The Role and Origins

This article explores the sheriffs, jailers, and hired men who carried out executions in England before the professionalization of the role — a key chapter in the history of British judicial hanging that would evolve dramatically in the centuries to follow.

Very few records exist of hangmen outside London prior to 1830. Often this is because they were recruited from the ranks of the condemned themselves and reprieved on the condition of undertaking the executions of their fellow prisoners from a particular assize.

Where their names were known, they were often not reported in newspapers. If mentioned at all, they were likely to be referred to as the “common hangman,” “Jack Ketch,” or the “London hangman.” Hanging in those days was hardly rocket science, and anyone with a strong stomach could perform the role.

Death was something much closer to ordinary people then. They didn’t live in the sanitised world that we do and would have been quite used to the sight of death and to killing animals for food. Generally, these men were ostracised by the public once they became hangmen and were not the minor celebrities that they became later.

Travel and Payment

With the lack of a transport system, it was necessary to have a hangman for each county or small group of counties. It was only the coming of the railways that allowed executioners to travel between counties and, later, throughout the country. Prior to 1840, the only means of getting around was either by horse or the stagecoach, neither of which covered many miles in a day.

It would seem that the fee in the 1820s and 1830s—at least for non-prisoner hangmen—was between £2 and £5 for the local man, but as much as £10 if the London hangman of the day had to officiate. Assistants, where used, got between 5 and 10 shillings (25p–50p) and were selected by the hangman in some cases, rather than the prison authorities.

London’s Hangmen

Jack Ketch

Jack Ketch became the generic name for the hangman, although the first person to get that name was actually called John Ketch. He operated at Tyburn from September 1663. It is thought that he worked for around 23 years up to 1686 when he was imprisoned for a while before being reinstated.

Like all London hangmen, he had to carry out beheadings (up to 1747) and burnings as well as hangings. It is for two beheadings that he is best remembered:

Lord William Russell, executed at Lincoln’s Inn Fields on 21 July 1683 for his part in the Rye House Plot against King Charles II. Ketch struck Russell four blows with the axe before finally decapitating him. As a result, he had to issue a written “Apologie,” as it was titled.
James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, executed on Tower Hill on 15 July 1685. It took Ketch repeated blows to finally dispatch the Duke.

Pasha Rose and Successors

Pasha Rose succeeded Ketch but was hanged at Tyburn for housebreaking and theft just four months later. Ketch returned to office and continued up to his death in November 1686.

It is thought that he was succeeded by Richard Pearse, of whom little is known, and even less about who was the executioner between 1686 and 1714.

John Price

Born in 1677, John Price was appointed executioner in 1714. He held the position for four years before also being hanged—on Saturday, 31 May 1718 at Bunhill Fields—for the murder of Elizabeth White, near the spot where he was executed. He was afterwards hanged in chains at Stonebridge.

William Marvell

William Marvell took over the office, having been a temporary replacement for Price while the latter was in prison for debt. On 24 February 1716, he beheaded Lord Derwentwater and Lord Kilmure on Tower Hill, making a rather better job than Jack Ketch had.

Marvell held the job until November 1717 when he was dismissed after getting into debt, but was presumably reappointed to replace Price.

“Bailiff Banks” and Richard Arnett

“Bailiff Banks” took over from Marvell and held the post for a few years before handing over to Richard Arnett, probably in 1719. It is thought that he hanged John Price (above) and Marquis de Paleotti, who had murdered his servant. Very little else is known about Mr. Banks.

Richard Arnett

Arnett was probably responsible for the executions of Jack Shepherd and Jonathan Wild at Tyburn and definitely carried out the burning of Catherine Hayes at Tyburn on Monday, 9 May 1726, for the petty treason murder of her husband. Arnett died in August 1728.

John Hooper – “The Laughing Hangman”

John Hooper was a turnkey at Newgate who was appointed to take over from Arnett and was noted for his jokes, being dubbed the “Laughing Hangman.” He held the post until March 1735 when he was replaced by John Thrift.

John Thrift

John Thrift reigned for nearly 18 years and had the gruesome task of hanging, drawing, and quartering some of those involved in the Jacobite Rebellion between July and November 1745. Thrift succumbed to illness and died on 5 May 1752.

Thomas Turlis

Thomas Turlis replaced Thrift, working for nearly 20 years before dying in April 1771, while returning home after an execution at Kingston in Surrey. His first job was to hang 12 people on Monday, 4 February 1754.

His most notable executions were those of Earl Ferrers in 1760 and Elizabeth Brownrigg in 1767.

Edward Dennis

Edward Dennis was the official executioner for London and Middlesex from 1771 till his death on 21 November 1786 and carried out 201 hangings at Tyburn and Newgate, plus two burnings at Newgate.

Highlights of his tenure include:

Hanging Rev. Dr. William Dodd on 27 June 1777 for forgery.
Hanging nine men and one woman on the “New Drop” outside Newgate on 9 December 1783.
Participating in the Gordon Riots of 1780, after which he was pardoned so he could execute the convicted rioters.

Dennis was often assisted by William Brunskill, his eventual successor.

William Brunskill

Brunskill hanged 537 people outside Newgate as principal hangman. His first job was on 22 November 1786, hanging seven men for housebreaking and highway robbery. He also:

Performed the last execution by burning in Britain in 1789 (Catherine or Christian Murphy).
Executed 68 people at Horsemonger Lane Gaol between 1800–1814.
Put to death Colonel Edward Despard and six others on 21 February 1803 for high treason.
Hanged John Bellingham on 12 May 1812 for the assassination of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.

After a stroke in 1814, he retired with a pension.

John Langley

Langley, Brunskill’s assistant of nearly 25 years, succeeded him and hanged 37 men and three women, including Eliza Fenning. He died on 27 April 1817.

James Botting (“Jemmy”)

Botting, the first London hangman to receive a proper salary (£1 a week), served for two years and hanged 25 men and two women. His most famous execution was the Cato Street conspirators in 1820.

He was described as dour and surly and died on 1 October 1837, 17 years after retiring.

James Foxen (or Foxten)

Foxen assumed the position in July 1820 and is thought to have hanged 206 men and six women over 11 years. Notable executions include:

Henry Fauntleroy, the banker and fraudster, on 30 November 1824.
His final execution was that of James Coleman and James Wheeler on 21 January 1829.

Foxen died on 14 February 1829.

Thomas Cheshire (“Old Cheese”)

Cheshire officiated at 15 executions, including six outside Newgate. He also assisted at many others throughout the southeast. Notable cases include:

John Thurtell, the Elstree Murderer, in 1824.
William Corder, the Red Barn Murderer, in 1828.

His last execution was William Osborne in April 1829. He died in July 1830.

The men profiled here often came from rough backgrounds, serving as jailers, sheriffs, or hired hands in a period when executions were both common and public.
These early hangmen operated under the harsh legal environment of the Bloody Code, a period

Provincial Hangmen

Lancashire

Edward Barlow, known as “Old Ned,” was Lancashire’s hangman. It is assumed that Barlow carried out all of the 47 hangings at Lancaster between 1782 and 1799, plus a further 24 between 1800 and 1812.

Barlow had been condemned to death for horse theft but had his sentence commuted to 10 years’ imprisonment on condition that he lived in Lancaster Castle and continued to carry out hangings and floggings.

Edward Barlow died in 1812. I have had access to the journal of the Castle’s then Governor, John Higgin, in which he records on the 9th of December 1812: “Died in the castle this day Edward Barlow.”

There are several sources which show he was carrying out executions here as late as 1820, but these are patently incorrect. It is unclear who succeeded Barlow, but in due course William Calcraft was to become a regular visitor to Lancaster.

Yorkshire

William “John” Curry from Thirsk was the hangman for Yorkshire between 1802 and 1835 and carried out at least 58—and as many as 117—hangings during his 33-year reign.

He was known as “Mutton Curry,” as he had twice been convicted of sheep stealing, having had his death sentence commuted on each occasion. On the second occasion, in April 1801, he was awaiting transportation when the post of hangman became vacant, and he accepted it.

Curry found his job stressful and took to drinking a lot of gin to steel himself for the task.

The Execution of Mary Bateman

A notable execution took place on the 20th of March 1809, when he hanged the “Yorkshire Witch,” Mary Bateman, for the murder of Rebecca Perigo, alongside Joseph Brown, who had killed Elizabeth Fletcher.

The 1813 Mass Execution

The 16th of January 1813 was to be Curry’s busiest day, with 14 men to hang. The executions were carried out in two groups—one at 11 a.m. and one at 2 p.m.—in what was to be York’s biggest ever hanging.

A “vast concourse” of people assembled on St George’s Field to see this mass “launch into eternity,” as hangings were then known. The prisoners were Luddites who were trying to halt mechanisation of the textile industries of Yorkshire and Lancashire by violent means, as this was causing widespread unemployment and destitution.

Following an attempt to destroy Cartwright’s textile mill at Rawfold, near Brighouse, in April 1812, over 100 men had been rounded up. Sixty-four were charged with a variety of offences and came before a special judicial commission at York Castle at the beginning of January 1813.

Twenty-four of them were convicted and 17 sentenced to hang. The remainder were transported. The first of these executions was carried out on Friday, the 8th of January, when three men suffered for the murder of mill owner William Horsfall, including the Luddite’s leader in Yorkshire, George Mellor—the remainder of the group being dealt with just over a week later.

The Botched Double Execution in April 1821

On the 14th of April 1821, Curry was called upon to perform two executions. First, he hanged highwayman Michael Shaw at York Castle, and then had to walk across town to execute William Brown for burglary at the City Gaol.

He was somewhat drunk by the time he got there, and while waiting on the platform for the prisoner to appear, he began shaking the noose at spectators, calling out to them: “Some of you come up and I’ll try it!”

When Brown appeared, Curry had to be assisted by a warder and one of the sheriff’s officers:

“The executioner, in a bungling manner and with great difficulty, being in a state of intoxication, placed the cap over the culprit’s face and attempted several times to place the rope round his neck, but was unable.”

“He missed the unfortunate man’s head with the noose every time that he tried. The cap was each time removed from the malefactor’s face, who stared wildly around upon the spectators,” The Times newspaper reported on the 24th of April.

The crowd were not amused and called out: “Hang him, hang Jack Ketch.”

The Fall

On the 1st of September 1821, Curry had to hang seven men at one time. The execution was reported by The Yorkshire Gazette as follows:

“On Saturday last, a few minutes before 12 o’clock, the unfortunate men were conducted from their cells to the fatal drop. After a short time spent in prayer they were launched into eternity. None of them seemed to suffer much.”

“However, by an unaccountable neglect of the executioner (Curry) in not keeping sufficiently clear of the drop when the bolt was pulled out, he fell into the trap along with the malefactors.”

Curry retired in 1835 and died in March 1841.

Successors to Curry

James Coates, also a prisoner at York, having been sentenced to seven years’ transportation for larceny at the summer assizes of 1835, took over the vacant position. Coates executed Charles Batty in 1836 and Thomas Williams the following year, both for attempted murder.

He managed to escape from the prison on the 28th of November 1839 and was never heard of again. Reportedly, one John Wilkinson was appointed in his place, although he was never needed as there were no executions at York between 1836 and 1839.

Nathaniel Howard, another prisoner, took over the post in 1840 and hanged James Bradsley for the murder of his father on 11 April of that year, due to the unavailability of Calcraft, who was booked for an execution at Stafford on the same day.

Howard went on to hang a further 17 men between then and the 9th of April 1853, when he bungled the hanging of murderer Henry Dobson so badly that:

“When the drop fell and the rope tightened around his neck, the condemned man struggled violently,”

—for which Howard was dismissed. He was by this time old and in poor health and died on the 22nd of April. Howard was the last prisoner hangman at York.

There were no executions at York between April 1853 and 1856. A new executioner had to be found to hang 28-year-old William Dove for the murder of his wife on the 9th of August 1856, as Calcraft was at Dorchester that day for the execution of Elizabeth Brown. The man chosen was Thomas Askern (see English Hangmen 1850–1964).

Cheshire

Samuel Burrows was Chester’s hangman and performed 58 executions there between 1802 and 1834. He executed Edith Morrey on the 23rd of April 1813 for the murder of her husband. He had also hanged her boyfriend, John Lomas, on the 24th of August 1812 for his part in the killing.

His last job was also his biggest—the quadruple hanging at Chester on the 19th of April 1834, when he hanged Thomas Riley for cutting and maiming, John Carr and William Naylor for shooting with intent to murder, and James Mason for procuring an abortion.

He also worked at Shrewsbury and Hereford on occasions. He was born on the 28th of June 1772 and died on the 20th of October 1835.

Leicestershire & the Midlands

Samuel Haywood, from Appleby Magna, Leicestershire, was an agricultural labourer and also a poacher. He was arrested in March 1817 and charged with being equipped for poaching and having snares and other instruments for the destruction of game, according to The Leicester Chronicle of 19th April 1817.

He was tried on Friday the 18th of April 1817 and sentenced to two years in Leicester’s Bridewell (House of Correction). Whilst imprisoned, he volunteered to flog another prisoner. The governor offered Haywood the vacant position of hangman for Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire.

His earliest recorded execution was that of Thomas Wilcox at Nottingham on the 24th of March 1820. He carried out a triple hanging at Nottingham in 1822 and a double at Lancaster in 1832.

He hanged Sarah Smith at Leicester on the 26th of March 1832 for the murder of Elizabeth Wood. A few days later, he was in action at Warwick for the execution of John Danks on the 9th of April, and by 1835 was working as far afield as Gloucester.

He was also hired at Liverpool’s Kirkdale Gaol, where he carried out two executions in 1835/6, including his second female one, that of Elizabeth Rowland on the 9th of April 1836, for the murder of her husband.

On the 5th of April 1838, he hanged Ann Wycherly at Stafford for child murder. He carried out a triple hanging in Derby on the 31st of March 1843.

His final execution was that of John Platts at Derby on the 1st of April 1847. Haywood died of influenza on the 11th of March 1848 at the age of 70, having executed at least 44 people, including three women. It is possible that he carried out a further fourteen hangings, but this cannot be confirmed.

The South West

George Mitchell, about whom very little is known other than his work as an executioner, hanged 30 people in three southwestern counties. He was employed at Bodmin in Cornwall, Exeter in Devon, and Bridgwater and Ilchester in Somerset between 1828 and 1845. Mitchell died in 1847.

A number of other hangmen carried out very small numbers of executions in provincial county towns during the early part of the 19th century, but very little is known about them.

Many of the themes and practices that began with these early figures would later be seen in more familiar names among British hangmen during the 19th century, when execution became a formalized part of the justice system.

Can You Help?

We would love to hear from you if you have any more information on Britain’s hangmen. No information that we have unearthed tells us anything about who officiated at Aberdeen between 1821 and 1824.

John Milne was the previous hangman at Aberdeen but is thought to have died in 1818 or 1819. Similarly, there is no information for Perth between 1800 and 1817.

With special thanks to Matthew Spicer for providing some of the information used in this article.

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