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 five months before the scheduled date of attack, but waited to arrest to gain enough evidence.[1] One week before the scheduled attack, Despard and his co-conspirators were arrested at the Oakley Arms pub in Lambeth on suspicion of plotting an uprising.[2] 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.[3]
- ^ Smith, A. W. (1955). "Irish Rebels and English Radicals 1798–1820. Past & Present". JSTOR 650175.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Porter, Bernard (1989). Plots and Paranoia: a history of political espionage in Britain, 1790–1988. London, Boston: Unwin Hyman. p. 28.
- ^ Jay, Mike (2005). The Unfortunate Colonel Despard. Bantam Press.