Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photography (476) Wed, 31st Aug 2016, Lot 209

Estimate: £300 - £400 + Fees Porteous Riots - Manuscript - "An Act to disable Alexander Wilson Esq. from holding or enjoying any Office or place of Magistrary in the City of Edinburgh or elsewhere in Great Britain and for Imprisoning the said Alexander Wilson and for abolishing the Guard kept up in the said City commonly called the Town Guard and for taking away the Gates of the Nether Bow Port of the said City and keeping open the same.", 6 pages, folio, waterstained but legible, few short tears affecting a few letters, 1736 Note: The Porteous Riots are a famous instance of the Edinburgh mob taking the law into their own hands. Three men had been sentenced to death for robbing a customs house in Fife. One was pardoned for turning King's evidence, one escaped and the third, Andrew Wilson, a popular smuggler, was hung on 14 April 1736. The Town Provost, Alexander Wilson, had ordered the Town Guard to ensure order but as Andrew Wilson's body was taken down, the crowd who sympathised with him for attempting to rob the hated Customs House officers, attacked the Town Guard. Porteous, the much disliked Captain of the Town Guard, fired on the crowd, and ordered his men to do the same, killing at least 6 people. Porteous was soon arrested, charged, found guilty, sentenced to death and imprisoned in the Tolbooth near St. Giles. A rumour that he would be pardoned led to a huge mob breaking into the Tolbooth whereupon Porteous was dragged to the and hung. Despite a parliamentary inquiry and several attempts to identify and charge ringleaders, no one was ever convicted of the execution of Porteous, though the City of Edinburgh was fined £2,000 by the Government and Wilson was disqualified from holding office again. The present manuscript is either the manuscript Act or a contemporaneous copy of the Act disqualifying Wilson from holding office. used the incident in his 1818 novel, ''.