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With special thanks to
Nick Short for providing many of the photographs.
A new county gaol for
Shropshire was built by Thomas Telford, the
In 1877
the control of all county gaols, including
In all 71 men and two
women were hanged here between 1795 and 1961 (see list below).
The five 18th century executions at Shrewsbury.
The first execution at
the new gaol took place on Saturday, the 15th of August 1795, when John Smith,
aged 25, was hanged for stealing 10 cotton handkerchiefs in the shop of John
Miner in the parish of Whitchurch on the 27th of March of that year.
Edward Quilt for theft
and John Hill for being at large in the Kingdom (returning from transportation)
were executed together on Saturday the 26th of March 1796.
Thomas Micklewright was hanged on Saturday, the 8th of April 1797, for cattle
stealing and Adam Humphreys on Saturday, the 7th of April 1798, for arson.
19th century executions at Shrewsbury.
58 men and two women were executed here in the
19th century. The first of these women
was Sarah Jones, a single woman aged 27, who was hanged on Thursday, the 11th
of August 1803, having been found guilty of the murder of her “female bastard”,
who was born on the 19th of February 1803 and which “she threw into an Iron
Stone Pit, 10 yards deep, in the Hill Top Field in the parish of Benthall” on
the 18th of May 1803. This was the first
execution for murder at
Between 1800 and 1812,
15 men were hanged for what we would now consider relatively minor crimes, such
as sheep and horse theft, burglary and highway robbery (street mugging). On the 24th of August 1811, five men were
hanged together for a burglary at the premises of a Mr. Norcross at Betton.
They were George Taylor, aged 43, William Turner, aged
53, Abraham Whitehouse, aged 23, James Baker, aged 19, and Isaac Hickman, aged
19, who were convicted of burglariously breaking into a dwelling-house, and
stealing some bank notes and other articles of value. This
was
The next hanging for
murder was that of John Griffiths on Monday the 23rd of March 1812.
On the 9th of April 1814
William Wheeler was hanged for sodomising 6 year old Ann Vandrell. Strangely this case was not considered
newsworthy.
Thomas Jesson was executed on the 27th of March 1815 for the murder of his step daughter, Mary Birch, in the parish of Halesowen, by picking the little girl up by the legs and smashing her head against the floor.
The other woman to hang
at
On Saturday the 31st of March 1832, 32 year
old James Lea and 20 year old Joseph Grindley were hanged in front of the
prison for arson, probably by Samuel Burrows,
At noon on Saturday the
13th of August 1836,
John Williams was
hanged at noon on Saturday the 2nd of April 1842. The 24 year old was to suffer for the robbery
and murder of Emma Evans at Chirk.
According to his published confession, he, with an accomplice named
Williams, had gone to Emma’s house with the intention of stealing her
purse. He knocked on her door and asked
her for tobacco. She went to fetch him
some and as she turned away from him he hit her over the head twice and then
cut her throat.
He was hanged by
William Calcraft and reportedly died without a struggle.
27 year old John Lloyd
was hanged on Friday the 4th of April 1854, by George Smith from
30-year-old Edward
Cooper was executed on the 11th of April, 1863 for the murder of his son at
Baschurch. This hanging reportedly drew a huge crowd. George Smith officiated at this execution.
An execution shed is constructed.
After the ending of
public hanging an execution shed was constructed in an alcove against the back
wall of the prison, as shown here. Most county prisons had execution sheds built
around this time.
In the period 1869 to
1899 just two men would hang at
William Arrowsmith, was executed on
Wednesday the 28th of March 1888 for the murder of his 80 year old uncle,
George Pikerill, whom he had battered to death for financial gain at Prees
Lower Heath on the 11th of November 1887.
In both cases James Berry was the executioner.
A new condemned suite.
At some point in the
early 20th century a new condemned cell and execution suite was constructed at
the far end of what had been the women’s wing.
The entrance to the condemned cell can be seen here. The exterior and entrance to the condemned
cell from the yard is here. The execution suite was converted from the
original governor’s house and is the two story building shown here and here, which is
just to the right of the main gate. The
upper two windows are the gallows room the lower windows are the drop room and
the last window on the right is the autopsy room. The marble autopsy table was destroyed when
it was being removed. Note the unusually
large windows, left over from its former role.
The condemned cell is in the three story building behind it and an
access was created by turning the last cell on the left into a lobby to join
what had originally been two separate buildings. The gallows room is much larger than usual
and the big windows were fitted with shutters.
This facility remained in use until the last hanging in 1961. The white safety line around where the trap
doors had been can still be discerned. See photo.
20th century executions at Shrewsbury.
It is interesting that
all eight cases involved the murder of a woman.
Richard Wigley - “murder for love”.
The first man to hang here in the 20th
century was 34 year old Richard Wigley.
Wigley was in a long term relationship with 28 year old Mary Ellen Bowen. She had worked as a barmaid the Lion Inn at
Westbury in Shropshire (which is still in business) but moved to the
For reasons unknown Mary decided to end the relationship after some years and moved back to Westbury and back to her old job. Wigley visited her when he could but Mary did not want to continue seeing him.
On Saturday the 30th of November 1901, Wigley arrived at the Lion Inn around 10 am. He was wearing his work apron and a pouch containing two of his butcher’s knives was on his belt. He was served a first pint of beer but Mary refused to serve him another and turned her back on him and left the bar. Wigley followed her into the passageway where he grabbed her from behind with one hand and drew a knife across her throat with the other hand. Mary died almost immediately.
Wigley was quickly arrested and told the police that he had killed Mary for “love” and that if he could not have no one else could. Searching his possessions, police found a letter detailing his intentions and saying that he was willing to die for killing Mary.
He was tried at
Thomas Cox - wife
murder.
Thomas Cox cut his
wife’s throat at
Cox was tried at
William Griffiths - a matricide.
57 year old
On Friday May the 25th, 1923,
Catherine Hughes’ neighbour, Emma Hibbs,
heard an argument next door between mother and son at around 10.15 pm. They were quarrelling over the amount
He came to trial at
As Stafford prison no longer had an
execution facility,
Frank Griffin - another murder at the pub.
74 year old Jane Edge was the landlady of
the Queen’s Head Inn in Ketley in
Her body was discovered sitting in a chair, by her son John when he returned from work that afternoon. Some of Jane’s jewellery was missing.
The following day the police called at the
Apley Industrial Hostel and searched several rooms, including the one occupied
by
His appeal was dismissed on the 19th of
December 1950 and he was hanged on Thursday the 4th of January 1951, by Albert
Pierrepoint and Herbert Morris.
1952, Shrewsbury’s
busiest year for hangings since 1836.
43 year old Harry
Huxley would be the first of two men to hang at here during 1952, the only year
since 1836 where there was more than one execution. He had been convicted of the murder of his
mistress, 32 year old Ada Royce in the
On the fateful
Saturday,
Huxley was tried at Ruthin
on the 19th and 20th of May 1952, before Mr. Justice Croome-Johnson. His defence was that the shooting was an
accident and that he only took the gun to scare
As Ruthin no longer had
an execution facility, Prisoner 1041, Huxley was transferred to
Donald Neil Simon - double murder.
Simon was born in 1920 and in 1943 married
Eunice, four years his junior. They
emigrated to
On the evening of Saturday the 21st of
June, Eunice and Brades had been out for a drink with his cousin and his wife
and around 11.40 pm, Brades walked Eunice home.
Simon was laying it wait for them in
Simon came to trial at
There are some strange anomalies in this
case. Why was Simon tried at
Desmond Donald Hooper - child murder.
27 year old Hooper was convicted of the
murder of 12 year old Betty Selina Smith on Tuesday the 21st of July 1953. Betty had been strangled and then drowned in
an air shaft on the
Betty had gone to Desmond and Margaret Hooper’s house at Atcham voluntarily on that evening and played dominoes with their seven year old son Keith. After Keith went to bed Betty left to go home. Soon afterwards Hooper told his wife that he was going to get some pigeons. Betty’s mother called on the Hooper’s looking for her daughter when Hooper returned about 1.45 am on the Wednesday morning, without his tie and with his trousers wet and muddy. She persuaded him to call the police.
Betty’s body was discovered on the 24th of July 1953, together with Hooper’s jacket and his tie knotted around her neck. Police investigations found that Hooper had not visited the farm of Richard Harris to get the pigeons as he had intended.
Hooper came to trial at
Hooper’s appeal failed and he was hanged by Albert Pierrepoint, assisted by Robert Leslie Stewart, on Tuesday the 26th of January 1954. The motive for the crime remains unclear and Hooper never confessed to it.
George Riley,
On Tuesday the 9th of February 1961, 21
year old George Riley was hanged for the robbery/murder of 62 year old Adeline
Mary Smith who had been battered to death at her home in
Riley had been out drinking with a friend on the Friday evening and later to a dance at the Sentinel Works in the town. Here he had got into a scuffle with another man and they were separated by PC Reginald Mason who noted there were no scratch marks on Riley’s face. Riley was dropped off at home by a friend around 1 30 am, and was very drunk.
On discovery of the body residents of the nearby houses were interviewed by the police. Riley was one of these and they noticed that he now had scratch marks on his face. He also had previous convictions for robbery. Further investigation found mud on his shoes and trousers. Officers told Riley they had sufficient evidence to convict him and he made a statement admitting that he had killed Adeline and that his motive had been to rob her. After the passing of the Homicide Act of 1957, robbery was one of the five factors which made a murder a capital crime rather than a non capital one.
Riley stood trial at
Despite petitions and other agitation for a reprieve he was hanged by Harry Allen, assisted by Samuel Plant, at Shrewsbury Prison at 8 am. on Tuesday the 9th of February 1961. Riley weighed 179 lbs. and was given a drop of six feet four inches.
The case against Riley, apart from his statement, was weak and lacking in any forensic evidence. Many people thought that there had been a miscarriage of justice. In 1961 there was no DNA testing which would probably have resolved the case one way or the other.
In 1972 the remains of
ten men were exhumed from the prison yard and nine were
cremated, the other being returned to relatives.
Below is a full list of
hangings at the “Dana”.
18th century |
|
|
15/08/1795 |
John Smith |
Stole in shop |
26/03/1796 |
Edward Quilt |
Stole in dwelling house |
" |
John Hill |
At large (returning from transportation) |
08/04/1797 |
Thomas Micklewright |
Cattle theft |
07/04/1798 |
Adam Humphreys |
Arson |
19th century |
|
|
23/08/1800 |
Daniel Bedsmore |
Sheep theft |
" |
William Griffiths |
Housebreaking |
28/03/1801 |
James Lafferty |
Highway robbery |
08/08/1801 |
Thomas Bennet |
Horse theft |
" |
Thomas Nutts |
Sheep theft |
03/04/1802 |
Francis Jones |
Horse theft |
" |
William Thomas |
" |
" |
William Hooper |
" |
" |
Samuel Young |
Burglary |
11/08/1803 |
Sarah Jones |
Murder of her bastard child |
08/08/1807 |
Thomas Smith |
Burglary |
24/08/1811 |
George Taylor |
Burglary |
" |
Isaac Hickman |
" |
" |
James Baker |
" |
" |
William Turner |
" |
" |
Abrahm Whitehouse |
" |
23/03/1812 |
John Griffiths |
Murder William Bailey |
22/03/1813 |
Rowland Preston |
Murder Francis Bruce |
09/04/1814 |
William Wheeler |
Sodomy of Ann Vandrell (6) |
27/03/1815 |
Thomas Jesson |
Murder Mary Birch (stepdaughter) |
08/04/1815 |
Thomas Williams |
Burglary |
16/08/1817 |
William Barker |
Sheep theft |
" |
Edward Mitchell |
" |
" |
Samuel Bowdler |
" |
04/04/1818 |
Edward Potter |
" |
22/08/1818 |
John Richards |
" |
03/04/1819 |
John Denny |
Stabbing |
21/08/1819 |
Samuel Thomas |
Killed a cow |
01/04/1820 |
John Rogers |
Burglary |
12/08/1820 |
Richard Lewis |
Sheep theft |
" |
Samuel Lewis |
Sheep theft |
07/04/1821 |
Thomas Palin |
Plugging boilers (Luddite) |
15/09/1821 |
Richard Davies |
Burglary |
" |
John Turner |
Sheep theft |
06/04/1822 |
William Griffiths |
Burglary |
" |
Thomas Farmer |
Stabbing |
24/03/1823 |
John Newton |
Murder wife |
22/03/1824 |
|
Murder child |
03/04/1824 |
Richard Smith |
Burglary |
05/08/1826 |
Henry Moss |
Horse theft |
04/08/1828 |
John Cox & |
Murder James Harrison |
" |
James Pugh |
Murder James Harrison |
" |
William Stephenson |
Murder John Horton |
16/08/1828 |
Ann Harris |
Accomplice to the murder James
Harrison |
04/04/1829 |
John Evans |
Shooting at |
31/03/1832 |
James Lea |
Arson |
" |
Joseph Grindley |
Arson |
06/04/1833 |
William Handley |
Shooting at |
05/08/1833 |
George Hayward |
Murder John Causer |
13/08/1836 |
|
Robbery (last executions for
robbery in the |
" |
Patrick Donelly |
Robbery |
" |
Edward Donelly |
Robbery |
03/04/1841 |
Josiah Misters |
Attempted murder of William
Makreth |
02/04/1842 |
John Williams |
Murder Emma Evans |
07/04/1854 |
John Lloyd |
Murder John Gittins |
11/04/1863 |
Edward Cooper |
Murder son |
09/04/1868 |
John Mapp |
Murder Catherine Lewis |
27/07/1886 |
William Samuels |
Murder William Mabbotts |
28/03/1888 |
William Arrowsmith |
Murder uncle |
20th century |
|
|
18/03/1902 |
Richard Wigley |
Mary Ellen Bowen (girlfriend) |
15/12/1917 |
Thomas Cox |
Elizabeth Cox (wife) |
24/07/1923 |
William Griffiths |
Catherine Hughes (mother) |
04/01/1951 |
Frank Griffin |
Jane Edge |
08/07/1952 |
Harry Huxley |
Ada Royce (girlfriend) |
23/10/1952 |
Donald Neil Simon |
Eunice Simon (wife) and Victor Brades |
26/01/1954 |
Desmond Hooper |
Betty Smith |
09/02/1961 |
George Riley |
Adeline Smith |
|
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