Hardy, Thomas

Hardy, Thomas ( 1752 – 1832 )
Scottish radical leader, a champion of parliamentary reform. He moved to London in 1774 , where he became a shoemaker. In 1792 he founded the London Corresponding Society, whose aim was to achieve universal manhood suffrage. The country was at war with Revolutionary France and the government became alarmed at the Society's growing influence. In 1794 Hardy was arrested on a charge of high treason but at the subsequent trial he was acquitted.