BattlefieldsThomas Muir sedition arrest Edinburgh 1793
modern

Thomas Muir sedition arrest Edinburgh 1793

1793
Scotland
Era
modern
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Forces
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
the radical reform movement centred on the Friends of the People.
VS
Victor
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Scottish legal establishment under Lord Advocate Robert Dundas
Outcome
Muir transported to Botany Bay. Scottish radical movement suppressed. Muir later escaped to France where he died. The trial became a symbol of judicial persecution of reform.
The Battle

History & Significance

Thomas Muir of Huntershill was arrested in Edinburgh for sedition after advocating parliamentary reform and distributing Thomas Paine writings. His trial before Lord Braxfield and the transportation sentence of fourteen years became an international cause in the history of radical politics.

Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Aubrey Research

Explore the landscape around this battlefield

Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.

Research a location near this battlefield