FORGOTTEN SCOTLAND | GREENOCK RISING 1820

Upon the arrest of pro independence activists in Scotland in April 1820, several were taken to Paisley jail, a small, cramped confinement in the old Tollbooth Tower, and due to an overflow of prisoners, men had to be transferred out. However five men in total still needed to be detained for trial.  

On the morning of April 8th 1820, a group of hirelings known as the Port Glasgow Militia were requested by authorities to transport the remaining five prisoners from Paisley to Bridewell Jail in Greenock's Bank Street.

As they marched into Greenock that afternoon, with drums and fifes, it began to dawn on them that they had badly misjudged the mood of the local Greenock folk and underestimated their pro independence sentiment. All the shops on the main road were shut, as people lined both sides of the road from Rue End Street to Cathcart Square. 

The Port Militia managed to secure the prisoners in the jail, but the mob had now become increasingly hostile towards them and begun pelting them with boulders and other missiles. As they tried to get back out of the town, moving quickly towards Rue-End Street, some of them, overcome with fright at the hostility of the locals began firing their muskets in the hope of dispersing some of the large gathering of people. 

Greenock locals were furious and attempted to wrestle the guns from them and in the event some shots were fired low, injuring some in the process. The compressed nature of the streets and the close-knit proximity of the crowd meant the shots were ultimately fateful for many innocent bystanders, and the would be military volunteers were becoming increasingly brutal. They shot 18 people in total, killing eight. Many had a lucky escape. The evidence from the surrounding buildings show that dozens of more shots were fired. No less than seven bullets came through the windows of a pub in Cathcart Street.

Bridewell Jail in Greenock's Bank Street, now has a live railway track running through it, going from Gourock to the west to Glasgow Central to the east

As night fell an incensed crowd gathered again in Cathcart Square in Greenock and began to lay siege to the heavy wooden gates of the jail. The police attempted to protect the gates but were showered with bricks and missiles in the courtyard and they eventually retreated. The Greenock crowd brought the gates crashing down and stormed the jail, releasing the five pro independence activists from their cells, only one of whom was subsequently re-arrested. 

The aftermath was a series of treason trials. Altogether 88 people were indicted for treason. At Stirling, Andrew Hardie and John Baird were found guilty and sentenced to death. In Glasgow, James Wilson suffered the same fate. However at Dumbarton, the prosecution decided not to proceed against a group of activists. At Paisley, the jury refused to convict. In the end, only three men were executed. Another 16 were sent to Australia.

The Greenock dead and wounded ranged from eight year old James MacGilp to sixty-five year old John MacWhinnie.

Greenock casualties

Adam Clephane (48 years) dead 

James Kerr (17 years) dead 

William Lindsay (15 years) dead 

James MacGilp (8 years) dead 

Archibald Drummond (20 years) dead 

John Mac Whinnie (65 years) dead 

John Boyce (33 years) dead 

Archibald McKinnon (17 years) dead (Died of his wounds on 5th May 1820) 

Mrs Catherine Turner (65 years) leg amputated 

Hugh Paterson (14 Years) leg amputated 

Peter Cameron (14 years) flesh wound 

John Gunn (24 years) flesh wound 

John Turner (22 years) flesh wound 

Gilbert MacArthur (18 years) slight wound 

Robert Spence (11 years) slight wound 

David MacBride (14 years) slight wound 

John Patrick (30 years) slight wound 

George Tillery (25 years) slight wound