The English hangmen from 1850 to 1964

The post of hangman became much sought after in the mid 19th century and remained so until capital punishment was abolished in 1964 with large numbers of applicants (including women) for each vacancy. It would probably attract just as many applicants today if capital punishment were to be reintroduced - Swaziland had more than 50 applications for the position in 1998 from people from all over the world.

When William Calcraft retired, the post of hangman for London and Middlesex ceased to be a salaried position.  Calcraft was paid separately by other counties in which he operated. His successors were paid a fee for each execution they carried out and these fees barely increased at all from the 1870's to the 1960's. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that most of those who held the post of executioner did it not for financial gain but for other, more personal, reasons.

After Berry resigned the Home Office maintained a list of executioners and assistants that was made available to Under Sheriffs when they had to organise an execution in their county. The Under Sheriff selected the hangman and assistant(s) from this list.  Where there was to be a double execution there were normally two assistants. 
Any form of mis-behaviour or poor performance would result in the person being removed from the list. It was normal after a person successfully completed their training at Newgate or, after 1903, at Pentonville Prison for them to be added to the list and to initially work as an assistant until in some cases being allowed to carry out executions themselves.

George Smith from Dudley in the Midlands 1805-1874.

Period in office – 1849-1872.
George Smith was born in Rowley Regis in 1805 and was a prisoner himself at Stafford when he entered the “trade” as an assistant to Calcraft. His first job was assisting at the double hanging of James Owen and George Thomas outside Stafford Gaol on the 11th of April 1840. He learnt the job and was able to perform executions himself, principally in the Midlands.  Smith’s most famous solo execution was that of the Rugeley poisoner, Dr William Palmer for the murder of John Parsons Cook, before a large crowd at Stafford prison on the 14th of June 1856. Smith was to hang a further 14 men and one woman at Stafford, the last in August 1872. He assisted Calcraft at the first private hanging in England (of Thomas Wells see below) in August of 1868. He was renowned for his long white coat and top hat which he wore at public hangings. Smith's son, also George, assisted at 3 executions at Stafford prison. Initially, it is said that he was hired by the Under Sheriff of Staffordshire to save the cost of bringing Calcraft up from London. With the advent of a good rail network, Smith, like Askern and Calcraft, could operate much further a field in later years. George Smith carried out two private executions, the last at Stafford on the 13th of August 1872, when he hanged 34 year old Christopher Edwards for the murder of his wife.

Robert Anderson (Evans) - of Carmarthen, Wales.

Period in office - 1873-1875.
Robert Anderson was a lawyer’s son who had trained as a doctor but had not practiced as such.  He was reputed to be a man of private means who did not need the small income derived from executions and in fact gave it to Calcraft for the privilege of assisting him or acting as principal.  "Evans the hangman" as he was known, acted as principal executioner on several occasions, mainly in Wales.  He also carried out a treble hanging in the open courtyard of Gloucester prison on the 12th of January 1874, when 31 year old Mary Ann Barry and her common law husband, Edwin Bailey, were executed for the murder of his illegitimate child, together with Edward Butt who had strangled his girlfriend. He carried out seven private hangings and assisted William Calcraft on various occasions.

William Calcraft - Little Baddow, near Chelmsford, Essex 1800- 1879.

Period in office - 1829-1874.
Calcraft was the longest serving executioner of all and was noted for his "short drops" causing most of his victims to strangle to death. It is not known precisely how many executions he carried out but it is estimated at between 400 and 450, including those of at least 35 women.
His first experience was the hanging of housebreaker Thomas Lister and highwayman George Wingfield at Lincoln on the 27th of March 1829. James Foxen died on the 14th of February 1829 and Calcraft succeeded him as hangman for London and Middlesex on the 4th of April of that year. His first job was to execute the murderess, Ester Hibner, at Newgate on the 13th of that month. 1829 was a busy year for him with no fewer than 31 executions. He was assisted by Thomas Cheshire in some of these. 
He officiated at the last public hangings in Britain - those of Francis Kidder (the last woman) at Maidstone on the 2nd of April 1868 for the drowning of her stepdaughter and Michael Barrett - a Fenian (what we would now call an IRA terrorist) for the Clerkenwell prison explosion which killed 12 people and injured over 100, outside Newgate prison on the 26th of May 1868.
The Government then passed The Capital Punishment Within Prisons Act of 1868 which transferred all executions inside prison walls. The press and witnesses were still permitted to attend, although executions were no longer the great public spectacles that they used to be.
The first hanging "within the prison" was that of 18 year old Thomas Wells at Maidstone on the 13th of August 1868. Wells was a railway worker who had murdered his boss, the Station Master at Dover. Although the execution was in "private," there were reporters and invited witnesses present and the short drop was used so that they would have been treated to the sight of Wells taking 3- 4 minutes to die. William carried out 41 private hangings.
As the official hangman for London and Middlesex, Calcraft also carried out floggings at Newgate. He received one guinea (£1.05) a week retainer and a further guinea for each hanging at Newgate and half a crown (12.5p) for a flogging. His earnings were greatly enhanced by executions at other prisons where he could charge higher fees, typically £10 -15.
He also held the same post at Horsemonger Lane Goal in the County of Surrey and received a similar fee from there. Here he hanged 24 men and 2 women between April 1829 and October 1870. He was the exclusive executioner at Maidstone prison, carrying out all 37 hangings there between 1830 and 1872. In addition to these earnings, he was also allowed to keep the clothes and personal effects of the condemned which he could sell afterwards to such as Madame Tussaud's for dressing the latest waxwork in the Chamber of Horrors. The rope which had been used at a hanging of a particularly notable criminal could also be sold for good money (up to 5 shillings or 25p an inch).
Calcraft claims to have invented the leather waist belt with wrist straps for pinioning the prisoners arms and one of the nooses he used is still on display at Lancaster Castle. It is a very short piece of 3/4" rope with a loop worked into one end with the free end of the rope passed through it and terminating in a hook with which it was attached to the chain fixed to the gallows beam. This particular noose was used for the execution of Richard Pedder on the 29th of August 1857.
On the 20th of April 1849, Calcraft hanged 17 year old Sarah Thomas in public at Bristol for the murder of her mistress who had maltreated her. This was one job which greatly affected him on account of her youth and good looks.
Frederick George Manning and his wife Maria were hanged side by side on the 13th of November 1849 on the roof of Horsemonger Lane Goal. The Mannings had murdered Patrick O'Connor - Maria's erstwhile lover for money. A husband and wife being executed together was very unusual and drew the largest crowd ever recorded at a Surrey hanging - estimated at between 30,000 and 50,000.
Dr Edward William Pritchard drew an even bigger crowd, estimated at around 100,000, when he was hanged in Jail Square in Glasgow on the 28th of July 1865 for the murders of his wife and mother-in-law.
Catherine Wilson was a serial poisoner whom Calcraft executed in front of the Debtor’s Door at Newgate on the 20th of October 1862, witnessed by a crowd estimated at 20,000. She maintained her innocence to the end and met her fate with great composure. She reportedly died without a struggle. Hers was the last public execution of a woman at Newgate.
1867 brought the hanging of three Fenians who had murdered a policeman in Manchester. William O'Meara Allen, Michael Larkin and Michael O'Brien (alias Gould) suffered together on the 23rd of November 1867 outside Salford Prison. Afterwards, they became known as the Manchester Martyrs and a monument was erected to them in Ireland which can still be seen today. Calcraft received the princely sum of £30.00 for this job.
He was a regular visitor to Durham where he was to hang Britain's greatest mass murderess, Mary Ann Cotton on the 24th of March 1873, probably assisted by Robert Anderson.
His last London hanging was that of John Godwin at Newgate on the 25th of May 1874, after which he retired on a pension of 25 shillings - £1.25) per week provided by the City of London in 1874. There is, however, some evidence that Calcraft hanged John Macdonald at Exeter on the 10th of August 1874. He died in December 1879.
Most of Calcraft's early work came from London and the Southeast, as the Midlands had George Smith and Thomas Askern operated in Yorkshire and the North. With the advent of the railway system in the mid 19th century, Calcraft was soon able to operate all over Britain and apparently loved travelling. There was 6,000 miles of railway by 1850 which meant that he could effectively and conveniently work nationwide.

Thomas Askern of York 1816-1878.

Period in office 1853-1876.
Thomas Askern was principally the hangman for Yorkshire. Askern, like all of York's hangmen up till then, was drawn from the inmate population - he was in prison for debt at the time. His first job was the hanging of 28 year old William Dove at York Castle for the murder of his wife on the 9th of August 1856, as Calcraft was busy elsewhere. He also officiated at Armley prison, Leeds and was responsible for 4 executions there as well as 9 at York. As with Calcraft, the availability of a good rail network enabled Askern to work further a field. Askern was to perform the last public hanging in Scotland, that of 19 year old Robert Smith on the 12th of May 1868 at Dumfries, for the murder of a young girl. He also hanged Pricilla Biggadyke at Lincoln in 1868, the first private female hanging. She was later found to have been innocent and was pardoned. Askern’s last hanging was that of James Dalgleish at Carlisle on the 19th of December 1876. Askern died in Maltby, at the age of 62, on December 6th, 1878. In all he did five private hangings.

William Marwood of Horncastle Lincolnshire 1820-1883.

Period in office - 1874-1883.
Marwood was a cobbler by trade who had, over the years, taken a great interest in the "art" of hanging and felt that it could be improved. He had never hanged anyone or even assisted at an execution but at the age of 54 persuaded the authorities at Lincoln prison to let him carry out the hanging of William Frederick Horry on the 1st of April 1872. The execution went off without a hitch and impressed the governor of that prison.
He introduced the "long drop" method of hanging (which was thought to have been invented by surgeons in Ireland). He realised that if the prisoner was to be given a drop of 6 to 10, feet depending upon his weight and with the noose correctly positioned, death would be "nearly instantaneous" due to the neck being broken. The long drop removed all the gruesome struggling and convulsing from the proceedings and was, undoubtedly far less cruel to the prisoner and far less trying to the governor and staff of the prison who, since the abolition of public hangings, had to witness the spectacle at close quarters.
He was duly appointed as official hangman by the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex, replacing Calcraft, and received a retainer of £20.00 per annum plus £10.00 for each execution, but unlike Calcraft got no actual salary. He also was able to keep the condemned person’s clothes and received travelling expenses. The rail system was so advanced by this time that he could travel anywhere in the country with ease thus making it possible for him to carry out most of the executions within England and in Ireland.
There was a famous rhyme about Marwood at the time which went, "If Pa killed Ma who'd kill Pa - Marwood". Marwood was something of a celebrity and had business cards printed - "William Marwood Public Executioner, Horncastle, Lincolnshire" and the words "Marwood Crown Office" over the door of his shop.
In his eleven years of service, he hanged 181 people, including 9 women, before dying of "inflammation of the lungs" in September 1883.
His last execution was that of James Burton on the 6th of August 1883 at Durham. Burton’s pinioned arm caught up in the free rope hanging down his back and the poor man had to be hanged twice (See Durham prison).

Four of Marwood's most notable cases were :
Charles Peace was a burglar and murderer whom Marwood hanged on the 25th of February 1879 at Armley Goal in Leeds. Peace was the archetypal Victorian criminal who struck fear into the hearts of everyone at the time.
Kate Webster, an Irish servant girl, who murdered her mistress and cut up her body was executed on the 29th of July 1879 at Wandsworth Prison, the only woman to be hanged there.
Percy Lefroy Mapleton murdered Isaac Fredrick Gold on a train on the Brighton Line so that he could steal Gold's watch and some coins. He was arrested almost immediately but managed to escape from custody before being arrested again, convicted and finally hanged at Lewes prison on the 29th of November 1881.
Marwood travelled to Ireland from time to time and had the job of executing Joe Brady and 4 other members of the "Invincibles" gang for the murders in Phoenix Park Dublin of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Thomas Harry Burke the Permanent Under Secretary for Ireland. These hangings took place on the 14th of May 1883 at Kilmainham jail in Dublin.
Marwood worked with George Incher on the occasions that needed two executioners, i.e. doubles, until 1881 and then used Bartholomew Binns as an assistant until 1883 when Binns took over as No. 1. During Marwood's reign as No. 1, there were 14 double executions, 3 triples and one quadruple (at Newgate). He worked without an assistant for most executions but one assumes that if needed, the warders were there to assist.

George Meker or Incher – of Dudley.

Period in office -1875-1881.
Acted as executioner at Stafford on 3 occasions, between 1875 and 1881 for the hangings of John Stanton, Henry Rogers and James Williams. He also assisted William Marwood at the multiple execution of the 4 Lennie Mutineers at Newgate in May 1876.

Bartholomew Binns.

Period in office – 1883-1884.
His first "solo" execution was that of Henry Powell on the 6th of November 1883 at Wandsworth Prison.
He also dealt with Patrick O'Donnell, an Irish Republican, who murdered the chief witness in the Phoenix Park murder case (see above). He officiated at the double hanging of Catherine Flannagan and Margaret Higgins at Kirkdale Gaol on the 5th of March 1884.  His last job was the hanging of 18 year old Michael McLean at the same prison, five days later, on the 10th of March.  He was seen to be in a drunken state and the execution was not entirely satisfactory – it took 13 minutes for McLean‘s heart to stop. After the formal complaint about this and his drunken behaviour, he was removed from the Home Office list of hangmen. However, he later assisted Tommy Scott on several occasions in 1900/01.
Binns was perhaps one of the least successful British hangman, only holding the job as principal for a year, although he had assisted Marwood at executions.

James Berry of Heckmondwike Yorkshire 1852-1913.

Period on Home Office List - 1884-1891.
Berry carried out 130 hangings in 8 years, including those of 5 women. He was the first British executioner to write his memoirs, "My Experiences as an Executioner" which is still available in libraries. He was, like Marwood, proud of his calling and both had their own waxworks in Madame Tussaud's. Berry had previously been a policeman in Bradford and had met Marwood and became acquainted with his methods.
His 8 years in office were not without event.

His first commission was the double hanging of William Innes and Robert Vickers at Edinburgh’s Calton prison on the 31st of March 1884. Innes and Vickers were two poachers who had shot and killed two gamekeepers. Mary Lefley was to be his first English execution, on the 26th of May at Lincoln County jail. Lefley, aged 44, poisoned her husband with arsenic and had to be dragged to the gallows screaming "Murder, Murder" and struggling with the warders.
One of his most famous (non) jobs was the strange case of John Lee ("The man they could not hang") on the 23rd of February 1885 at Exeter prison. Nineteen year old John Lee was convicted of the murder of his elderly employer Ellen Keyse, for whom he worked as a footman.
All the normal preparations were made on the gallows, set up in the coach house at Exeter prison, but when Berry pulled the lever, nothing happened. Berry stomped on the trap but to no avail, and Lee was then taken back to his cell whilst the trap release mechanism was tested. It worked perfectly.
The process was now repeated but with the same result and yet again the trap worked perfectly after Lee was removed. After the third unsuccessful attempt, the governor stayed the hanging whilst he obtained directions from the Home Office. Lee was later reprieved.
Various theories abound as to why the trap would not open with Lee on it, ranging from divine intervention through the wood swelling in the damp weather to the more believable one of the prisoners who had helped to erect it placing a wedge between the leaves of the trap which he removed again as soon as Lee was taken off and reinserted at each new attempt.

The reality was much more prosaic.  When the trap had been erected in the coach house at Exeter, having been previously used at a different location for the hanging of Annie Tooke in 1879, the metal work was not installed correctly and one of the long hinges fouled on the side of the pit when there was weight on the trapdoors but not when there wasn’t.

Another unfortunate experience concerned the execution of Robert Goodale at Norwich Castle on the 30th of November 1885. Goodale who weighed 15 stone (95 Kg.) but was in poor physical condition, was decapitated by the force of the drop. (The only recorded instance of this in Britain, although two other of Berry's victims, Moses Shrimpton at Worcester and John Conway at Kirkdale were nearly decapitated by the drop.) The last case led to Berry's resignation as he blamed the prison doctor, Dr. Barr, for interfering with his calculations.
The opposite problem occurred in at least 3 of Berry's other hangings when the condemned clearly strangled to death due to the length of drop being insufficient. These were David Roberts hanged at Cardiff on the 2nd of March 1886, Henry Devlin, executed September 23rd, 1890, in Glasgow for murdering his wife, and Edward Hewitt who was executed at Gloucester in June of 1886.
By a strange coincidence, Mr. Berry was called upon to hang Mrs. Berry who had poisoned her 11 year old daughter for £10 life insurance. The execution took place on the 14th of March 1887 at Walton prison Liverpool (the first in that prison). Not only did the executioner and the prisoner have the same surname, and although not related, they actually knew each other, having danced together at a police ball in Manchester some years previously. He was to hang Mary Ann Britland at Strangeways prison in Manchester on the 9th of August 1886 and Mary Eleanor Wheeler (who’s father had also been hanged 10 year earlier) at Newgate prison on the 23rd of December 1890. His final execution was carried out at Edinburgh on the 11th of January 1892 when he hanged Frederick Storey. James Berry was not popular with the Home Office because of his drinking, holding 'court' in a local pubs after executions, and his behaviour at the hanging of John Conway within Liverpool’s Kirkdale prison on the 20th of August 1891.  Berry resigned in early 1892.

Thomas Henry Scott - Huddersfield.

Period on Home Office List 1892-1895.
Acted as executioner on seventeen occasions.  His last being job the hanging of Elijah Winstanley on the 17th of December 1895 at Walton prison.  Leaving the Gaol he got in a cab with a prostitute and was robbed. He was said to be drunk at the time. However he managed to carry on in Ireland till 1901, when the authorities there found out he'd been sacked in England.

James Billington of Farnworth near Bolton in Lancashire 1847-1901.

Period on Home Office List - 1884-1901.
James Billington had a life long fascination with hanging and had unsuccessfully applied for Marwood's post but managed to secure the Yorkshire hangman's position. He succeeded Berry as the executioner for London and the Home Counties in 1892. James' first execution was at Armley Gaol in Leeds on the 26th of August 1884, when he hanged a Joseph Laycock, a Sheffield hawker, for the murder of his wife and 4 children. Laycock was to have said just before being hanged, "You will not hurt me?" to which James Billington replied, "No, thaal nivver feel it, for thaal be out of existence i' two minutes." This execution was judged to be successful and James went on to complete a further 150 executions, finishing on December 3rd, 1901, with the hanging of Patrick M'Kenna at Strangeways prison in Manchester, who was to die for murdering his wife. James died 10 days later of bronchitis and was succeeded by his two sons, William and John, who had assisted him at various hangings..
James Billington hanged 24 men and 3 women at Newgate prison, including Henry Fowler and Albert Milsom on the 9th of June 1896 for beating to death 79 year old widower Henry Smith.
He hanged Amelia Dyer at Newgate for the murder of 4-month old Doris Marmon, a baby who had been entrusted to her care, having received £10 to look after her. This particular form of murder was known as "Baby Farming" and it is thought that Dyer had murdered at least 6 other babies for money. Each baby had been strangled with white tape. As Mrs. Dyer said, that was how you could tell it was one of hers. At 57, she was the oldest woman to go to the gallows since 1843.
Perhaps his most interesting execution was that of the poisoner, Dr. Thomas Neil Cream, on the 15th of November 1892, again at Newgate. Cream waited till the very last moment as he felt the mechanism under the trap begin to move to utter the words, "I am Jack the...." It is highly unlikely that Cream could have been Jack the Ripper but it certainly caused a stir at the time.
James Billington carried out the first hanging of the 20th century when he executed 33 year old Louise Masset at Newgate on the 9th of January 1900 for the murder of her illegitimate son.

Thomas Billington 1872-1902.

Period on Home Office List 1897-1901.
Thomas Billington was James Billington's eldest son and assisted his father and brother William at twenty hangings, before dying of pneumonia aged 29, in 1902.

William Billington 1873-1934.

Period on Home Office List - 1902-1905.
The second of James Billington's three sons, William, took over from his father and was assisted by his younger brother John. James was to carry out 68 executions as principal, including those of Henry Starr, for the murder of his wife at Walton prison Liverpool on the 29th of December 1901. He also assisted at a further 20.
William carried out Newgate’s last execution, that of George Woolfe on the 2nd of May 1902. He also dealt with Annie Walters and Amelia Sach who were hanged at Holloway prison on the 3rd of February 1903 for baby farming. (the first executions at the newly created female only Holloway prison).
Assisted by Henry Pierrepoint, he also carried out the first hanging at Pentonville on the 30th of September 1902, when they executed John McDonald who had stabbed one Mr. Henry Greaves to death.

John Billington 1880-1905.

Period on Home Office List - 1901-1905.
John was also on the Home Office's approved list of executioners and assisted at 26 executions. He also carried out 16 hangings as principal. He executed Mrs. Emily Swan and her boyfriend, John Gallagher, who died together at Armley prison Leeds on the 29th of December 1901 for the murder of Emily's husband. Hooded and noosed on the gallows Emily said, "Good morning John" to which he replied, "Good morning love". Emily replied, "Goodbye, God bless you" before the drop fell ending any more conversation. He hanged John Thomas Kay on the 17th of August 1904 at Armley prison in Leeds, while his brother was dealing with Samuel Holden at Winson Green prison in Birmingham on the same day.

Henry Albert Pierrepoint 1874-1922 from Bradford Yorkshire.

Period on Home Office List - 1901-1910.
Henry Pierrepoint assisted at 30 hangings and carried out 75 executions himself in his 9 year term of office. He took great pride in his work and calculated the drops most carefully - he is said never to have had a single bungled hanging.
His first job was at Newgate, assisting James Billington, with the execution of Marcel Fougeron on the 19th of November 1901. He was judged a “success” at this execution. Between January 1902 and March 1903 he assisted at a further 15 hangings and is thought to have carried out some of them as principal. The first lead role was to be the hanging of Richard Wigley at Shrewsbury on Tuesday the 18th of March 1902. Wigley had murdered his girlfriend.
Henry, assisted by his brother Tom, hanged Rhoda Willis at Cardiff on the 14th of August 1907. Willis, (also known as Leslie James). She was executed on her 44th birthday for the murder of a day old baby whom she had agreed to look after for £6.00 paid to her by its unmarried mother. She was thus, in effect, another baby farmer. Her good looks and golden hair made a big impression on Henry.
Like James Billington, Henry Pierrepoint was the founder of a family dynasty, persuading his older brother Tom and son Albert to follow in his footsteps.
Files recently released by the Public Record Office show that Henry Pierrepoint was sacked because he arrived for an execution in Chelmsford in July 1910 "considerably the worse for drink" and had got into a fight with John Ellis on the preceding afternoon.

John Ellis of Rochdale Lancashire 1874-1932.

Period on Home Office List - 1901-1923.
John Ellis was a notably mild mannered man who ultimately committed suicide possibly through the stresses incurred by his job as hangman and possibly through the effects of the slump on his business as a barber. He had a particular dislike of hanging women for reasons that will become apparent.

He assisted at 46 executions and executed 156 people as principal, including several famous criminals, notably:
Herbert Rowse Armstrong who he hanged on the 31st of May 1922 at Gloucester prison for the murder, by arsenic poisoning, of his wife. There is some doubt now over Armstrong's guilt and new evidence has been unearthed by another, present day solicitor, who acquired Armstrong's practice in Hay on Wye and works in his old office and even bought his house.
Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen is perhaps the most famous criminal to come Ellis's way. He was hanged on the 23rd of November 1910 at Pentonville prison for the murder of his wife, Cora Crippen. Crippen was the first person to be caught by the use of the new wireless telegraph system allowing him to be arrested aboard the S. S. Montrose on which he had sailed to Quebec in Canada with his lover, Ethel Le Neve. At the time, it was seen as the "Crime of the Century" and has held a fascination for many ever since.
George Smith was the famous "Brides in the Bath" murderer whom Ellis hanged on the 13th of August 1915 at Maidstone prison. Smith had married and then drowned Alice Burnham, Beatrice Constance, Annie Mundy and Margaret Elizabeth Lofty for financial gain, via their life insurance policies and wills.
Sir Roger Casement was unusual in that he had been convicted of treason, having tried to get the Germans to send arms and equipment to Ireland to start the 1916 Easter Uprising. He was hanged at Pentonville on the 3rd of August 1916.
In 1923, Ellis had the worst job of his career when he and Robert Baxter hanged Edith Jessie Thompson, aged 28, on the 9th of January at Holloway for her part in the murder of her husband, Percy, who was stabbed to death by Frederick Bywaters. (see below). She had to be carried to the gallows and it was reported that her underwear was covered in blood after the hanging. After this, all other women were made to wear canvas underpants.
Ellis and Baxter also hanged Susan Newell at Duke Street prison Glasgow on the 10th of October 1923.  Thirty year old Newell had strangled newspaper boy, John Johnston, who would not give her an evening paper without the money. She was the first woman to hang in Scotland for over 50 years and on the gallows refused the traditional white hood. John Ellis carried out his final execution on the 28th of December 1923, when he hanged John Eastwood at Armley prison in Leeds, for the murder of his wife. In March of 1924, he tended his resignation due to poor health, having executed a total of 203 people. Before his suicide on September 20th 1932, Ellis wrote his memoirs "Diary of a Hangman" which has been recently reprinted.

William Willis from Manchester. 187?-1939.

Period on Home Office List 1906-1926.
Willis had assisted at 99 executions, helping Ellis, Henry and Tom Pierrepoint and Robert Baxter, before undertaking 14 as “No. 1” including a series of 6 at Manchester's Strangeways prison between 1924 and 1926. While Ellis was hanging Edith Thompson, Willis was doing the same to Frederick Edward Bywaters at Pentonville Prison.
Willis was sacked in 1926 after he was seen to be drunk and aggressive at the hanging of Johannes Mommers at Pentonville on the 27th of July 1926.

Thomas Pierrepoint 1870 - 1954.

Period on Home Office List - 1906-1946.
Tom was 6 years older than his brother Henry and worked as a hangman for 37 years before retiring in 1946, in his mid seventies. Thomas assisted at 36 executions and carried out 201 civilian hangings in England and Wales. He is credited with having carried out around 300 hangings in total, although no exact figure has been verified.  Thomas was the official executioner for Eire after it gained independence from England in 1923 and carried out 24 executions at Dublin’s Mountjoy prison between 1923 and 1944.
Some of his famous cases were :
Ethel Lillie Major hanged on the 19th of December 1934 at Hull Prison for the murder of her husband.
Nurse Dorothea Waddingham, who was hanged for poisoning one of her elderly patients on the 16th of April 1936 at Winson Green prison in Birmingham.
On the 10th of March 1930, Pierrepoint executed Alfred Arthur Rouse at Bedford prison for the murder of an unknown man. Rouse had killed the man and then put him in his (Rouse's) car and set it ablaze in an attempt to fake his own death for the insurance money.
He also hanged Charlotte Bryant, who went to the gallows at Exeter on the 15th of July 1936 for the murder of her husband by arsenic poisoning.
Tom was appointed as executioner by the US Military and was responsible for the hangings of US servicemen at Shepton Mallet prison during World War II, assisted by his nephew, Albert.

Robert Wilson from Manchester.

Period on Home Office List - 1920-1936.
Robert Wilson assisted at 47 executions.

Robert Orridge Baxter of Hertford.

Period on Home Office List - 1915-1935.
Robert Baxter carried out 44 executions as principal and assisted at 53.
Baxter (assisted by Willis and Thomas Phillips) hanged Jean-Pierre Vaquier at Wandsworth prison on the 12th of August 1924 for the poisoning, by strychnine, of his lover's husband.
He also hanged Frederick Guy Browne for his part in P.C. Gutteridge's murder, at Pentonville prison. At the same moment his co-defendant, William Henry Kennedy was being hanged at Wandsworth.

Alfred Allen - Wolverhampton.

Period on Home Office List 1928-1937.
Assisted at 14 hangings and acted as chief executioner at 3 more between 1932 and 1937.

Thomas Mather Phillips from Farnworth near Bolton.

Period on Home Office List 1918-1941.
Acted as chief executioner on two occasions in 1939 and 1940, having previously assisted at 51 hangings.

Stanley William Cross.

Period on Home Office List 1932-1941.
Cross assisted at 20 executions and acted as chief executioner on four occasions. His most memorable execution was the hanging of Udam Singh at Pentonville on Wednesday the 31st of July 1940. Singh, a Sikh extremist, was condemned for the murder of Sir Michael O’Dwyer. He was also responsible for the executions of 2 German spies, Jose Waldeburg and Carl Meier, at Pentonville on the 10th of December, 1940.

Albert Pierrepoint of Clayton Nr. Bradford Yorkshire 1905-1992.

Period on Home Office List 1932-1956.
Albert Pierrepoint was by far the most prolific hangman of the 20th century having executed an estimated 433 men and 17 women in his 24 years of service in this country and abroad. His tally of executions was greatly increased as a result of World War II, working in the UK, Germany and other European countries, including Cyprus, Gibraltar and Austria. In England and Wales Albert assisted at 29 hangings and carried out 138 civilian executions for murder as principal, including those of the last 4 women to hang. Albert was to execute 14 men convicted of espionage and Treason during and immediately after World War 2. These included John Amery, who told Albert that he had always wanted to meet him, as we about to be led to the gallows at Wandsworth on the 19th December 1945 and "Lord Haw-Haw," real name William Joyce, at Wandsworth for treason on the 3rd of January 1946. Theodore Schurch was the last person to be executed for treason in Britain when Albert hanged him at Pentonville on the 4th of January, 1946. It is thought that Albert hanged 190 men and 10 women war criminals at Hameln prison in the British controlled sector of Germany after the 2nd World War.

Albert gave evidence to the 1949 Royal Commission on Capital Punishment, chaired by Sir Ernest Gowers and also a demonstration of the technique used.
His first experience of the family “trade” was assisting his uncle Tom in the hanging of Patrick McDermott at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin on the 29th of December 1932. His first job as an assistant in England was again with his uncle, at the execution of Richard Hetherington at Liverpool’s Walton prison on the 20th of June 1933.
Albert is credited with the quickest hanging on record when he, assisted by Sid Dernley, executed James Inglis in only 7 seconds on the 8th of May 1951 at Strangeways in Manchester. His first execution as "Number 1" was that of gangster, Antonio "Babe" Mancini, at Pentonville Prison on the 17th of October 1941. Albert took over from his uncle as the hangman for the Irish Republic and carried out the last 4 executions there, up to 1954, when Michael Manning became the last person to be executed in Eire.

Some of his notable executions were :
Neville George Clevelly Heath who was hanged on the 16th of October 1946 at Pentonville Prison for the sexual/sadistic murder of Margery Gardner who was found dead in a hotel bedroom. When discovered, she was lying on her back in one of the single beds nearest to the door. She was naked and had her ankles bound with a handkerchief. She had a lot of bruising to her face and her nipples had been almost bitten off. Something had been inserted into her vagina and sharply rotated. On her back were 17 criss-cross lash marks. The cause of death had been suffocation, but only after the horrific injuries had been inflicted.
During World War II, Albert assisted his uncle Tom in the hanging of the 16 American soldiers at Shepton Mallet military prison in Somerset.  They had been condemned by Courts Martial for murder and rape.
After the war, Albert made several visits to Germany and on the 13th of December 1945, hanged 13 German war criminals at Hameln jail including Irma Greese, Elizabeth Volkenrath and Juana Bormann and 10 men including the "Beast of Belsen", Josef Kramer.
Albert is thought to have hanged around 200 Nazis in all. He hanged 8 men in Austria after the war and trained Austrian hangmen in the modern method of hanging.
John George Haigh, the famous "Acid bath murderer," came his way on the 10th of August 1949 at Wandsworth prison for the murder of Mrs. Durand-Deacon. Her gallstone and dentures were not dissolved by the acid in which he had dissolved the rest of her body and remained to convict Haigh.
Derek Bentley was hanged on the 28th of January 1953, at Wandsworth, for his part in the murder of PC Miles. The case has been the subject of books and the film "Let him have it" and efforts for a pardon. For full details of this case go to Derek Bentley.
Another controversial case was that of Timothy John Evans whom Albert hanged on the 9th of March 1950 at Pentonville for the murder of his wife at 10 Rillington Place, the home of John Reginald Christie. Christie admitted killing 7 women in total. He was hanged on the 15th of July 1953 at Pentonville Prison. In 1966, Evans was granted a posthumous pardon.  On Tuesday the 28th of November 1950 Albert hanged James Corbitt at Strangeways in Manchester for the murder of his girlfriend. Corbitt had been a regular at Albert’s pub and they had sang together on a Saturday night.  The had nicknamed each other “Tish” and “Tosh”.  It was only when Albert went to look at the prisoner on the Monday night he realised who he was about to hang.  They greeted each other with their nicknames the following morning.
On the 13th of July 1955 at Holloway Prison, Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Albert’s last execution was that of 25 year old Norman Green at Liverpool’s Walton prison on Wednesday the 27th of July 1955.  Green had stabbed two children to death in separate murders in 1954 and 1955.
Pierrepoint resigned over a disagreement about fees in 1956. He had gone to Strangeways on a bitterly cold day in January 1956 to hang Thomas Bancroft. He arrived at the prison only for Bancroft to be reprieved later in the afternoon. He claimed the full fee of £15, (more than £200 at today's prices), but was offered just £1 in out of pocket expenses by the Under sheriff of Lancashire. Pierrepoint appealed to his employers, the Prison Commission, who refused to get involved. The Under sheriff sent him a cheque for £4 in final settlement. But to Albert this was a huge insult to his pride in his position as Britain's Chief Executioner so he tendered his resignation.  Albert died in a nursing home in Southport, Lancashire, in 1992 at the age of 87.
His autobiography, "Executioner - Pierrepoint" is still available and a film about Albert’s career, entitled “Pierrepoint” and starring Timothy Spall was released in April 2006.

Henry (Harry) Kirk from Huntingdon.

Period on Home Office List - 1941-1950.
Harry Kirk had worked as an assistant to Stanley Cross, Tom and Albert Pierrepoint on 47 occasions. He had a very short career as a hangman. When he executed Norman Goldenthorpe at Norwich on the 22nd of November 1950 for the murder of 66 year old Emma Howe at Yarmouth, snorting sounds were heard coming from the prisoner. This was apparently due to the hood becoming stuck in the eyelet of the noose. This was thus Kirk's first and last hanging as principal.

Stephen Wade from Doncaster.

Period on Home Office List - 1941-1955.
Steve Wade also worked as an assistant to both Tom and Albert Pierrepoint on 18 occasions and carried out 29 executions in his own right, including two after Albert Pierrepoint’s last, those of Corbett Roberts at Birmingham on the 2nd of August 1955 and Ernest Harding at Birmingham on the 9th of August 1955. His last job, assisted by Robert Leslie Stewart, was the execution of Alec Wilkinson on the 12th of August 1955 at Armley jail. Steve resigned due to failing health in late 1955 and died in December of the following year, aged 59.

Harry Bertrum Allen from Manchester 1911-1992.

Period on Home Office List - 1941-1964.
After Albert Pierrepoint’s resignation, Steve Wade and Harry Allen took over as joint No. 1. However, executions were becoming fewer and fewer in the run up to and as a result of the Homicide Act of 1957 (There were none at all in 1956). Allen performed 29 executions (21 in England and Wales) and assisted at 53 others.
John Vickers became the first man to die for a murder committed under the provisions of the new Homicide Act of 1957 when he was hanged by Harry Allen at Durham on the 23rd of July 1957.
Allen hanged George Riley on the 9th of February 1961 at Shrewsbury Prison for the murder of his neighbour, Adeline Mary Smith.
Perhaps his most controversial case was that of James Hanratty, who was convicted of the A6 murder and hanged at Bedford prison on the 4th of April 1962. There have been serious doubts raised over Hanratty's guilt and attempts to win him a pardon continue to this day. In 2002, Hanratty's family had their appeal turned down after DNA evidence showed conclusively that Hanratty was guilty.
Allen's last job was the hanging of Gwynne Owen Evans at Strangeways Prison at 8.00 a.m. on the 13th of August 1964, whilst his accomplice, Peter Anthony Allen, was suffering the same fate at Walton. (See below) Allen and Evans were the last men to suffer the death penalty in Britain.

Robert Leslie Stewart from Chadderton Lancashire 1918-1988.

Period on Home Office List - 1950-1964.
Robert Leslie Stewart was born in Edinburgh and assisted Albert Pierrepoint and Steve Wade in 20 executions between 1952 and 1959 before becoming a principal himself, in 1958, when he officiated at the execution of Vivian Frederick Teed at Swansea on the 6th of May. He was to hang a further 5 men before abolition and was on the final list of executioners issued by the Home Office in February 1964.
His first recorded job as an assistant (to Albert Pierrepoint) was at the hanging of Alfred Bradley at Strangeways Prison, Manchester on the 15th of January 1952.
Stewart shared the distinction of carrying out one of the two last hangings in Britain when he executed Peter Anthony Allen at Walton prison, Liverpool, at 8.00 a.m. on the 13th of August 1964 for his part in the murder of John Alan West, a 53 year old laundryman who was killed during the course of a robbery carried out by Allen and Evans. Stewart also carried out the last hanging at Glasgow’s Barlinnie Prison, that of 19 year old Anthony Joseph Miller on the 22nd of December 1960.  Miller had been convicted of the robbery murder of John Cremin in a GlasgowPark.

Click here for a picture of some of Britain’s hangmen.

Click here for the most comprehensive list of Britain’s hangmen (and one hang-woman) from 1800 - 1964

Assistant executioners.

It was normal at 20th century hangings for their to be an assistant executioner, but on at least 5 occasions in the early part of the century no assistant was employed. From 1892, although an assistant could be employed under Home Office rules, they were not generally used until 1900. The assistant had four roles to play.  One was to assist in setting up and testing the drop, the second was to strap the prisoner’s legs on the gallows, the third was to assist in taking down the body and preparing it for autopsy.  Finally he had to able to take over in case the hangman fainted or became otherwise ill at the last moment. 
In addition to those listed above who carried executions themselves, having been previously trained by being assistants, there were a further 21 men who only were ever assistants and never acted as principal, see below. Amongst the better known of these was Sid Dernley, who assisted at 19 executions in England and Wales between 1950 and 1952 and also wrote a book called "The Hangman's Tale" detailing his experiences. Dernley died in 1994. A less well known name is that of Royston Lawrence Rickard, who assisted at 13 executions between 1953 and 1964, including those of Ruth Ellis and James Hanratty and also at one of the two final British hangings, that of Peter Anthony Allen (see above). The assistant at the other execution on that day (that of Gwynne Owen Evans) was Harry Robinson. The final list of executioners and assistants issued in February 1964, comprised Robert Leslie Stewart and Harry Allen as principals with Royston Rickard, Harry Robinson, Samuel Plant and John Underhill as assistants.

List of 20th century assistants only with dates of service and number of executions attended.

No assistant used	5	Herbert Morris 1939 - 1946	19
Thomas Billington 1900 - 1901	6	Alexander Riley 1940 - 1946	7
William Warbrick 1900	3	Henry Critchell 1940 - 1948	19
Henry Pollard 1901 - 1906	30	Sid Dernley 1950 - 1952	19
William Conduit 1911	2	Harry Smith 1951 - 1958	15
Albert Lumb 1911 - 1913	11	John Broadbent 1953 - 1954	5
George Brown 1911 - 1919	20	Royston Rickard 1953 - 1964	13
Edward Taylor 1915 - 1925	27	Thomas Cunliffe 1958 - 1959	4
Seth Mills 1921 - 1923	6	Harry Robinson 1958 - 1964	6
Lionel Mann 1926 - 1930	10	Samuel Plant 1960 - 1964	3
Frank Rowe 1928	1