These documents are from after the Chartist rising, when Frost was arrested and charged with high treason early in 1840, along with William Jones and Zephaniah Williams. All three were found guilty and became the last men in Britain to be sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. The Chartists stood up as one man for the Newport leaders under sentences of death. O'Connor, O'Brien, Harney Taylor and other Chartists leaders free on bail rose to speak on their behalf. O'Connor offered one week's income of the Northern Star for a Frost fund and retained one of the best lawyers of the time, Sir Frederick Pollock as defence attorney. Following a huge public outcry, however, these sentences were discussed by the Cabinet and on 1 February the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne, announced that the executions would be commuted to transportation for life.
