Between the hours of 9.00 and 10.00 p.m. on Tuesday 23rd March 1813,8 or 9 people vaulted the iron railings surrounding Portland Square in Bristol. They made their way to a statue of the King, George III, which was erected in 1810. A rope was thrown around the neck of the statue, and the group pulled it to the ground, breaking it into pieces. The noise brought many people out into the street, and one of the group was apprehended.
As reported in the Leeds Mercury on 03/04/1813. The man who was apprehended - John Harris - was later convicted of being an accessory to the destruction of the statue, and sentenced to 12 months in Newgate Prison, according the Lancaster Gazette of 23rd May 1813.
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