For over a quarter of a century, between his qualification as an assistant executioner in 1932 and his abrupt resignation in February 1956, Albert Pierrepoint stood as the pre-eminent practitioner of judicial hanging in Great Britain. By his own reckoning and official Home Office files, he officiated at more than 400 executions across England, Wales, … Read more
The English Penal Code in the period from 1723 to 1820 became increasingly severe, mandating the death penalty for an ever increasing number of offences and this became known as “The Bloody Code”. 1723 saw the introduction of the first of the (Waltham) Black Acts and the expansion of these continually increased the scope of capital … Read more
Background. Hanging is thought to have originated as a method of judicial execution in Persia about 2500 years ago for male criminals. It was brought to England by the Saxons in the fifth century AD. Britain has used many forms of capital punishment over the centuries. These include beheading, boiling alive, burning at the stake, drowning, hanging, hanging, drawing and quartering, decapitation … Read more
Hanging has been the principal form of execution in Britain since the 5th Century, although other methods such as drowning, burial alive, hurling from cliffs, beheading, boiling alive, burning at the stake and shooting have been used at various times. Readers interested in studying the history of capital punishment in more depth may find a … Read more
Introduction.In Britain, death by hanging was the principal form of execution from Anglo-Saxon times until capital punishment was suspended in 1964.Up to May 1868 all hangings were carried out in public and attracted large crowds who were at least supposed to be deterred by the spectacle, but who more probably went for the morbid excitement and … Read more
