William Walworth group conspired to keep food prices up, lent money to the king at inflated interest, and through personal and financial influence persuaded the king to issue edicts profitable to themselves. His most famous exploit was his encounter with Wat Tyler during the English peasants' revolt of 1381, in his second term of office as Lord Mayor. In June of that year, when Tyler and his followers entered south London, Walworth defended London Bridge against them. He was with Richard II when he met the insurgents at Smithfield, and killed the rebel leader with his baselard. The circumstances of the killing
William Leighton (Lord Mayor of London) William Leighton (Lord Mayor of London) Sir William Leighton (1752 – 23 April 1826) was a British shipowner and merchant who served as the Lord Mayor of London in 1806. Leighton's family was from County Durham in the North East of England and he moved to London around 1779 following his father's death. Leighton worked as a coal merchant shipping coal from the port of Newcastle, and was based at Newcastle's Coal Exchange. Leighton was a prominent shipowner who owned , and , three of the ships of the First Fleet, which transported convicts to the British colony of New