User:Sayers18/sandbox

BIBLIOGRAPHY: (APA?)

Porter, B. (1989). Plots and paranoia: A history of political espionage in Britain, 1790-1988. London ; Boston: Unwin Hyman.

Oman, C. W. C.. (1928). The Last Days of Colonel Despard. The English Historical Review, 43(169), 79–83. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/551769

Poole, S. (2000). The politics of regicide in England, 1760-1850: Troublesome subjects. Manchester : New York: Manchester University Press,.

Elliott, M.. (1977). The "Despard Conspiracy" Reconsidered. Past & Present, (75), 46–61. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/650440

Smith, A. W.. (1955). Irish Rebels and English Radicals 1798-1820. Past & Present, (7), 78–85. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/650175

Walsh, P. V.. (2000). [Review of Colonel Despard: The Life and Times of an Anglo-Irish Rebel]. The Journal of Military History, 64(4), 1153–1154. http://doi.org/10.2307/2677280

This is a rough draft and I will figure out how to do all the wikipedia things after the content is there.

Picture Link: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CSy2tLmWIAAqEzE.jpg

Little Box Thing:

Location: London, England

Date: 1802

Result: Plot crushed, Despard and co-conspirators killed

Summary:

The Despard Plot was a failed 1802 conspiracy by British revolutionaries led by Colonel Edward Marcus Despard, a former army officer and colonial official. Evidence presented in court suggested that Despard planned to assassinate the monarch George III and seize key strong points in London such as the Bank of England and Tower of London as a prelude to a wider uprising by the population of the city. The British Government was aware of the plot 5 months before the scheduled date of attack, however waited to arrest to gain enough evidence.(IRaER)  One week before the scheduled  attack(IRaER), Despard and his co-conspirators were arrested at a pub in Lambert on suspicion of plotting an uprising(P&P). Despard's execution on 21 February 1803 was attended by a crowd of around 20,000, the largest public gathering until the funeral of Lord Nelson two years later following the Battle of Trafalgar.[1]

The Plot:

Although the plot was highly publicized, details of the trial were never released at the trial or since. In 1794, the British government failed to prove that the London Corresponding Society (which Despard was a member of) was treasonous. Because of this, many of the details we know focused on the attempted assassination of Despard's plot, as this is what prosecutors focused on. Informers claimed that John Wood offered to post himself sentry with a canon to fire at the King's carriage as it was going to Buckingham House. It is unlikely that Despard favored this plan, as it was viewed as very dangerous and still hoped that men in high places such as Burdett would agree to non-regicidal changes in government. Though that may be true, evidence produced at the trial suggests that Despard did indeed consider regicide. Sir Edward O Brien Pryce (indebted barronet) approached authorities the day of Despard's arrest to offer evidence against Despard. Pryce claims that through notes, Despard had offered him unlimited sums of money in exchange for advice on making underground bombs. Despard supposed had sent him a diagram of boxes with spring locks containing three powder barrels surrounded by balls and metal spikes. These were to be buried under the road and detonated by connecting wire. Bombs were to be placed in three locations: the road to Windsor Castle, between Buckingham House and the Hyde Parke Gate, and an exit of Buckingham House, opposite the gate into the lower part of Green Park. Although seemingly concluded, Pryce's evidence was not used in court as authorities wondered why hadn't contacted them in February when this happened. (PoRE) Although the trial (and thus information we have about the plot) were mostly focused on the attempted assassination of King George III, Despard and his co-conspirators also contemplated the seizure of the Bank of England and a military rising of the Third Grenadiers stationed at the Tower of London. They hoped that these attacks would set off uprisings all over the country. (IRaEA)

The Trial:

There was little physical evidence produced during this trial. The only pieces were printed copies of the United Englishmen's constitution which called for independence for Britain and Ireland, equal rights, and compensation for those who fall to achieve these ideals. Although the United Englishmen's constitution certainly was revolutionary, there was little evidence of planned regicide. The 1797 Act Against Administering Unlawful Oaths made these constitutions stronger evidence for rebellion, but not necessarily for regicide. Like the similar case of James Hadfield, another possible attempted assassin of King George III, Colonel Despard's sanity was questioned during the trial. Many of Despard's contemporaries including Cobbett and Lord Cloncurry (whom had earlier been suspected of complicity) distanced themselves from Despard's failure. The jury concluded that Despard's words had been freely given in public spaces and thus was judged as sane. Although judged sane, public society deemed Despard and his plan certifiably mad. Cobbett commented on this distinction, "If you abhor treason, you are told Despard was a madman; if you are discontented with public affairs, you are told he was a hero." (PoRE) Due to the 1796 Treason Act, there was little legal distinction between plotting treason and committing treason. The jury was impressed by the Colonel's character references such as Evan Neppean and Horatio Nelson and unsure about the lack of solid evidence, and so Despard and his colleagues were found guilty of high treason but recommended mercy. Those executed were Colonel Edward Marcus Despard, John Francis, John Wood, James Sedgewick, Thomas Broughton, Arthur Grahm, and John Macnamara. (LDoCD) They were executed in Old Horsemonger Lane Gaol in Southwark on Mondary 21 February 1803. (IRaEr)