Thomas Muir (24 August 1765 – 25 January 1799), also known as Thomas Muir the Younger of Huntershill, was a Scottish political reformer and lawyer. Muir graduated from Edinburgh University and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1787, aged 22. Muir was a leader of the Society of the Friends of the People. He was the most important of the group of two Scotsmen and three Englishmen on the Political Martyrs' Monument, Edinburgh (the others being Thomas Fyshe Palmer, William Skirving, Maurice Margarot and Joseph Gerrald). In 1793 they were sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay Australia for sedition.
Two years later in 1796, Muir escaped from Botany Bay on the American ship Otter. After a voyage across the uncharted Pacific Ocean the Otter reached Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island June 1796. The diaries of the first mate Pierre François Péron describe Muir's escape and voyage across the Pacific as far as Monterey, California.
From there Muir travelled to Mexico City where he asked to be allowed to travel to California. He was imprisoned in Havana, Cuba and taken by Spanish ship to Cádiz, Spain. Here his ship encountered British men-of-war ships and in the fighting Muir's face was badly injured. In September 1797, the Spanish Government released Muir. Weak from his wounds, Muir made his way to France by way of Madrid, Spain, aided by a French officer. In November 1797, he arrived exhausted at Bordeaux, where he was hailed as a 'Hero of the French Republic.' He then travelled to Paris, France. Muir's confidant in 1798 was Dr Robert Watson of Elgin, emissary to France on behalf of the United Englishmen and Muir learned of the United Scotsmen, which replaced the Friends of the People. In November 1798, Muir moved secretly to the Île-de-France village of Chantilly to await the arrival of Scots compatriots. He died there on 25 January 1799. Shortly before his death, he said, "we have achieved a great duty in these critical times. After the destruction of so many years, we have been the first to revive the spirit of our country and give it a National Existence."
Forty years after the founding of the Society of the Friends of the People, the Reform Act of 1832 enacted reforms that the Society had called for. It removed representation from 56 rotten boroughs and created 67 new boroughs so areas with larger populations had representation in Parliament and allowed a wider range of men to vote.
Early years
Thomas Muir was born above his father's grocers shop on the High Street of Glasgow. His father, James Muir, was the son of the 'bonnet laird' of Birdston in Milton of Campsie, he married Margaret Smith and they had two children Thomas and Janet. As a younger son James Muir had little prospect of inheriting his father's property. His family, however, had in Maidstone, Kent, relations who were prosperous hop-growers and it was towards this branch of trade that young James was persuaded to direct his energies. In this business venture he achieved considerable success and by the time of his marriage in 1764 he was firmly established as a hop-merchant in the High Street of Glasgow. Here, in the heart of the town's ancient University quarter, he settled with his wife, living in a little flat above his shop.
By all accounts Muir senior was a man of some education, whose interest in commerce extended far beyond that of his fellow businessmen, for he has been credited with the authorship of a pamphlet on 'England's Foreign Trade'. In the 1780s he purchased the property of Huntershill House, together with adjoining lands. Of Muir's mother, Margaret Smith, nothing of a biographical nature has been recorded. However, we do know that both Muir's parents were orthodox Presbyterians, consequently young Thomas's early upbringing was very much within the confines of the rigid moral and social ethic of ‘Auld Licht’ Calvinism. Early accounts describe him as 'a pious child of modest, reserved nature'.
Education
Muir's education began at the age of five when his father hired William Barclay, a local schoolmaster, as a private tutor. In 1775, at the early age of 10, he was admitted to the "gowned classes" of Glasgow University. After five sessions he matriculated (1777) and took up divinity: like his parents he supported the Auld Licht or popular party in Kirk politics.