Stafford Prison.

The Staffordshire County Gaol was designed by William Blackburn and construction began in 1787. The new prison opened in May 1793, on Gaol Road in Stafford to replace the previous gaol in the North Gate. Here is a drawing of the gatehouse. The original building consisted of a central quadrangle with four wings radiating from it. In 1834 this four story crescent shaped cell block was added which remains unique to Stafford. During the 19th century the Gaol was extended and modified several times. It had originally housed male and female inmates together with debtors, like all other county gaols, but its roles changed over time as the laws were changed/relaxed in the 19th century. 100 men and four women were hanged here, with 88 being in public between 1793 and 1866.

In 1916 the gaol was used to house Irish Republican prisoners and conscientious objectors (to fighting in World War I). Part of the prison was requisitioned as a military prison and detention barracks. In 1921 Stafford was closed, reopening as a local prison in 1939. Staffordshire executions were transferred to Winson Green prison in Birmingham upon closure.
Today as H.M.P. Stafford it is classed as a Category 'C' Prison facility for male adults. In April 2014 it became a sex-offenders-only prison. In 2017 it was reportedly housing 745 inmates, mostly in shared cells.

Hangmen at Stafford.
Prior to 1838 there are no reliable records of whom the hangman was at Stafford. Samuel Haywood from Appleby Magna, Leicestershire is thought to have officiated at the execution of Ann Wycherley on the 5th of May 1838.

William Calcraft came to Stafford just once for the double execution of James Owen and George Thomas on the 11th of April 1840 for the rape and murder of Christina Collins.

George Smith from Dudley was a former prisoner in the gaol, incarcerated for debt, who volunteered to assist William Calcraft at the above hanging. It is said that Smith was subsequently hired by the Under Sheriff of Staffordshire to save the cost of bringing Calcraft up from London. He carried out 19 hangings as principal, including that of Sarah Westwood on the 13th of January 1844. The first was that of Matthew Fowles on the 3rd of April 1841 for the robbery murder of Martha Keeling. Smith’s last execution was that of Christopher Edwards on the 13th of August 1872 in private within the prison. His 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 8.00 a.m. on Saturday on the 14th of June 1856. It is thought that Smith’s son, also George, assisted at his last three executions.

William Marwood took over from Smith and his only job here was the execution of Robert Taylor on the 29th of December 1874.

George Incher carried out three executions. They were John Stanton on the 30th of March 1875, Henry Rogers on the 31st of July 1877 and James Williams on the 22nd of February 1881.

James Berry replaced Incher and carried out two hangings here, those of Thomas Boulton on the 17th of August 1885 and Thomas Clewes on the 1st of January 1889.

Thomas Scott hanged John Hewitt and Thomas Bond on the 15th of August 1893 and the 20th of August 1895 respectively.

James Billington hanged James Shufflebotham on the 2nd of April 1901.

William Billington executed William Lane on the 12th of August 1902 and John Billington hanged Henry Jones on the 29th of March 1904.

Henry Pierrepoint carried out the next three hangings, those of Frederick Edge on the 27th of December 1905, Joseph Jones on the 26th of March 1907 and Joseph Edwin Jones on the 14th of April 1909. His brother Thomas hanged George Loake on the 28th of December 1911.

The last execution here was performed by John Ellis who hanged Josiah Davies on the 10th of March 1914.

The gallows at Stafford.

Like many new prisons in the late 18th century, hangings took place on a New Drop style gallows erected on the flat roof of the gatehouse from August 1793 to March 1817. Ann Statham was the last prisoner to be hanged on the gatehouse roof. The gallows collapsed precipitating Ann, the Under Sheriff, the hangman and the chaplain onto the roof below and it had to be repaired so that she could be hanged an hour later. For the next executions this portable gallows based upon the pattern used at Newgate prison was drawn out in front of the main gate.

It is assumed that this gallows was used for the first few hangings within the prison, but in August 1893 a purpose built execution shed was erected over a brick lined pit in one of the yards for the hanging of John Hewitt by Thomas Scott. Hewitt weighed 139 lbs. and was given a drop of 6’ 3”, death being reported as instantaneous. It is thought that this shed was used for all nine subsequent executions here.

Hangings at Stafford Gaol from 1793 (104 in total, including 4 women). Prior to 1793 hangings were carried out at Sandyford Meadow near Stafford.

Public hangings (88 in total).
Date	Prisoner	Age	Crime
August 5th 1793	Ebenezer Coulson (soldier)	21	Murder of Henry Yates at Wolverhampton.
August 17th 1793	John Hackett (cordwainer)	40	Burglary in the dwelling house of George Cathness
April 12th 1794	James Belfield	40	Stealing a black mare, valued at £10, the property of John Dain, at Eccleshall
11th April 1795	Thomas Jones (aka Thomas Yates)	55	Horse stealing a brown bay mare, valued at £20, at Curborough
April 11th 1795	Joseph Foster (labourer) William Nield (labourer)	42 38	Horse stealing a chestnut mare, valued at £10, the property of Benjamin Dobell, in the parish of Sheriffhales.
August 22nd 1795	Joel Lunn (gun lock filer)	29	House-breaking. his wife was sentenced to be transported to New South Wales.
March 14th 1796	Michael Dorricot (labourer)	24	Murder of Joseph Bache at Patshull.
March 26th 1796	Thomas Brown (labourer)	25	High Treason, guilty of possessing a dye for counterfeiting shilling coins.
March 26th 1796	John Horton James Nightingale	29 28	Burglary of the house of Jane Southall at Brewood.
August 28th 1797	Thomas Millwood Oliver (surgeon & apothecary)	28	Murder of John Wood at Burslem. Gallows broke and had to be re-erected.
April 14th 1798	Andrew Burns (weaver) John Hill (labourer)	21 19	Highway robbery of William Dacey in the parish of Wolstanton.
August 25th 1798	Robert Lander (alias Bradbury) (soldier)	25	Highway robbery of Solomon Barnett
August 25th 1798	Edward Kidson (butcher)	37	Stealing two cows valued at £20 at Kingswinford.
April 1st 1799	Charles Squires (locksmith)	35	Murder of Joseph Green at Willenhall.
August 10th 1799	William Lea (labourer)	60	Forgery & counterfeiting a £1 Bank of England Note at Kingswinford.
April 19th 1800	Thomas Smith (baker)	25	Forgery a Bill of Exchange for £14 in the parish of Wolverhampton
April 19th 1800	Benjamin Perry (gun lock filer)	56	Uttering Promissory Notes purporting to be £1 Dudley Old Bank Notes at Darlaston
August 30th 1800	Zachariah Edwards (labourer)	28	Highway robbery of Richard Davies in the parish of Darslaston
March 28th 1801	Thomas Butler (bucklemaker)	22	Uttering forgery of One Guinea Stafford Bank Notes at Walsall
March 28th 1801	John MacConicle (weaver)	25	Uttering forgery of £1 Bank of England Notes
March 28th 1801	John Bowyer (labourer)	66	Stealing three ewes (sheep) at Chedleton.
August 8th 1801	John Smith	19	Horse stealing - a brown gelding, valued at £30
August 8th 1801	Thomas Spittle	23	Horse stealing - a black mare valued at £9.
August 8th 1801	John Palmer John Harper	30 30	Horse stealing - a chestnut mare, valued at £20, the property of John Powell, at Sedgley
April 8th 1804	John Simpson	36	Forgery of an order for payment of money for £85 at Stone
April 13th 1805	John Waltho (labourer)	40	Arson of a barn at Armitage.
March 30th 1807	George Allen (labourer)	42	Murder of his three children at Mayfield.
April 6th 1808	William Hawkeswood (servant)	20	Murder of John Parker at Swindson “The Pedmore Poisoner”.
April 3rd 1811	John Gold (farmer)	23	Murder of his wife, Elizabeth, at Alstonfield.
August 31st 1811	Thomas James (labourer)	60	Bestiality.
March 14th 1812	Benjamin Mycock (farmworker)	32	Murder of his brother, Joseph, at Ilam.
August 15th 1812	William Booth (farmer)	32	Forgery.
March 18th 1813	William Howe (alias John Wood) (carpenter)	30	Murder of Benjamin Robbins at Kinver. Gibbeted after execution on Dunkley Heath.
August 28th 1813	William Cox (collier) Peter Howell (collier)	51 30	Burglary.
August 28th 1813	Thomas Green (labourer)	37	Horse stealing.
August 5th 1815	Daniel Douglas (draper)	24	Forgery.
March 21st 1817	Ann Statham	28	Murder of her “bastard child) at Whichnor Bridge.
Ann Statham was the last prisoner to be hanged on the gatehouse roof. The gallows collapsed so from then on executions were performed on a portable gallows drawn out in front of the main gate.
August 16th 1817	Edward Campbell (shoe trader)	52	'Uttering forged notes" - First to be hanged on the new portable 'drop'.
March 18th 1818	Joseph Dace Samuel Haines	19 23	Housebreaking.
August 21st 1819	John Duffield	47	High Treason coining offence.
April 15th 1820	Dan Collier William Toft John Walklate	18 21 24	Rape of Hannah Bowers at Stoke on Trent.
July 27th 1820	Abel Hill (mining engineer)	23	Murder of Mary Malton at Bilston.
March 7th 1821	Amos Drew	24	Burglary and assault.
March 7th 1821	James Buckingham	24	Housebreaking. His wife was sentenced to transportation.
March 7th 1821	Robert Bunny	51	Sheep stealing.
March 7th 1821	John Garmston	23	Burglary
April 6th 1822	Charles Taylor	36	High Treason coining offence.
March 15th 1825	Thomas Powell	32	Murder of Ann Spencer at Bushbury.
April 1st 1826	Theodore Moore	41	High Treason coining offence.
August 5th 1826	James Adams John Williams John Bosworth	23 19 20	Highway robbery.
April 27th 1827	Benjamin Hodges (labourer)	22	Attempted murder - “cutting and maiming”.
April 5th 1828	Joseph Preston	48	Incestuous rape of his eldest daughter
August 16th 1828	John Highfield (farmer)	58	Forgery - last to hang here for this offence.
April 16th 1831	John Swatkins (labourer) William Lloyd (labourer)	22 52	Arson of a barley rick at Swindon.
August 10th 1833	John Reynolds	19	Assault and highway robbery.
Under the provisions of the Anatomy Act of 1832 the bodies of hanged prisoners were buried within the “precincts of the prison”. All further executions were for murder.
March 19th 1834	Richard Tomlinson	22	Murder of Mary Evans at Ranton.
March 19th 1834	Mary Smith	24	Murder of her “bastard child”, aged 12 days, by drowning in canal at Bloxwich
May 5th 1838	Ann Wycherley	28	Murder of her daughter, Ann, by drowning at Chipnall Mill.
April 11th 1840	James Owen George Thomas (alias Dobell) both bargemen	39 27	Murder - "Bloody Steps Murder" of Christina Collins at Brindley Bank near Rugeley.
April 3rd 1841	Matthew Fowles	22	Murder of Martha Keeling at Newcastle-under-Lyme.
April 2nd 1842	Joseph Wilkes (labourer)	18	Murder of Matthew Adams at Wednesbury.
August 26th 1843	Charles Higginson (labourer)	26	Murder of his five year old son at Eccleshall.
January 13th 1844	Sarah Westwood (housewife)	42	Poisoning by arsenic of her husband, John.
August 17th 1844	William Beard (servant)	35	Murder of Elisabeth Griffiths at Wednesbury.
January 25th 1845	Paul Downing Charles Powys	19 17	Murder of William Cooper at Audley.
April 5th 1845	John Brough (farmer)	39	Murder of his brother, Thomas at Biddulph.
April 9th 1853	Charles Moore	36	Murder of Mr. & Mrs. Blackbourn at Castle Church
June 14th 1856	Dr. William Palmer (surgeon)	31	Murder of John Cook poisoning by strychnine.
August 8th 1857	George Jackson (labourer)	20	Murder of Mr. Charlesworth at Abbots Bromley.
January 5th 1861	Samuel Twigg	35	Murder of his wife at Bilston.
January 4th 1862	David Brandrick (iron puddler)	30	Murder of Mr. Bagot at Bilston.
December 26th 1864	Charles Brough (collier)	24	Murder of George Walker at Audley. (Charles Brough was the nephew of John Brough)
January 9th 1866	Charles Robinson	18	Murder of Harriet Seager at Wolverhampton.
March 27th 1866	Charles Bentley (soldier)	27	Murder of John Poole at Offley Brook.
August 7th 1866	William Collier (farmer)	35	Murder of Thomas Smith at Whiston Eaves.
Private executions (17 in total).
August 13th 1872	Christopher Edwards (locksmith)	35	Murder of his wife Rosannah at Willenhall.
December 29th 1874	Robert Taylor (miner)	21	Murder of Mary Kidd at Yoxall.
March 30th 1875	John Stanton (shoe finisher)	22	Murder of his uncle, Thomas Nield at Stafford.
July 31st 1877	Henry Rogers (plasterer)	27	Murder of his wife at Wolverhampton.
February 22nd 1881	John Williams (tailor)	24	Murder of girlfriend Elizabeth Bagnall at Tixall.
August 17th 1885	Thomas Boulton (jewellers assistant)	47	Murder of his niece at Handsworth.
January 1st 1889	Thomas Clews (collier)	23	Murder of his wife at Washerwell.
From August 1893 hangings were carried out in a purpose built execution shed. (10 in total)
August 15th 1893	John Hewitt (miner)	19	Murder - Shot William Masfen a gentleman farmer who caught him poaching at Norton Canes.
August 20th 1895	Thomas Bond (labourer)	29	Murder of Frederick Bakewell at Orgreave.
April 2nd 1901	James Shuttlebotham	38	Murder of his wife, Elizabeth at Biddulph Moor.
August 12th 1902	William Lane (inquiry agent)	47	Murder of his girlfriend, Elizabeth Dyson at West Bromwich.
March 29th 1904	Henry Jones (collier)	50	Murder of his girlfriend, Mary Gilbert at Hanley.
December 27th 1905	William Frederick Edge (billiard maker)	23	Murder of Francis Walter Evans.
March 26th 1907	Joseph Jones (unemployed)	60	Murder of son in law Edmund Clarke at Quarry Bank
April 14th 1909	Joseph Edwin Jones (coal miner)	39	Murder of his wife, Charlotte at Wolverhampton.
December 28th 1911	George Loake (engine driver)	64	Murder of his wife, Elizabeth at Walsall.
March 10th 1914	Josiah Davies (ironworker)	58	Murder of Martha Hodgkin at Wolverhampton.

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