porteous mob Riot Captain John City Guard Edinburgh Scotland lynched innocent civilian
The Porteous Riots surrounded the activities of Captain John Porteous, (ca. 1695 – 1736), Captain of the City Guard of Edinburgh, Scotland, who was lynched by a mob for his part in the killing of innocent civilians while ordering the men under his command to quell a disturbance during a public hanging in the Grassmarket, Edinburgh in April 1736. Although the rioters were generally supportive of the convicted smugglers, Porteous seems to have been a somewhat overbearing official, despised by the mob and the underclasses of Edinburgh society. On 14 April 1736 three convicted smugglers, Andrew Wilson, William Hall and George Robertson, were arrested, tried and condemned to death. Hall's sentence was commuted to transportation for life, while Wilson and Robertson awaited their fate. A few days before the execution George Robertson managed to escape by widening the space between the window-bars of his cell and, with the help of sympathethic supporters eventually made his way to the Netherlands. The remaining convict, Andrew Wilson, was taken to be publicly hanged in the Grassmarket, Edinburgh on 14 April 1736. The body of Wilson was cut down against the wishes of the mob, and the ensuing riot was such that the hangman had to be placed in protective custody. As the situation worsened, for fear of an attempt to rescue the victims, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh instructed Captain Porteous to call out the entire guard and to furnish them with powder and shot. After the execution the mob became violent and began to stone the City Guard. Accounts of events are confused, but what is certain is that Captain Porteous instructed his men to fire above the heads of the crowd but, in so doing, they shot and wounded people in the windows of the high tenement buildings opposite. The crowd became increasingly violent and, as panic set in, Captain Porteous ordered the guard to shoot into the mob, which led to the deaths of six people in all.
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