| Originally founded in 1969 as the ‘1820
Commemoration Committee’, the Society exists precisely in order to
publicise and commemorate the Scottish Radical Insurrection of 1820. It
carries out its commemorative function by holding Annual Rallies at the
three 1820 Monuments - at Sighthill Cemetery, Glasgow, burial ground of
Baird and Hardie; at Strathaven, home town and last resting place of
James Wilson, and at Woodside Cemetery, Paisley.
Throughout the 1970’s the Society was
kept going by its principal founding father, John Murphy, now an
Honorary Vice-President. In 1984 it was re-constituted - with Jack
Fuller as Chairman, Ian Bayne as Secretary, and Renfrew District
councillor, Jim Mitchell, now also an Honorary Vice-President, as Press
Officer. In 1985 the new Committee launched a financial appeal for the
Renovation of the sadly dilapidated Sighthill Monument. It raised almost
£5,000, a sum matched by a further £5,000 from Glasgow District
Council. In October 1986 the renovated Memorial was unveiled - by pupils
from the nearby Sighthill Primary School - in the presence of invited
civic dignatories and political and Trade Union representatives. In 1989
the Society welcomed the publication of the paperback edition of the
only full-length account of the Rising, ‘The Scottish Insurrection of
1820’ by Peter Berresford Ellis and Seumas Mac a’Ghobhainn. Its
surviving co-author, Peter Berresford Ellis was elected Honorary
President. In the same year the Society also purchased a new Banner. In
1990 - the 270th anniversary year of the Rising - as a culmination of
extensive representation made by the Society a new headstone was erected
by East Kilbride District Council at the probable site of James Wilson’s
hitherto unmarked grave in Strathaven Cemetery.
And in 1992 Glasgow District Council
finally agreed to the erection of a plaque on the Sighthill Memorial in
honour of the 19 Scottish Radicals transported to Australia for their
part in the 1820 Rising.
Click
here to learn more about the Society |
