In December 2019, Westminster Archives supported a successful National Lottery Heritage Fund application by our partners, The Westminster Community Reminiscence and Archive Group. Our grant of £72,400 will allow us to mark the bicentenary of the Cato Street Conspiracy, what its doomed leader Arthur Thistlewood termed as, ‘The West End Job.’ Cruikshank’s dramatic image of the moment Bow Street Runner Richard Smithers was killed by Thistlewood is perhaps the best known image of the Conspiracy. It is part of the wonderful Ashbridge collection at Westminster Archives that helped our successful application.
The West End Job: Bicentenary of the Cato Street Conspiracy
Scene 15: Bow Street Runners Raid. The George Ruthven and his Bow Street runners came to arrest the conspirators. Thistlewood kills Richard Smithers with his sword before the lights are put out and the men try to escape.
Gorge Cruikshank 1820Westminster Archives Ashbridge Collection A03A0241
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