Noble Blood — Revolutionaries on Cato Street

Host: Dana Schwartz
Date: November 4, 2025
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts and Grim & Mild

Episode Overview

In this gripping episode of Noble Blood, Dana Schwartz delves into the infamous Cato Street Conspiracy of 1820—an audacious and ultimately doomed plot to overthrow the British government by assassinating its entire Cabinet. Blending narrative suspense with historical analysis, Schwartz explores the turbulent context that birthed the conspiracy, the flawed men behind its conception, and the government’s ruthless countermeasures that ensured its failure.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: Regency Turmoil (02:30 – 06:30)

• Britain in the 1820s was fraught with political instability, inspired and unsettled by the aftershocks of the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon.
• King George III’s declining mental health led to his son (the Prince Regent) assuming power—much disliked and perceived as disconnected from social distress.
• Massive wealth inequality and a lack of parliamentary reform created a powder keg atmosphere. "Parliamentary reform was being debated, but not nearly fast enough for people who couldn't afford to put food on the table. It was a powder keg situation and almost everyone knew it." (05:28–05:39, Dana Schwartz)

2. The Plotters: Dreams, Desperation, and Dysfunction (06:30 – 18:00)

• Key Conspirators:
  • Arthur Thistlewood: Ex-soldier, radicalized by persistent injustice.
  • Thomas Preston (shoemaker), Dr. James Watson (apothecary, explosives enthusiast), John Brunt & Richard Tidd (shoemakers), James Ings (butcher), William Davidson (cabinet maker, of Jamaican-Scottish descent), George Edwards (model maker, secret informant).
• The group’s revolutionary hopes were fueled by poverty and radical literature, becoming isolated in a reinforcement loop Schwartz calls "their small echo chamber."
• The failure of previous plots (notably in 1817) and the horrific Peterloo Massacre (1819)—"the government's response to its citizens asking for basic reforms was to mow them down with cavalry" (12:09, Dana Schwartz)—made them abandon peaceful protest for violent revolution.

Notable Quote:
"If the government was willing to massacre peaceful protesters, then peaceful protest was clearly off the table." (12:17, Dana Schwartz)

3. A Plan Destined to Fail: The Cato Street Conspiracy (18:00 – 28:00)

• The conspirators targeted a supposed dinner for all Cabinet members at Lord Harrowby’s house, with plans to decapitate ministers and parade their heads through London.
• The Fatal Flaw: George Edwards had infiltrated them as a double agent, orchestrating the “perfect” opportunity—a fake dinner, serviced with inside information, designed to lure and entrap.
  • "On the surface, George Edwards was another desperate revolutionary looking to overthrow the government. But in reality he was a spy, an agent provocateur..." (17:48, Dana Schwartz)
• Disorganization and desperation plagued the group: many failed to show, others had "cold feet," and their logistics were comically poor ("They realized... they didn't have enough bullets..." (14:56, Dana Schwartz))
• On February 23, 1820, police and soldiers ambushed their meeting, thanks to Edwards’ inside knowledge. Chaos erupted; some conspirators were arrested on the spot, others fled and were soon caught. Thistlewood was betrayed by Edwards himself, even as Edwards helped ‘find’ his leader's hideout only to tip off police.

4. Aftermath: Justice, Punishment, and Public Spectacle (28:00 – 33:50)

• Trial Outcomes:
  • Five conspirators (Thistlewood, Tidd, Ings, Davidson, Brunt) were sentenced to death; several others were sentenced to exile or leniency based on cooperation.
  • "On the morning of May 1, 1820, the five men were hanged at Newgate Prison in front of a crowd of thousands, with many paying top dollar to secure premium viewing spots." (30:55, Dana Schwartz)
  • The executions were grisly and dramatic, with beheadings done publicly:

    "An unidentified figure in a black mask lowered them one by one. He decapitated each corpse, then displayed their heads to the assembled spectators with the traditional declaration, behold, the head of a traitor." (31:10, Dana Schwartz)

• Cultural Impact:
  • The conspiracy was compared to Guy Fawkes and later IRA plots—legendary failures that nonetheless left deep marks.
  • Public fascination was immense; "prints and illustrations of the crime scene and executions let ordinary folks safely experience the thrill of violence from a comfortable distance—sort of the equivalent of present-day true crime podcasts and documentaries." (32:00, Dana Schwartz)

5. Interpretation: Fantasists, Tragedy, and “Wound Culture” (33:50 – 36:00)

• While often dismissed as the work of fantasists, Schwartz cautions that their desperation reflected the society that produced them.
• The Cato Street Conspiracy exemplified historian Mark Seltzer's notion of “wound culture”—a society addicted to violence, with revolutionaries shaped by “economic desperation, political oppression, and a generation's worth of warfare.”
  • "This elaborate conspiracy... was really based on nothing more than a fantasy." (36:10, Dana Schwartz)
  • The plot ultimately demonstrates how even failed revolutions reshape national psyche—"proof that even failed revolutions can reshape how a nation sees itself and its vulnerabilities." (36:40, Dana Schwartz)

Bonus Segment: The Explosive Apothecary - James Watson (35:23 – 37:54)

• Unlike the others, Dr. James Watson wasn’t present at the fateful meeting—he was in debtor’s prison. Therefore, he escaped execution.
• "Watson had created the world's first letter bomb... While other pharmacists were helping people get better, Watson was coming up with new and creative ways to kill." (36:50, Dana Schwartz)
• A cautionary note: Watson’s inventive genius—had it been used for creation and not destruction—might have left a very different legacy.

Memorable Quotes

• “Stasis is a story we like to tell ourselves. But by and large, true progress has been made by way of unpleasant, radical disruption and periods of uncertainty and chaos.” (03:20, Dana Schwartz)
• “Far be it from me to Monday morning quarterback, but the rebels really could have done with someone who maybe lacked muscle power, but made up for it with attention to detail.” (15:22, Dana Schwartz)
• “Again, not the best planners.” (21:37, Dana Schwartz, on conspirators getting drunk instead of surveilling their target)
• "To be human was to practice violence, and in an era of extreme inequality, it might have seemed to some like the only solution." (34:45, Dana Schwartz)

Timeline of Key Events

• [01:43] Story introduction, setting up scene in the Cato Street hayloft
• [02:30–06:30] The tumultuous Regency context
• [06:30–14:00] The group’s formation, motivations, and failed prior plots
• [14:56] Comedic logistical failure—“didn’t have enough bullets”
• [17:48–21:50] George Edwards’ betrayal, lead-up to the final ambush
• [23:00–26:00] The police raid and chaos; arrests and escapes
• [28:00–32:00] Trials, executions, and grisly public spectacle
• [33:50–36:00] Interpretive context—tragedy vs. farce, “wound culture”
• [35:23–37:54] Epilogue on Dr. James Watson

Final Thoughts

Schwartz renders the Cato Street Conspiracy as both a historical curio and a key moment illustrating the desperation bred by social inequality. The episode’s tone—wry, empathetic, and incisively analytical—invites listeners to see the rebels as more than inept criminals, but instead as tragic products of their age, shaped by injustice and radical hope gone awry. The story concludes by reflecting on how even failed conspiracies can shape the trajectory of national memory—and warns of how violence can become embedded in the very fabric of a nation's culture.

For listeners and history enthusiasts, this episode of Noble Blood stands as an engrossing exploration of a plot doomed to fail, yet too emblematic of the instability and pain of its era to be forgotten.