Paisley Radical Trial 1820

This is a brief overview of Tom Dowds talk on Thursday 24th September at Paisley Museum at 7.30.

Although Paisley had not been direcctly involved in the Radical Rising in early 1820, the government was determined to root out what it regarded as trouble-makers and set up a commission to try suspects under English Law, and two Paisley Radicals were put on trial, charged with treason.  Trials in Glasgow and Stirling led to the execution of James Wilson of Strathaven, John Baird of Condorrat and Andrew Hardie of Glasgow, along with the transportation of other Radicals.  When James Spiers was arraigned in Paisley, the authorities were in for a surprise as the hand-picked jury stubbornly refused to be intimidated and bullied into finding him guilty, and the government decided to abandon all other trials throughout Scotland.

Thank you to Mr Dowds for providing this information.