Porteous Riots

E756659

The Porteous Riots were an infamous 1736 outbreak of mob violence in Edinburgh, Scotland, sparked by public anger over the actions of Captain John Porteous and culminating in his lynching.

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Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf historical event
mob violence
riot
aftermath Parliamentary inquiry
threat of withdrawing Edinburgh’s charter
authorOfDescription Walter Scott NERFINISHED
cause public anger over actions of Captain John Porteous
chronology 18th century in Scotland
conflictType civil unrest
country Kingdom of Great Britain
describedInWork The Heart of Midlothian NERFINISHED
endCause successful lynching of John Porteous
followedBy lynching of John Porteous
genre urban riot
hasCause Porteous ordering Town Guard to fire on crowd
hasConsequence debate over crowd justice in Britain
hasCulturalDepiction The Heart of Midlothian NERFINISHED
hasEffect death of John Porteous
royal intervention in Edinburgh governance
tension between Edinburgh populace and authorities
hasMotive outrage at use of lethal force against civilians
popular resentment of harsh punishment for smuggling
hasPart lynching of John Porteous
historicalPeriod Enlightenment-era Scotland
legalStatus extrajudicial killing of John Porteous
location Edinburgh NERFINISHED
Scotland
mainSubject John Porteous NERFINISHED
notableFigure Andrew Wilson NERFINISHED
George Robertson NERFINISHED
John Porteous NERFINISHED
participant Captain John Porteous NERFINISHED
Edinburgh Town Guard NERFINISHED
Edinburgh mob
partOf Scottish legal and political history
history of Edinburgh
pointInTime 1736
relatedTo Edinburgh Town Guard NERFINISHED
Scottish criminal justice system
public executions in the Grassmarket
result Porteous hanged without legal process
Porteous removed from prison by mob
significantEvent execution of smugglers Andrew Wilson and George Robertson
significantPlace Grassmarket NERFINISHED
Old Tolbooth of Edinburgh NERFINISHED
Tolbooth Prison NERFINISHED
temporalContext reign of George II

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Heart of Midlothian basedOn Porteous Riots