John Thelwall

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John Thelwall (1764-1834) was a radical British orator, writer, and elocutionist. He published a volume of poetry, Poems on Various Subjects, in 1787, and The Peripatetic; or, Sketches of the Heart, of Nature and Society; in a Series of Politico-Sentimental Journals in 1793. From 1795 to 1796, he published The Tribune, a periodical that mostly consisted of his own political lectures. He helped form the London Corresponding Society in 1792. In 1794, he was tried for treason along with fellow radicals John Horne Tooke and Thomas Hardy, although all three men were acquitted. Government officials who considered him to be the most dangerous man in Britain continued to hound him even after his acquittal.

Among his other views, Thelwall was known for his denouncement of all wars except those of self defense.

A restoration project on Thelwall's grave is due to start on the 4th September 2006 by the Regional History Centre at University of the West of England (UWE).