George Smith hangman - the “Dudley Throttler or Higgler”.

Although George Smith is not one on England’s best know hangmen he assisted William Calcraft at six executions and officiated as principal at 33 public hangings and one private one between 1840 and 1872.

George Smith was born in Rowley Regis in Staffordshire in 1805 and in 1840 was serving a prison sentence at Stafford Gaol for debt. Calcraft went to Stafford Gaol to conduct the double hanging of James Owen and George Thomas on the 11th of April 1840 for the "Bloody Steps Murder" of Christina Collins at Brindley Bank near Rugeley. As it was a double execution Calcraft wanted an assistant but none of the Turnkeys, as warders were then known would volunteer, so the governor asked the prisoners if any of them would, on the promise of early release. Smith volunteered and was deemed successful by the governor, with Owen and Thomas seeming to die almost instantly the bolt was drawn. This led to his appointment for the hanging of 26 year old Charles Higginson at Stafford on the 26th of August 1843, his first execution as principal. Higginson was a widower who had killed his five year old son, William and buried the body in a copse near Bishop’s Wood in Staffordshire. Here is part of a broadside published for the execution. The portable gallows used at Stafford is clearly visible.

Initially, it is said that Smith was hired by the Under Sheriff of Staffordshire to save the cost of bringing Calcraft up from London. He carried out a further 17 hangings at Stafford, including that of Sarah Westwood on the 13th of January 1844.

Smith’s most famous solo execution was that of the “Rugeley Poisoner”, 31 year old Dr William Palmer for the murder of John Parsons Cook. The public hanging took place at Stafford at 8am. on Saturday on the 14th of June 1856. On Thursday the 15th of November 1855 Palmer went to Shrewsbury Races with 28 year old Cook. Palmer lost all his bets on the day while Cook won several of his, netting him a tidy sum. The pair returned to Rugeley and went to the Talbot Arms where Cook rapidly became ill. He died on the 21st of November and his stepfather demanded an autopsy which revealed antimony poisoning.
Palmer was arrested and charged with the murder. Such was the strength of feeling against Palmer locally that it was decided that he would not get a fair trial in Staffordshire and by a special act of parliament (often known as Palmer’s Act) his trial was transferred to the Old Bailey opening there on the 14th of May 1856 and lasting twelve days before the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Campbell and Barron Alderson.

This execution attracted huge public interest with special trains being run from various Midlands towns to Stafford. It is estimated that some 30,000 people attended the hanging. When Smith released the trap doors Palmer hardly struggled to the disappointment of the crowd. It was reported that Palmer told Smith “God bless you” on the gallows. Here are pictures of Palmer in life and of his death mask.

Things did not always go to plan as we see in this account of a hanging, kindly supplied by Liam Seamus McDonald.

28 year old Francis Price was hanged on 20 August, 1860 at Warwick gaol for the murder in Birmingham of his ex-sweetheart, twenty-four-year-old Sarah Pratt.

It was traditional in those days of public executions to allow the condemned person a little time to ask the forgiveness of both his victim’s family and friends, and also of the crowd. The prison authorities also allowed the doomed person time pray to God. In those more deeply religious times, these last few moments of the condemned conversing with their maker were considered extremely important in saving their soul and having a chance to enter into heaven. It was also traditional for the condemned person to notify the hangman that they had finished their devotions by their dropping a white handkerchief, whereupon the hangman would draw the bolt to open the scaffold’s trap.

For some reason Smith was impatient, perhaps because he had a train to catch, and not waiting for Price to finish his prayers, he drew the bolt early sending Price to his death. The watching crowd were incensed, believing that Smith had sent Price directly to hell and they attempted to storm the scaffold and perhaps hang Smith himself. Only the intervention of the police saved Smith who was hustled into the safety of Warwick gaol.

Once the estimated 3,000 strong crowd had dispersed, Smith was allowed to leave the gaol and he made his way to Warwick station. Unfortunately for the hangman, a sizeable portion of the spectators were Brummies and were also awaiting the same train as Smith to return to Birmingham. The hangman was immediately recognised and set upon, and some of the assailants attempted to toss Smith onto the railway tracks, (some reports say he actually was) in the hope he would be struck by a train. It was only with the assistance of the station master, a Mr Chiltern and his staff that saved Smith from being spread piecemeal along the Warwick to Birmingham railway line.

Another botched hanging occurred on the 7th of August 1866, Smith failed to secure the rope adequately to the beam and William Collier fell to the ground when the trap doors were released and he had to be hanged again a few minutes later. This was Staffordshire’s last public hanging. 35 year old Collier, a well known poacher, was executed for the vicious murder of Thomas Smith who was acting as game keeper on his father’s land at Whiston Eaves in the Staffordshire Moorlands.

George Smith carried out just one private execution, this was on the 13th of August 1872, when he hanged 34 year old Christopher Edwards at Stafford for the murder of his wife. In addition, he assisted Calcraft at the first two private hangings in England, of Thomas Wells and Alexander Mackay in 1868.

Smith was known as the "Dudley Throttler or Higgler", higgler being a Black Country slang term for a hangman. He was renowned for his long white coat and top hat which he wore at public hangings. He was also noted for being particularly fond of “Black Billy” rum. This may have been the cause of “dropsy” from which he suffered in later years. George Incher took over the post of Staffordshire’s hangman after Smith’s death on the 4th of April 1874.

Smith also got work at Warwick (6 executions), Chester (4), Shrewsbury (2) Worcester (1) and Herford (2). His other female execution as principal was that of Mary Gallop at Chester on the 28th of December 1844 for killing her father. He assisted Calcraft at the hangings of Betty Eccles at Liverpool in May 1843, Sarah Harriet Thomas at Bristol on the 20th of April 1849 and Alice Holt in Chester on the 28th of December 1863.

Here is the complete list of Gorge Smith’s executions.

Date	Prisoner	Place	Crime/victim	Comment
11/04/1840	James Owen	Stafford	Rape & murder of Christina Collins	Assisted
11/04/1840	George Thomas	Stafford	Rape & murder of Christina Collins	Calcraft
03/04/1841	Matthew Fowles	Stafford	Murder of Martha Keeling
02/04/1842	Joseph Wilkes	Stafford	Murder of Matthew Adams
06/05/1843	Betty Eccles	Liverpool	Murder of stepson	Assisted Calcraft
26/08/1843	Charles Higginson	Stafford	Murder of 5 year old son
02/09/1843	James Jones (Ratcliffe)	Chester	Murder of his wife - Elizabeth
13/01/1844	Sarah Westwood	Stafford	Murder of her husband
17/08/1844	William Beard	Stafford	Murder of Elizabeth Griffiths
28/12/1844	Mary Gallop	Chester	Murder of her father
25/01/1845	Paul Downing	Stafford	Murder of William Cooper
25/01/1845	Charles Powys	Stafford	Murder of William Cooper
05/04/1845	John Brough	Stafford	Murder of his brother - Thomas
22/04/1848	William Bates	Chester	Murder of William Wyatt
26/03/1849	Robert Pulley	Worcester	Murder of 15 y/o Mary Straight
20/04/1849	Sarah Harriet Thomas	Bristol	Murder of her mistress, Miss Jefferies	Assisted Calcraft
09/04/1853	Charles Moore	Stafford	Murder of Mr & Mrs Blackburn
07/04/1854	John Lloyd	Shrewsbury	Murder of John Griffiths
14/06/1856	William Palmer	Stafford	Poisoning murder of J P Cook
08/08/1857	George Jackson	Stafford	Murder of Mr Charlesworth
30/12/1859	John Kington	Warwick	Murder of his wife
20/08/1860	Francis Price	Warwick	Murder of Sarah Pratt
05/01/1861	Samuel Twigg	Stafford	Murder of his wife
30/12/1861	William Beamish	Warwick	Murder of his wife & child
30/12/1861	John Thompson	Warwick	Murder of Ann Walker
04/01/1862	David Brandrick	Stafford	Murder of Mr. Bagott
25/08/1862	George Gardner	Warwick	Murder of Sarah Kirby
06/04/1863	Henry Carter	Warwick	Murder of Alice Hinkley
11/04/1863	Edward Cooper	Shrewsbury	Murder of his son
15/04/1863	William Hope	Hereford	Murder of Mary Corbett
05/04/1864	Thomas Watkins	Hereford	Murder of his wife
27/12/1864	Charles Brough	Stafford	Murder of George Walker
27/12/1864	Richard Hale	Stafford	Murder of "bastard child"
09/01/1866	Charles Robinson	Stafford	Murder of Harriet Seager
27/03/1866	George Bentley	Stafford	Murder of John Poole	*
07/08/1866	William Collier	Stafford	Murder of Thomas Smith	*
13/08/1872	Christopher Edwards	Stafford	Murder of his wife	*
	* = Possibly assisted by his son, George Smith jnr.
13/08/1868	Thomas Wells	Maidstone	Murder of the station master	Assisted
08/09/1868	Alexander Mackay	Newgate	Murder of employer’s wife	Calcraft

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