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A history of |
It is not possible to determine when Newgate first became a prison
or when exactly the new gatehouse itself was originally built. Newgate was to
be
A new prison at Newgate was begun in 1770 and proceeded
slowly. Before it could be finished, the building was badly damaged by fire
during the Gordon riots of 1780 and it was not finally completed until 1785.
This building was then used in that form until 1856 when it was remodelled
internally to reflect the new perceptions of what a prison should be like.
Newgate closed for good in late May 1902 so that the new Central Criminal Court
which opened in 1907 (always known as the Old Bailey) could be built on the
site. Here is a picture of Newgate just
before demolition. The Debtor's door through which the condemned prisoners
exited in the days of public hangings and the site of the gallows at that time are marked.
Up to 1877, in its several incarnations, Newgate was the principal prison for
When Newgate closed, its male prisoners and indeed its gallows were transferred
to Pentonville while the female prisoners were moved to Holloway prison, which
had been recently renovated and turned into London's first women's prison.
Conditions in Newgate in the early part of the 19th century were
appalling and led to great efforts by early prison reformers such as John
Howard and Elizabeth Fry to improve things. Elizabeth Fry was deeply shocked by
the conditions that women were detained under, in the Female Quarter as the
women's area was known, when she visited the prison in 1816. She found the
place crowded with half naked women and their children. The women were
typically waiting for transfer to the prison ships that would take them to
As
In 1836 Charles Dickens visited Newgate and his detailed observations can be found here.
Public executions were carried outside Newgate in the lane known as
the Old Bailey from
Three women were burned at the stake in the Old
Bailey, for the crime of coining which was deemed to be high treason. They were
Phoebe Harris, Margaret Sullivan and Catherine Murphy. In all three cases, they
were first hanged until they were dead and then their bodies burnt. Similarly,
the Cato Street conspirators who had also been convicted of high treason were
sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered there
(the male punishment for high treason), but in fact were hanged and then
beheaded (see later).
There were to be 567 public hangings, including those of 25 women,
between January 1800 and May 1868. These drew huge crowds, especially if one of
the prisoners was notorious. From 1752 to 1832, the bodies of those executed
for murder were taken to Surgeon's Hall in the Old Bailey where they were
publicly anatomised. Up to 1834, the bodies of persons executed for crimes
other than murder could be returned to relatives for a fee. There were only two
confirmed executions at Newgate in the years 1834-1836, those of John Smith and
James Pratt, who were hanged for buggery on
Executions and executioners at Newgate.
From around 1771 to September 1786, when he died,
Edward Dennis was the official executioner and carried out 201 hangings and the
three burnings at Newgate. He had previously officiated at Tyburn from 1771. On
Tuesday, the 9th of December 1783, he and William Brunskill
hanged nine men and one woman (Frances Warren) side by side on the "New
Drop" at Newgate’s first execution (see picture). Note that they all have
white nightcaps drawn over their heads.
Sessions, as trials at the Old Bailey were known at that time, were held eight
times a year by then and it was normal to sentence those found guilty of crimes
other than murder in groups at the end of the trial day. Murderers were sentenced at the end of their
individual trials. Those sentenced to death for felony and not “respited”
(commuted to transportation) were also hanged in groups - men and women
together. Multiple executions were the norm at this time and took place
normally around six weeks after the Sessions finished and the Recorder of the
Old Bailey had prepared and presented his report indicating which prisoners
were recommended for reprieve and which were to be executed. From July 1752
onwards, murderers had to be hanged within two days of their sentence, unless
this would have been a Sunday, which meant that they were typically hanged on a
Monday and therefore usually separately from ordinary felons, this day
continuing to be used at Newgate for murderers up to 1880. Ordinary criminals
could be hanged on any day of the week, Wednesdays being the most common one.
Prisoners were led from the "Condemned hold" into the Press yard
where their leg irons were removed and their wrists and arms tied. They were
attended by the Ordinary and when they had all been prepared, were led across
the yard to the Lodge and out through the Debtor's Door and up a flight of
steps onto the gallows.
Dennis hanged 95 men and one woman (Elizabeth Taylor for
burglary) between February and December of 1785 at Newgate, with 20 men being
hanged on one day alone (Wednesday, the 2nd of February 1785). Dennis was often
assisted at these marathons by the man who was to become his successor, William
Brunskill, who went on to hang an amazing 537 people
outside Newgate as principal hangman. He also executed a further 68 at
Horsemonger Lane Gaol in the
John Langley took over from him in 1814 and hanged 37 men and three women in his three years in office, including Eliza Fenning. Click here for her story. He died in April 1817 and was succeeded by James Botting who was known as “Jemmy”. Botting hanged 42 men and two women during his two year tenure, during which in 1818, shoplifting was removed from the list of capital crimes at the instigation of Sir Samuel Romilly.
The gallows used by Dennis, Brunskill and Botting had two parallel beams from which a maximum of a dozen criminals could be hanged at once. (see picture) The platform was 10 feet long by 8 feet wide and was released by moving the lever or "pin" acting on a drawbar under the drop. The condemned were given a drop of between one and two feet so death was hardly ever "instantaneous." On one occasion, presumably because the mechanism had failed a simple beam and cart was used to get the prisoners suspended, as had been done at Tyburn. This was for the execution of Ann Hurle and Methuselah Spalding in February 1804. This lapse attracted severe criticism in the press.
In July 1819, James Foxen assumed the position having previously
assisted Botting, and hanged 207 men and six women over the next 11 years. The
Thomas Cheshire, or Old Cheese as he was known, officiated as principal at a
quadruple hanging on
In 1820,
there were 42 executions on seven “hanging days” at Newgate, all carried out by
James Foxen. Not one of these was for murder. Twelve were for
"uttering" forged notes, 12 for robbery or burglary, and five for
highway robbery. At this time, murderers, rapists, arsonists, forgers, coiners
and highwaymen were virtually always executed and were seldom offered
transportation. The largest multiple execution in 1820
was that of eight men on the 11th of December and the smallest was of three men
on the 24th of October. Sarah Price was the only woman to suffer in 1820,
alongside six men, for "uttering" forged bank notes or coins on the
5th of December.
On the eve of a hanging, the portable New Drop gallows was brought out by a
team of horses and placed in front of the Debtor's Door of Newgate. Large
crowds gathered around it and it would be guarded by soldiers with pikes.
Wealthy people could pay as much as £10 for a seat in a window overlooking the
gallows at the hanging of a notorious criminal. At around
Execution Broadsides were usually sold among the crowd, purporting to give the
last confessions of the condemned. These were like tabloid newspapers of the
day and were often total fabrication. As they were printed prior to the
execution, they were quite often unused if a reprieve was granted after
printing, not an uncommon occurrence at that time. They would show a stylised
woodcut picture of the hanging and had details of the crime. Ordinary
newspapers were very few in number at this time and relatively very expensive
so were only read by the wealthy.
William Calcraft took over from Foxen in March of 1829 and carried
out 86 executions here, his first job being the hanging of the hated child
murderer, Ester Hibner, on the 13th of that month.
Prior to taking up the position, he had sold pies at hangings and had got to
know Foxen and
Like his predecessors, Calcraft was also responsible for carrying out floggings
at Newgate and was paid a salary with additional monies for hangings and
floggings. With the advent of a comprehensive railway network, he was able to
work over most of the country in his later years and became
William Marwood was
Bartholomew Bins carried out one hanging after Marwood, that of
Patrick O'Donnell, before handing it over to James Berry who performed 12
executions here between 1884 and 1890.
He was replaced by James Billington who hanged 24 men and three women up to
1901, including Louisa Masset, the first person to be
executed in
The last hanging at Newgate was carried out by Billington's
son, William, on
Analysis of executions between 1783 and 1902
and the crimes for which people were put to death.
1783-1799
559 people were put to death in this short period of just over 16 years, an
average of 35 per year. 539 men and 17 women were hanged for a wide variety of
crimes and 3 women were burnt for coining. (Women accounting for 3.6% of the
executions) (A small number of these executions took place at or near where the
crime was committed.)
1800-1899.
There were 621 hangings at Newgate of which 30 were of women (4.8%), 543 were
in public including those of 24 women. During this period in
1800-1833.
There were 521 executions, all by hanging in public, comprising of 499 men and
22 women. Only 44 of these executions were for murder, the rest being for
various other felonies, particularly burglary and forgery. See analysis below.
1835 – Just two executions took place at Newgate when John Smith and
John Pratt became the last to hang for sodomy in
1834, 1836 & 1838.
No executions at all at Newgate, possibly for political reasons, as the laws
had changed dramatically in the previous two to three years.
1837-1868 (public hangings).
A further 42 men and three women were hanged in public up to the 25th of May
1868, all for murder (including five men who were executed for murder and
piracy – “The Flowery Land” pirates.)
1868-1899 (private hangings).
51 men and three women were executed for murder, including 4 men for murder and
mutiny on a ship called the “Lennie” (the Lennie Mutineers).
1900-1902.
Seven men and two women were hanged for murder in the 20th century prior to the
closure of Newgate.
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Analysis of the
principal crimes for which people were executed for |
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|
Arson |
Attempted
murder |
Burglary |
Coining |
Forgery |
Highway
Robbery |
High
Treason |
Horse
Stealing |
Murder |
Rape |
Robbery |
|
4 |
5 |
100 |
6 |
87 |
66 |
5 |
34 |
44 |
7 |
32 |
|
0.80% |
1% |
20% |
1.20% |
17.50% |
13.20% |
1% |
6.80% |
8.30% |
1.40% |
6.40% |
|
Sheep
Stealing |
Sodomy |
Theft
* |
Uttering
** |
Other
crimes |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
14 |
41 |
32 |
18 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1.40% |
2.80% |
8.20% |
6.40% |
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* including from letters, on the river and
from dwelling houses.
** Uttering is the crime of passing forgeries, e.g. counterfeit coins and
notes.
Detailed information on many of the cases can be found by searching the Old Bailey on line at http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/
