Porteous Riots in Edinburgh

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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The Porteous Riots break out in Edinburgh. John Porteus, the captain of the town guard, orders troops to fire on a mob demonstrating at the arrest of smugglers. He is sentenced to death by Edinburgh magistrates for murder, and although he is reprieved by Queen Caroline, the sentence is still carried out.

52 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Porteous Riots in Edinburgh". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 April 2011 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=17399, accessed 23 November 2024.]

17399 Porteous Riots in Edinburgh 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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