British Hangmen 1800-1964

This page contains a detailed list of known British hangmen—executioners who served in England, Scotland, Wales, and, to a limited extent, Ireland—between 1800 and 1964. While extensive, this is not a comprehensive record; there will almost certainly have been additional hangmen, particularly in Ireland, whose names have yet to be discovered.

The list has been carefully compiled from a variety of historical sources, including newspapers, prison and Home Office archives, execution records, and academic studies. It represents an ongoing effort to document those tasked with carrying out capital punishment within the British judicial system.

							Post 1868 known execution statistics
Name	Born	Lived in	Died		Years in office	Outcome	Hangings as principal	As 1st assistant	As 2nd assistant	Total
Allen, Alfred	17/11/1888	Wolverhampton	1938		9		3	14	0	17
Allen, Harry Bernard	5/11/1911	Denaby Yorks.	14/08/1992		23	Abolition	29	44	9	82
Allen, Herbert “Harry”		Wolverhampton			1	Sacked	0	7	6	13
Archer, Alfred		Dewsbury			0		0	2	0	2
Askern, Thomas	1816	Maltby Yorks.	06/12/1878		24		7	0	0	7
Barlow, Edward	1736	Lancaster	09/12/1812		31	Died	Unknown
Baxter, Robert Orridge	1877	Hertford	??/06/1961		20		45	47	6	98
Berry, James	08/02/1852	Bradford	21/10/1913		8	Sacked	130	0	0	130
Billington, James	??/03/1847	Bolton	13/12/1901		17	Died	151	0	0	151
Billington, John	Early 1880	Bolton	27-28/10/1905		4	Died	18	26	2	46
Billington, Thomas	Early 1873	Bolton	10/01/1902		4	Died	0	19	0	19
Billington, William	1875	Bolton	March 1934		6	Sacked	66	24	0	90
Binns, Bartholomew	c1839	Wakefield	03/11/1911		18	Sacked	11	4	0	15
Botting, James		Brighton	01/10/1837		6		27			27
Broadbent, Joseph		Bradford			1		0	5	0	5
Brown, George		Ashton-u-Lyne			8		0	21	0	21
Brunskill, William	c.1742	London	09/05/1815		28		537			537
Burrows, Samuel	28/06/1772	Chester	20/10/1835		22		58			58
Calcraft, William	1800	Barnet, London	13/12/1879		45	Resigned	430-450	0	0	430-450
Cavanagh, Hugh	Worked in Ireland
Chapman, John		Ayr Scotland
Cheshire, Thomas		London	July 1830			Died 1830	15
“Chester, Richard”	1848	Bradford			0		0	9	0	9
Coates, James		Yorkshire			1	Escaped	2			2
Conduit, William		Manchester			0	Resigned	0	1	2	3
Critchell, Henry William	06/10/1901	Pimlico			8		0	20	8	28
Cross, Stanley William	09/09/1893	Fulham			8		4	15	6	25
Cunliffe, Thomas		Bolton	1980’s		1	Sacked	0	4	0	4
Curry, William ‘John’		Thirsk	10/03/1841		33		58+			58+
de Crespigny, Claude	20/04/1847	Essex	26/06/1935		0		0	3	0	3
Dernley, Sydney	29/12/1920	Mansfield Notts.	01/11/1994		4	Sacked	0	19	4	23
Dickenson, George		Manchester			0		0	0	2	2
Ellis, John	04/10/1874	Rochdale	20/09/1932		23		155	45	2	202
Evans, Robert		Carmarthenshire	26/08/1901		1		8	8	0	16
Fallon,		Ireland			0		1	0	0	1
Foxen, James	c1768	Hoxton	14/02/1829				212			212
Fry, William		Weymouth			0		0	1	0	1
Galvin, Thomas	Worked in Ireland
Goodwin, Charles								1		1
Heath, Samuel		Wakefield			0		0	4	0	4
Heywood, Samuel			11/03/1848			Died	44+			44+
High, John		Edinburgh	??/10/1816
Howard, Nathaniel			22/04/1853		13	Sacked	18			18
Incher, George	1831	Dudley	1897		6		3	4	0	7
Japhcote, James		Nuneaton
“Johnston, Thomas”	Worked in Ireland				0		0	2	0	2
Jones, William					0		1	0	0	1
Kirk, Harry	23/12/1893	Grimsby	1967		10	Sacked	1	39	8	48
Dolan, Elizabeth “Lady Betty”	Hang-woman who worked in Roscommon Ireland						Unknown
Langley, John	c.1767	London		27/04/1817	3	Died
Lee, William				20/11/1827		Died
Lumb, Albert Fowler		Bradford			3		0	10	0	10
McArthur, Archibald		Glasgow		1813	10
McDonald, John		Aberdeen		??/03/1805	1					0
McQuilkin, Alan	Worked in Ireland
Mann, Lionel S.		Rochdale			5	Resigned	0	10	6	16
Marwood, William	1820	Horncastle Lincolnshire	04/09/1883		11	Died 4/09/1883	181	0	0	181
Milne, John		Aberdeen	c1819		9		3
Mills, Seth		Hengoed Glamorgan			2	Resigned	0	6	2	8
Mitchell, George			1847			Died 1847	30			30
Mitchell, William (son of George)
Morely, John					0		0	1	0	1
Morris, Herbert	18/02/1888	London			12	Sacked	0	25	2	27
Murdoch, John		Glasgow			4		7			7
Osman, Joseph		London					0
Otway, Joshua
Peddie, George	Worked in Scotland
Phillips, Thomas Mather	1889	Bolton	27/03/1941		18	Sacked	2	39	11	52
Pierrepoint, Albert	30/03/1905	Clayton	10/07/1992		24	Resigned	169	47	2	218
Pierrepoint, Henry Albert	??/03/1878	Sutton Bonington Notts.	14/12/1922		9	Sacked	75	30	0	105
Pierrepoint, Thomas William	Late 1870	Loughborough	10/02/1954		40	Resigned	261	36	0	297
Plant, Samuel Barrass	30/08/1915	Newcastle-u-Tyne	2002		3	Abolition	0	6	0	6
Pollard, Henry		Blackburn			11		0	24	6	30
Rickard, Royston Lawrence	05/08/1919	Maidstone	June 1999		11	Abolition	0	15	2	17
Riley, Alexander	01/07/1908	Manchester			5		0	15	4	19
Robinson					0		0	6	0	6
Robinson, Harry Frank		Dudley	2006		6	Abolition	0	7	0	7
Rooks	Worked on Guernsey
Ross, Donald	Worked in Inverness in Scotland				22		2
Rowe, Frank	c-1882/3	Birmingham			0		0	1	0	1
Ryan, James	Worked in Limerick, Ireland
Scott, John		Edinburgh	12/08/1847		12	Murdered	4			4
Scott, Thomas Henry		Huddersfield				Sacked	17	14	0	31
Simpson, John		Edinburgh			3		2 or 3
Smith, George	1805	Dudley	04/04/1874		33	Died	34	6	0	40
Smith, Harold		Doncaster			8		0	17	6	23
Speight					0		0	2	0	2
Stephens, Thomas					0
Stewart, Robert Leslie	??/04/1918		01/11/1989		13	Abolition	6	22	4	32
Sutherland, John		Glasgow	1803		1		3			3
Tait, Joseph		Dumfries			23	Post abolished	4
Taylor, Edward		Brighton			10		0	27	4	31
Taylor, William		Inverness	1810			Murdered	1
Thomson, John		Ayr				Resigned	1
Underhill, John Edward	1929	Twickenham	2012 in Singapore		1	Abolition	0	3	0	3
Vaselin, Jean	Worked on Guernsey
Wade, Robert	1849	Bolton			0		0	4	0	4
Wade, Steven	14/12/1887	Doncaster	22/12/1956		14	Removed	29	37	2	68
Warbrick, William	1843	Blackburn			17		0	25	0	25
Welsh, Robert	Worked in Aberdeen						9
Williams, John	Worked in Edinburgh						2
Williams, Thomas		Edinburgh		1833			20+
Willis, William	.c-1876	Accrington		??/03/1939	20	Sacked	14	94	5	113
Wilson, Robert		Manchester			17		0	41	6	47
Wagner	Worked in Ireland						1	0	0	1
Wood, James	Worked in Ireland
Young, Thomas		Glasgow			20		57

Names in inverted commas are aliases only – the real name was not disclosed.

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