Background and Aristocratic Estates
Lawrence Shirley, the 4th Earl Ferrers (also given as Laurence), was born on the 18th of August 1720 and holds the distinction of being the last peer of the realm to be hanged as a common criminal in Great Britain.
He inherited the title in 1745 at the age of 25, along with the family estates in Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and Northamptonshire.
The principal family seat was Staunton Harold Hall, situated roughly two miles from Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire.
From 1743, Ferrers had been in a relationship with Margaret Clifford, with whom he had four illegitimate daughters between 1744 and 1749.
Like most aristocrats of his era, he required a legitimate male heir to inherit the peerage and estates. In 1752, he married Mary Meredith, the 16-year-old sister of Sir William Meredith of Henbury, Cheshire.
The marriage proved turbulent. Mary lived in terror of the Earl’s violent rages, chronic alcoholism, and continued infidelity with Clifford, who moved back in with him following the breakdown of the marriage.
Conditions deteriorated to such an extent that Mary obtained a formal separation via a private Act of Parliament in 1758—an extraordinary legal remedy for a wife at the time.
As part of the parliamentary separation, Mary was granted an independent income derived from the rents of designated estate holdings.
Management of these properties was placed in the hands of trustees, with the longtime family land steward, John Johnson, reluctantly appointed as the receiver of the rents.
Ferrers intensely resented Johnson’s oversight, particularly after discovering that Johnson had paid his estranged wife £50 without his prior authorization.
The Murder of John Johnson
On Sunday the 13th of January 1760, Ferrers called upon Johnson and invited him to Staunton Harold Hall on the following Friday, the 18th of January, to settle estate business.
Prior to Johnson’s arrival, Ferrers deliberately sent his mistress Margaret Clifford, their children, and all male domestic servants away from the premises.
When Johnson arrived, he was shown into the Earl’s private study. A business discussion quickly escalated into an argument, and around 3:00 p.m., Ferrers drew a pistol and shot Johnson in the chest.
Although seriously wounded, Johnson survived the initial shot. He was examined at the Hall by Dr. Thomas Kirkland of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and his daughter Sarah was summoned to his bedside.
Throughout the evening, Ferrers alternated between drunken abuse and violent threats before collapsing into an alcoholic stupor.
Taking advantage of the Earl’s incapacitation, Dr. Kirkland arranged for Johnson to be carried back to his own home, where he died the following morning, Saturday the 19th of January 1760.
Ferrers reportedly told Sarah Johnson that he would provide for her family on the condition that they did not initiate a criminal prosecution against him.
Arrest and Trial in Westminster Hall
Dr. Kirkland, aided by local villagers and an armed collier named Curtis, confronted and disarmed Ferrers at the Hall the following day.
A coroner’s inquest returned a verdict of wilful murder, and Ferrers was initially remanded to Leicester Prison.
Under the privilege of peerage, a member of the House of Lords could not be tried by an ordinary county assize jury.
On the 14th of February 1760, he was transferred to the Tower of London and placed into the custody of the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod.
His trial opened at Westminster Hall on the 16th of April 1760 before the Lord High Steward, Lord Henley, and lasted two days.
The prosecution was led by Attorney General Sir Charles Pratt and Solicitor General Sir Charles Yorke. Crown witnesses included Dr. Kirkland, Sarah Johnson, and three female servants who were inside the Hall when the shooting occurred.
Ferrers was required to conduct his own defence, as felony defendants were denied legal counsel to address the jury under 18th-century law.
Urged by his family to avert the disgrace of a felon’s hanging, Ferrers entered a defence of insanity, calling witnesses who testified to his erratic behaviour and sudden rages.
Witness Peter Williams recounted an incident in which Ferrers, enraged over the condition of a horse, struck Williams’s mother and wounded Peter with a sword.
The Solicitor General argued that violent outbursts and tyrannical behaviour toward subordinates did not constitute legal insanity under English law.
The House of Lords unanimously rejected the insanity plea. Each peer stood individually, placed his right hand upon his breast, and declared Ferrers:
“Guilty of felony and murder, upon my honour.”
Lord Henley passed the mandatory sentence of death under the Murder Act 1751: that Ferrers be hanged by the neck until dead and his body delivered to Surgeons’ Hall for anatomical dissection.
Because beheading was reserved strictly for cases of high treason, King George II denied Ferrers’ petition to be decapitated on Tower Hill, directing that the execution proceed by hanging at Tyburn.
Confinement in the Tower and Preparations
During his confinement in the Round Tower, Ferrers lived comfortably, playing piquet with his guards and preparing his final affairs.
He executed a will leaving £16,000 to his four illegitimate daughters and £200 to the family of his victim, John Johnson.
For his execution, Ferrers chose to wear his wedding suit—an ensemble of white satin embroidered with silver braid—remarking that he considered:
“this at least as good an occasion for putting them on as that for which they were first made.”
A newly designed gallows was constructed at Tyburn specifically for the Earl. It featured a scaffold covered in black baize, reached by a short flight of steps, with an experimental trapdoor platform beneath the crossbeam.
Black velvet cushions were placed on the platform for Ferrers and the prison chaplain to kneel upon during prayer.
The Procession and Execution at Tyburn
At 9:00 a.m. on Monday, 5 May 1760, the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex, accompanied by armed guards, received Ferrers from the Lieutenant of the Tower.
Ferrers was permitted to make the journey to Tyburn in his private landau drawn by six horses, accompanied by the chaplain and Sheriff Paul Vaillant.
The cortege included a detachment of Horse Grenadier Guards, carriage escorts, a hearse, and a large body of constables.
The journey through the crowded streets of London took nearly three hours. Ferrers observed the spectators, remarking:
“so large a mob had collected because the people had never seen a lord hanged before.”
Upon mounting the scaffold at Tyburn, Ferrers presented his pocket watch to Sheriff Vaillant and gave five guineas to the chaplain.
He intended to hand five guineas to the executioner, Thomas Turlis, but mistakenly handed the money to Turlis’s assistant, prompting an argument on the scaffold that was halted by the sheriff.
Ferrers and the chaplain knelt on the black cushions and recited the Lord’s Prayer. Ferrers added:
“Lord have mercy upon me, and forgive me my errors.”
The Earl took his place on the drop, his arms were bound with a black silk sash, and the halter was adjusted around his neck. His final words to Turlis were:
“Am I right?”
A white cap was pulled over his face, and Sheriff Vaillant gave the execution signal.
At noon, the trapdoors opened. The mechanism did not drop cleanly, leaving Ferrers’ feet nearly touching the surface of the floor. He convulsed briefly before expiring under the short drop. Horace Walpole recorded that his death took approximately four minutes.
The persistent legend that Earl Ferrers was hanged with a special silken rope due to his aristocratic status is historically false; contemporary records confirm he was executed using a standard hemp halter.
Dissection and Burial
Following the execution, the body was left suspended for the customary hour.
It was placed in an open coffin and conveyed to Surgeons’ Hall in London, where surgeons opened the chest and abdomen for anatomical dissection pursuant to the Murder Act 1751.
The corpse was put on view to the public until Thursday, 8 May, before being released to his relatives for interment at St Pancras Church.
In 1782, his remains were exhumed and reburied in the family vault at Staunton Harold Church.
Other notable 18th-century executions that ended in mandatory anatomical dissection under the 1751 Act include Elizabeth Brownrigg at Tyburn in 1767 and William Corder at Bury St. Edmunds in 1828.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Earl Ferrers?
Lawrence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, was an 18th-century English nobleman and landowner who shot and killed his estate steward, John Johnson, in January 1760.
Why was Earl Ferrers tried in Westminster Hall rather than a local assize?
Under the historical legal privilege of the peerage, peers of the realm charged with felony or treason could not be tried by common juries in county courts; they were entitled to trial by their aristocratic peers in the House of Lords under the presidency of the Lord High Steward.
Did Earl Ferrers hang with a silken rope?
No. Despite persistent urban legend, official trial records and eyewitness accounts confirm that Earl Ferrers was hanged with a standard hemp rope, although his arms were pinioned with a black silk sash.
Why was Earl Ferrers not beheaded?
Ferrers petitioned King George II to be executed by decapitation, which was regarded as an honorable, aristocratic death. The monarch denied the request because English law permitted beheading only for convictions of treason, mandating hanging for felony murder.
Where and when was Earl Ferrers executed?
He was publicly hanged on a scaffold at Tyburn on Monday, 5 May 1760, by executioner Thomas Turlis, after which his corpse was dissected at Surgeons’ Hall in London.
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