list George Edwards had supplied to the police.
+When the co-conspirators tried to escape, Benjamin Gill hit Davidson on the wrist with his truncheon, and he dropped his [[blunderbuss]]. Four conspirators, Thistlewood, John Brunt, Robert Adams and John Harrison escaped through a window. However, their identities were given to the police by Edwards and they were quickly  arrested.
-Eleven men were charged with being involved in the Cato Street Conspiracy. Robert Adams agreed to give evidence against the other men in court, and charges against him weredropped. Davidson pleaded innocence and claimed the court was prejudiced against [[Black british|black people]]. However, there was evidence of his presence at the scene with a blunderbuss..
+Eleven men were charged with involvement in the Cato Street Conspiracy. Robert Adams testified against the other men, and charges against him were dropped. Davidson pleaded innocence and claimed the court was prejudiced against [[Black British|black people]]. However, his presence at the scene with a blunderbuss led to his conviction.
-On 28 April 1820, William Davidson, [[James Ings]], [[Richard Tidd]], Arthur Thistlewood, and [[John Brunt]] were found guilty of high treason. The sentence was death. [[John Harrison]], [[James Wilson]], [[Richard Bradburn]], [[John Strange]] and [[Charles Copper]] were also found guilty. However their death sentences were subsequently commuted to transportation for life.
+On 28 April 1820, William Davidson, James Ings, Richard Tidd, [[Arthur Thistlewood]], and John Brunt were found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to death. John Harrison, James Wilson, Richard Bradburn, John Strange and Charles Copper were also found guilty. However their death sentences were subsequently commuted to [[Penal_transportation|transportation]] for life.
-William Davidson was executed at [[Newgate Prison]] on the 1 May, 1820.
+William Davidson, with his four fellow conspirators, was publicly hanged and decapitated outside [[Newgate Prison]] on 1 May 1820.<ref name="Execution of Thistlewood, Brunt, Ings, Tidd and Davidson" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Execution of Thistlewood and Others for High Treason |work=The Morning Chronicle |date=2 May 1820 | location=London | issue=15915| page=3}}</ref>
+==Representation in media==
+William Davidson is featured in the short animation Cato Street to Newgate, written and directed by Jason Young. It was screened as part of Southwark Black History Month in 2020.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cato Street to Newgate|url=https://www.southwark.gov.uk/events-culture-and-heritage/29969/11814/29969?c=193|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031034728/https://www.southwark.gov.uk/events-culture-and-heritage/29969/11814/29969?c=193|archive-date=31 October 2020|website=Southark Council}}</ref>
+==References==
+{{Reflist}}
+== External links ==
+*[http://www.spartacus-educational.com/PRdavidson.htm William Davidson] on Spartacus
+{{Authority control}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, William}}
+[[Category:19th-century executions by England and Wales]]
+[[Category:1780s births]]
+[[Category:1820 deaths]]
+[[Category:Black British history]]
+[[Category:Executed Jamaican people]]
+[[Category:Executed people from London]]
+[[Category:Jamaican activists]]
+[[Category:Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
+[[Category:Jamaican people of British descent]]
+[[Category:People executed for treason against the United Kingdom]]
+[[Category:Royal Navy sailors]]
+[[Category:Colony of Jamaica people]]