Cato Street conspiracy facts for kids
The Cato Street conspiracy was a secret plan in 1820. A group of people wanted to kill all the British government leaders, including the Prime Minister Lord Liverpool. Their meeting place was on Cato Street, a small street near Edgware Road in London.
However, the police found out about the plot. They had an informer who told them everything. The plotters walked right into a police trap. Thirteen people were arrested, and one policeman was killed during the arrests. Five of the conspirators were put to death as punishment. Five others were sent far away to Australia as a different kind of punishment.
It's not fully clear how many people were involved in the Cato Street conspiracy. This was a time when many people in Britain were unhappy. There were lots of rumors about secret plans. Some historians believe that people in the London-Irish community and certain worker groups, like shoemakers, were ready to help. There was also a lot of unrest and awareness of a planned uprising in the industrial north of England and in Scotland.
Images for kids
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The London building where the conspirators were discovered which is today marked by a blue plaque
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The execution of the Cato Street conspirators, 1 May 1820
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Print from May 1820 showing establishment figures dancing around a maypole (a reference to the date of the conspirators' execution, May Day 1820). On top of the maypole are the heads of: John Thomas Brunt (1782–1820); William Davidson (1781–1820); James Ings (1794–1820); Arthur Thistlewood (1774–1820); and, Richard Tidd (1773–1820).
See also
In Spanish: Conspiración de Cato Street para niños
