A-Z Of Great Scots
B John Baird – the radical who fought and died for social reform and workers’ rights
Why John Baird’s fight for democracy and workers’ rights should be celebrated
IN April 1820, a war broke out in Scotland. It only lasted a week, and a lot of people have never even heard of it. But at the time, it caused an almighty stramash.
The Radical War may have been short, but it certainly wasn’t sweet. The revolutionaries at its heart were demanding social reform: better working conditions, universal suffrage, and improved living standards.
Leading the rebels with a cause was John Baird, from Condorrat in North Lanarkshire.
He had joined the British Army in 1806 and fought in the Napoleonic Wars before returning to Scotland and being declared a deserter in 1813. He avoided arrest and became a weaver like his father and brothers, but he grew increasingly disillusioned as Scottish weavers saw pay cuts.
Life was hard and unemployment was rife, exacerbated by thousands of men returning from the war.
John soon became a leading member of the Condorrat Radicals, one of several secret societies popping up around Scotland to hold the government to account.
The Peterloo Massacre in Manchester – when civilians peacefully protesting were killed and injured by cavalry – was the final straw for Scotland’s radicals. An uprising was planned.
In April, 1820, around 60,000 workers striked, and John and fellow radical Andrew Hardie commanded protest marches. What they didn’t realise was that the government had infiltrated their clandestine meetings. The cavalry has been called.
En route to the Carron Ironworks, the band of radicals was intercepted and defeated at Bonnymuir, the captured men taken to Stirling Castle.
The commanders were charged with high treason, and sentenced to death, as was James Wilson, another radical leader arrested in Strathaven.
“What I have done for the cause of truth and justice”
On September 8, 1820, all three were hanged then beheaded. Before he died, John told cheering crowds, “What I have hitherto done, and which brought me here, was for the cause of truth and justice.”
Years later, King William IV pardoned those convicted. In 1847, the bodies of John and Andrew were exhumed and buried at Sighthill Cemetery in Glasgow, where they are honoured with a memorial.
John Baird and the working class heroes of the Radical War stood up for the rights of Scotland’s people. We no longer know what he looked like, but his fight for democracy and freedom should never be forgotten.