Overview of Burning at the Stake in England and Wales
Burning at the stake in public was used in England & Wales to punish heresy for both sexes and for women convicted of High Treason or Petty Treason. Men who were convicted of high treason were hanged, drawn and quartered but this was not deemed acceptable for women as it would have involved nudity. High Treason included such offences as counterfeiting money and “coining” (the clipping of coins for pieces of silver and gold which were melted down to produce counterfeit coins), possession of coining equipment and colouring base metal coins (to pass them off as of higher value).
Oddly, men who committed these same crimes suffered just ordinary hanging having been first drawn to the place of execution on a hurdle. Petty Treason was the murder by a woman of her husband or her mistress, as they were considered her superiors in law. In Scotland burning was the punishment for witchcraft (see later).
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Early History of Burning in Britain
It is not known when burning was first used in Britain, but there is a recorded burning for heresy in 1222, when a deacon of the church was burnt at Oxford for embracing the Jewish faith so he could marry a Jew.
In 1401, the king authorised a Statute of Heresy which gave the clergy power to arrest and try those suspected of heresy. The first to suffer under the new act was one William Sautre, a priest, who was executed at (Kings) Lynn in 1402. This statute was repealed but, in 1553, burning was re-introduced by Henry VIII’s daughter, Mary Tudor (“Bloody Mary”).
During her five-year reign of terror (1553–1558), 274 burnings of both sexes for heresy were recorded. In most cases their only “crime” was following the Protestant faith. The normal place of execution in London being at West Smith Field (now called just Smithfield). An engraving of the period shows that these unfortunates were stood in empty tar barrels at the stake and then had faggots heaped round them. It was not the practice to strangle heretics before they were burnt so they died slow and horrible deaths – being literally burned alive.
Burning as a Punishment in Europe
Burning was in use throughout Europe at this time and was particularly favoured by the Spanish Inquisition as it did not involve shedding of the victim’s blood, which was disallowed under the prevailing Roman Catholic doctrine, and because it ensured that the condemned had no body to take into the next life (which was believed to be a very severe punishment in itself).
It was also thought at that time that burning cleansed the soul which was considered important for those convicted of witchcraft and heresy.
Witchcraft and Burning at the Stake
Although many people might associate burning at the stake with witchcraft, it was much less used for that offence in Britain than in other parts of Europe – particularly France, Switzerland and the Nordic countries. In England witchcraft was a felony and thus punishable by hanging. Alice Molland is thought to have been the last person to suffer for witchcraft, at Exeter in 1684.
However, Scotland did burn witches and there are many recorded instances of both sexes suffering this fate. On the 18th of May 1671 Janet McMuldroche and Elspeth Thompson were strangled and burned at Dumfries. The following are the words of the warrant for their execution, dated two days earlier:
“Forsamuch as in ane court of Justiciarie holden be us within the Tolbuithe of drumfreis vpon the fyftein day of May instant Jonet McMuldroche and Elspeth Thomsone were found guiltie be ane ascyse of the se[ver]all articles of witchcraft spe[cif]it in the verdict given againest them theiranent Were decerned and adjudged be us the Lords Commissioners of Justiciarie to be tane vpon thursday next the eighteen day of May instant Betuixt tuo and foure houres in the afernoone to the ordinare place of executione the toune of drumfreis And their to be wirried at ane stake till they be dead And theirafter their bodies to be brunt to ashes And all their moveable goods and geir to be escheat.
Note: wirried means strangled and escheat means confiscated)
The last person to be burned as a witch in Scotland was Janet Horne at Dornoch in Ross shire in 1727. Janet had been accused of witching her daughter to make her hands and feet grow into horses hooves, so that she could ride her. The daughter had a deformed hand, due to being “shod by the Devil”! She was also tried but acquitted. She later had a child who exhibited the same kind of congenital hand deformity. A stone at the place of execution commemorates her death. The witchcraft Acts were repealed there in 1736.
It is claimed that as many as 200,000 people were burned for witchcraft in Europe in 16th and 17th centuries.
Methods of Burning
Three slightly different methods of burning were used:
- Faggots piled around a wooden stake: The prisoner was attached with chains or iron hoops above the fire. The British and Spanish Inquisitions preferred this method for its visual impact. It caused a slow and agonising death because the flames took time to reach head level. In most cases of treason and witchcraft, the prisoner was strangled first before the fire was lit. In Scotland, strangling formed part of the sentence for convicted witches.
- Tied to the stake and surrounded by faggots: The condemned was tied to the stake, and faggots were piled all around, effectively hiding their suffering inside a wall of flames. Joan of Arc is said to have died this way. This method led to a quicker death as the victim was forced to breathe the flame and hot gases, which caused swelling of the trachea lining, blocking the airway and causing suffocation within minutes.
- Swinging the prisoner onto the fire: Used in Germany and the Nordic countries, this method involved tying the prisoner to a near-vertical ladder, the top of which was tied to a frame, then swinging them down onto the fire.
Legal Practices Regarding Burning
Until 1790, every woman convicted of counterfeiting gold or silver coin of the realm, was sentenced to be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution and there “to be burned with fire till she was dead” (Blackstone’s Commentaries, 204. Ibid, 377) .
In England women who were sentenced to be burnt were allowed by law to be strangled with a rope before the fire got to them and thus died in much the same way as they would have by hanging. In some of the later cases of burning strangling with a cord was replaced with hanging. The stake had a hook or bracket at the top from which the woman was hanged until dead, prior to a chain being put around her waist and the faggots lit.
The report of the execution of Susannah Lott at Maidstone described this in detail. Hanging prior to burning was also used for the last three executions at Newgate.
On the Continent, strangling before burning was also allowed, the rope being called a “retentum.” In some Nordic countries, a small barrel of gunpowder was tied to the prisoner which was meant to explode on contact with the flames, thus giving them a fairly instant death. If they were neither strangled or blown up, they died from a combination of shock, burning of the lungs and air passages and smoke inhalation, all of which took a considerable amount of time to kill and caused extreme pain.
Elizabeth Gaunt was the last woman to be burnt for high treason in the normal sense of the word. She was executed in 1685, having been convicted of involvement in the Rye House plot. She was denied strangulation and was thus burned alive.
18th Century Burnings
Between 1702 and 1734, 10 women were burned at London’s Tyburn. Two of these were for the Petty Treason murder of their husbands, and eight for High Treason, comprising two for possession of coining equipment, four for counterfeiting and two for coining itself.
Notable Cases
- Barbara Spencer: Burned for counterfeiting on Wednesday, 5 July 1721, at Tyburn. Barbara was a rebellious young woman seeking easy money through coining. She was drawn to Tyburn tied to a hurdle behind a horse, then strangled at the stake prior to the faggots being lit.
- Catherine Hayes: Burned at Tyburn on Monday, 9 May 1726, for Petty Treason (the murder of her husband). She persuaded her two lovers to kill her husband with an axe, for which the men were sentenced to hang. Catherine was dragged on a hurdle to Tyburn and, after praying, was fastened to the stake by an iron chain around her body. A rope halter was put around her neck, running through a hole in the stake, and faggots piled around her. When the executioner lit the fire, the flames were too fierce to allow him to pull the strangling rope, so Catherine was burned alive—a horrible, prolonged death. Her execution is vividly described in the Newgate Calendar. She was reduced to ashes within an hour.
- Elizabeth Wright: Burned for coining on 19 December 1733, although her 26-year-old daughter and accomplice were reprieved.
- Triple Burning on 2 October 1734: Mary Haycock, Elizabeth Tracey, and Catherine Bougle were burned at Tyburn for counterfeiting and possession of coining equipment—London’s only recorded multiple burning in the 18th century.
Women Burned Between 1735 and 1789
Although burning was not a common punishment by this time, at least 33 women suffered this fate between 1735 and 1789. They were:
| Name | Date | Place | Crime |
| Margaret Onion | 08/08/1735 | Chelmsford | Murdered husband |
| Mary Fawson | 08/08/1735 | Northampton | Murdered husband |
| Ann Mudd | 25/06/1737 | Tyburn | Murdered husband |
| Mary Bird | 01/07/1737 | Ely | Murdered husband |
| Mary Groke or Troke (age 16) | 18/03/1738 | Winchester | Murdered mistress |
| Ann Goodson | 12/04/1738 | Guildford | Murdered husband |
| Susannah Broom (age 67) | 21/12/1739 | Tyburn | Murdered husband |
| Elizabeth Moreton (or Owen) | 10/08/1744 | Evesham | Murdered husband |
| Mary Johnson | ?/04/1747 | Lincoln | Murdered husband |
| Amy Hutchinson | 07/11/1749 | Ely | Murdered husband |
| Elizabeth Packard | ?/?/1750 | Exeter | Murdered husband |
| Ann Whale (age 21) | 08/08/1752 | Horsham | Murdered husband |
| Ann Williams | 13/04/1753 | * Over, near Gloucester | Murdered husband |
| Susannah Bruford (age 19) | 03/09/1753 | Wells (Somerset) | Murdered husband |
| Mary Ellah | 28/03/1757 | York | Murdered husband |
| Alice Davis | 31/03/1758 | Tyburn | Coining (High Treason) |
| Margaret Bedingfield | 08/04/1763 | Ipswich | Murdered husband |
| Mary Heald | 23/04/1763 | Chester | Murdered husband |
| Mary Saunders | 21/03/1764 | Monmouth | Murdered mistress |
| Mary Norwood (age 33) | 08/05/1765 | Ilchester (Somerset) | Murdered husband |
| Ann Sowerby | 10/08/1767 | York | Murdered husband |
| Susannah Lott | 21/07/1769 | Maidstone | Murdered husband |
| Mary Hilton (or Hulton) | 06/04/1772 | Lancaster | Murdered husband |
| Elizabeth Herring | 13/09/1773 | Tyburn | Murdered husband |
| Margaret Ryan | 18/03/1776 | Maidstone | Murdered husband |
| Elizabeth Bordingham | 30/03/1776 | York | Murdered husband |
| Ann Cruttenden (age 80) | 08/08/1776 | Horsham | Murdered husband |
| Isabella Condon | 27/10/1779 | Tyburn | Coining (High Treason) |
| Rebecca Downing | 29/06/1782 | Exeter | Murdered mistress |
| Mary Bailey | 08/03/1784 | Winchester | Murdered husband |
| Phoebe Harris | 21/06/1786 | Newgate | Coining (High Treason) |
| Margaret Sullivan | 25/06/1788 | Newgate | Coining (High Treason) |
| Catherine Murphy | 18/03/1789 | Newgate | Coining (High Treason) |
* Over is a village about a mile from Gloucester, where the county gallows stood at this time.
Elizabeth Webber (or Webster) was probably burned at York in December 1739 for the murder of her husband but her execution cannot be confirmed. Alice Davis was most probably burnt for coining on the 31st of March 1758.
Elizabeth Herring Case (1773)
At the September Sessions of the Old Bailey on 8 September 1773, Elizabeth Herring was indicted for:
“Feloniously, traitorously, and of her malice aforethought, making an assault upon Robert Herring, her husband, and with a certain case knife giving him a mortal wound on the right side of the throat, of the length of one inch, and the depth of two inches, of which wound he instantly died, on August the 5th of that year.”
She was convicted of Petty Treason. The Recorder sentenced her:
“You Elizabeth Herring are to be led from hence to the Gaol from whence you came; and on Monday next you are to be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution; where you are to be burnt with fire until you are dead.”
The sentence was carried out at Tyburn in front of some 20,000 spectators on Monday, 13 September 1773.
Last Cases of Burning for Petty Treason and Coining
- The last woman to be burnt for petty treason (murder of husband) in Britain was Mary Bailey at Winchester on Monday, 8 March 1784. After this, hanging was substituted for this crime. Her co-accused, John Quinn, was hanged first.
- The last three women to be burnt for coining offences were executed outside London’s Newgate prison:
- Phoebe Harris (21 June 1786)
- Margaret Sullivan (25 June 1788)
- Catherine Murphy (Christian Bowman) (18 March 1789)
Margaret Sullivan and her co-accused, Jeremiah Grace, were indicted for “colouring” base coin resembling current silver coin. Jeremiah was sentenced to hang; Margaret to be burnt.
Catherine Murphy’s execution was the last burning of a woman in England, and was essentially a modified hanging followed by burning. She was led from the Debtor’s Door of Newgate past gallows where four men, including her husband, were already hanging. At the stake, she mounted a small platform and was fastened with an iron band and noose. When the platform was removed, she was suspended until dead. Only after 30 minutes were the faggots placed around and lit.
The End of Burning Women at the Stake
On 10 May 1790, Sir Benjamin Hammett raised the issue of burning women in the House of Commons. Having witnessed the painful execution of Catherine Murphy as Sheriff of London, he moved to bring in a Bill to alter the law. He noted that the sheriff who refused to execute a sentence of burning alive was liable to prosecution but expressed hope that no one in England would carry out such a sentence literally.
The Treason Act of 1790 (30 George III. C. 48) was passed, substituting ordinary hanging for coining offences on 5 June 1790. Twenty-five-year-old Elizabeth Godfrey was the last woman to be condemned to death for coining but was reprieved in 1789.
Public Backlash Against Executions by Burning
Protests, Press Outcry, and the End of a Grisly Tradition
Executions by burning at Newgate were distinctly unpopular with the local residents of what was a respectable business area of the City. They had even sent a petition to the Lord Mayor requesting that Phoebe Harris’ execution be carried out elsewhere. This was an early version of “not in my back yard,” rather than a protest against the severity of her punishment.
It was later reported that some locals became ill from the smoke from her body. There were similar protests over the executions of Margaret Sullivan and Christian Murphy, and a great feeling of relief when Sophia Girton was reprieved. The whole ghastly business passed into history under the provisions of the Treason Act of 1790.
The Sheriffs were also becoming increasingly unhappy about attending burnings, and it was they who brought forward the Bill to end the practice. Even though, by this time, the condemned woman was already dead before the faggots were lit, it must still have been a gruesome and revolting spectacle—one that conveyed a lingering sense of injustice.
Men convicted of coining offences were hanged like other condemned males. This disparity led The Times newspaper to publish a scathing article after Phoebe Harris’ execution:
“The execution of a woman for coining on Wednesday morning, reflects a scandal upon the law and was not only inhuman, but shamefully indelicate and shocking. Why should the law in this species of offence inflict a severer punishment upon a woman, than a man? It is not an offence which she can perpetrate alone—in every such case the insistence of a man has been found the operating motive upon the woman; yet the man is but hanged, and the woman burned.”
Other London newspapers echoed this outrage. Two years later, similar sentiments were expressed over the burning of Margaret Sullivan—although, curiously, the execution of Christian Murphy attracted little media attention.
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