George Smith Hangman – The “Dudley Throttler or Higgler”

Origins and Career Overview

Although George Smith is not as widely remembered as contemporaries like William Calcraft, he was a prominent regional executioner across the English Midlands in the mid-19th century.

Smith assisted Calcraft at six executions and officiated as principal hangman at thirty-three public hangings and one private execution between 1840 and 1872.

Known in the Black Country as the “Dudley Throttler” or the “Higgler” (a regional slang term for a hangman), Smith cut a recognizable figure on the scaffold.

He was famed for conducting public hangings dressed in a long white coat and top hat, and had a well-known penchant for “Black Billy” rum—a habit that likely contributed to the dropsy from which he suffered in his later years.

From Debtor to Executioner at Stafford Gaol

George Smith was born in Rowley Regis, Staffordshire, in 1805.

In the spring of 1840, he was an inmate confined in Stafford Gaol serving a custodial sentence for unpaid debt.

Calcraft had travelled to Stafford Gaol to carry out the double execution of James Owen and George Thomas on 11 April 1840 for the “Bloody Steps Murder” of Christina Collins at Brindley Bank near Rugeley.

Facing a double hanging, Calcraft requested an assistant. When none of the prison turnkeys volunteered for the task, the governor offered a remission of sentence to any prisoner willing to assist on the scaffold.

Smith stepped forward, and his assistance was deemed an efficient success by prison authorities.

This debut earned Smith permanent employment with the county magistrates, who hired him locally to avoid the steep expenses of bringing Calcraft up from London for regional executions.

His first assignment as principal executioner occurred at Stafford on 26 August 1843, when he hanged twenty-six-year-old Charles Higginson for the murder of his five-year-old son.

Smith went on to conduct seventeen additional executions at Stafford Gaol, including that of Sarah Westwood on 13 January 1844.

The Execution of Dr. William Palmer (1856)

Smith’s most famous execution was that of the “Rugeley Poisoner,” thirty-one-year-old Dr. William Palmer, convicted of the fatal poisoning of his gambling associate John Parsons Cook.

Palmer had accumulated ruinous debts and attended the Shrewsbury Races with Cook in November 1855. While Palmer lost heavily, Cook won substantial sums.

Upon returning to the Talbot Arms in Rugeley, Cook fell violently ill and died. A subsequent post-mortem ordered by Cook’s stepfather revealed lethal traces of antimony.

Due to intense local hostility, Parliament passed the Central Criminal Court Act 1856 (commonly called “Palmer’s Act”), enabling trials for notorious provincial crimes to be transferred to the Old Bailey in London to ensure an impartial jury.

Palmer was convicted following a sensational twelve-day trial and returned to Stafford for execution.

On Saturday, 14 June 1856, an estimated 30,000 spectators descended on Stafford, with railway operators laying on special excursion trains across the Midlands.

At 8:00 a.m., Smith escorted Palmer onto the scaffold. Palmer reportedly muttered “God bless you” to the executioner just before Smith released the trapdoor bolt.

The drop resulted in little visible struggle, leaving the massive crowd disappointed by the absence of prolonged convulsions under the short drop.

The Warwick Station Mobbing and Near-Lynching (1860)

Smith’s execution career was marred by severe irregularities and public disturbances.

On 20 August 1860, Smith officiated at Warwick Gaol for the execution of twenty-eight-year-old Francis Price, convicted of murdering his former sweetheart, Sarah Pratt, in Birmingham.

Contemporary execution protocol permitted the condemned a brief window to offer prayers and seek forgiveness.

The prisoner traditionally signaled the conclusion of devotions by dropping a white handkerchief, upon which the hangman pulled the bolt.

Whether motivated by impatience or an urgent desire to catch a scheduled train, Smith pulled the lever prematurely while Price was still in mid-prayer.

The crowd of 3,000 spectators was incensed, believing the hangman had deprived Price of his chance at spiritual salvation.

Onlookers surged toward the scaffold intending to assault Smith, forcing warders and police to rush him back inside Warwick Gaol for his own safety.

After the mob dispersed, Smith slipped out of the gaol and headed to Warwick railway station.

Unfortunately for the hangman, a large contingent of spectators from Birmingham had also gathered on the platform awaiting the same train.

Smith was immediately recognized and attacked. Several men attempted to throw him onto the tracks in front of an approaching locomotive.

Only the timely intervention of station master Mr. Chiltern and railway porters prevented Smith from being lynched or crushed on the line.

Staffordshire’s Last Public Hanging and Scaffolding Mishaps

Another serious failure took place at Stafford Gaol on 7 August 1866 during the execution of thirty-five-year-old poacher William Collier, condemned for the murder of gamekeeper Thomas Smith at Whiston Eaves.

Smith failed to secure the suspension rope properly to the overhead crossbeam.

When the trapdoors opened, the rope slipped free, and Collier plummeted through the trap onto the stone floor below.

The injured prisoner had to be carried back up the scaffold steps and hanged a second time once the rope was refastened.

This botched execution proved to be the final public hanging held in Staffordshire before Parliament passed the Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868, which mandated that all future executions take place behind prison walls.

Final Years and Private Executions

Following the abolition of public hangings, Smith conducted one private execution behind prison walls: the hanging of thirty-four-year-old Christopher Edwards at Stafford on 13 August 1872 for wife murder.

Smith also served as assistant executioner to Calcraft during England’s first two private executions in 1868: Thomas Wells at Maidstone on 13 August, and Alexander Mackay at Newgate on 8 September.

Beyond Staffordshire, Smith secured regular execution commissions across county gaols in the West Midlands and North West, including:

• Warwick Gaol: 6 executions;
• Chester Castle: 4 executions;
• Shrewsbury Gaol: 2 executions;
• Hereford Gaol: 2 executions;
• Worcester Gaol: 1 execution.

In addition to Sarah Westwood, Smith hanged one other woman as principal: Mary Gallop at Chester on 28 December 1844 for the murder of her father.

He also acted as assistant to Calcraft at the executions of three other women: Betty Eccles at Liverpool (1843), Sarah Harriet Thomas at Bristol (1849), and Alice Holt at Chester (1863).

Smith died on 4 April 1874 at the age of sixty-nine, after which George Incher assumed the role of Staffordshire’s executioner.

His career mirrored the transition from rough, ad-hoc short-drop hanging methods to the standardized procedures later introduced by The Billingtons and Robert Evans Anderson.

Complete Execution Log of George Smith

Date	Prisoner	Location	Crime / Victim	Role / Notes
11/04/1840	James Owen	Stafford	Murder of Christina Collins	Assistant to Calcraft
11/04/1840	George Thomas	Stafford	Murder of Christina Collins	Assistant to Calcraft
03/04/1841	Matthew Fowles	Stafford	Murder of Martha Keeling	Principal
02/04/1842	Joseph Wilkes	Stafford	Murder of Matthew Adams	Principal
06/05/1843	Betty Eccles	Liverpool	Murder of stepson	Assistant to Calcraft
26/08/1843	Charles Higginson	Stafford	Murder of 5-year-old son	First solo execution
02/09/1843	James Jones	Chester	Murder of wife Elizabeth	Principal
13/01/1844	Sarah Westwood	Stafford	Murder of husband John	Principal
17/08/1844	William Beard	Stafford	Murder of Elizabeth Griffiths	Principal
28/12/1844	Mary Gallop	Chester	Murder of father	Principal
25/01/1845	Paul Downing	Stafford	Murder of William Cooper	Double execution
25/01/1845	Charles Powys	Stafford	Murder of William Cooper	Double execution
05/04/1845	John Brough	Stafford	Murder of brother Thomas	Principal
22/04/1848	William Bates	Chester	Murder of William Wyatt	Principal
26/03/1849	Robert Pulley	Worcester	Murder of 15-year-old Mary Straight	Principal
20/04/1849	Sarah H. Thomas	Bristol	Murder of mistress Elizabeth Jefferies	Assistant to Calcraft
09/04/1853	Charles Moore	Stafford	Murder of Mr. & Mrs. Blackburn	Principal
07/04/1854	John Lloyd	Shrewsbury	Murder of John Griffiths	Principal
14/06/1856	William Palmer	Stafford	Poisoning of John Parsons Cook	30,000 spectators
08/08/1857	George Jackson	Stafford	Murder of Mr. Charlesworth	Principal
30/12/1859	John Kington	Warwick	Murder of wife	Principal
20/08/1860	Francis Price	Warwick	Murder of Sarah Pratt	Mobbed at railway station
05/01/1861	Samuel Twigg	Stafford	Murder of wife	Principal
30/12/1861	William Beamish	Warwick	Murder of wife & child	Double execution
30/12/1861	John Thompson	Warwick	Murder of Ann Walker	Double execution
04/01/1862	David Brandrick	Stafford	Murder of Mr. Bagott	Principal
25/08/1862	George Gardner	Warwick	Murder of Sarah Kirby	Principal
06/04/1863	Henry Carter	Warwick	Murder of Alice Hinkley	Principal
11/04/1863	Edward Cooper	Shrewsbury	Murder of son	Principal
15/04/1863	William Hope	Hereford	Murder of Mary Corbett	Principal
05/04/1864	Thomas Watkins	Hereford	Murder of wife	Principal
27/12/1864	Charles Brough	Stafford	Murder of George Walker	Double execution
27/12/1864	Richard Hale	Stafford	Murder of infant child	Double execution
09/01/1866	Charles Robinson	Stafford	Murder of Harriet Seager	Principal
27/03/1866	George Bentley	Stafford	Murder of John Poole	Assisted by son
07/08/1866	William Collier	Stafford	Murder of Thomas Smith	Rope slipped; re-hanged
13/08/1868	Thomas Wells	Maidstone	Murder of station master	First private hanging; assisted
08/09/1868	Alexander Mackay	Newgate	Murder of employer’s wife	Private hanging; assisted
13/08/1872	Christopher Edwards	Stafford	Murder of wife	Sole private execution as principal

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was George Smith?

George Smith (1805–1874) was an English executioner from Rowley Regis, Staffordshire, who carried out thirty-four executions as principal and assisted on six others between 1840 and 1872, earning the nickname “The Dudley Throttler.”

How did George Smith become an executioner?

While serving a prison sentence for debt in Stafford Gaol in April 1840, Smith volunteered to assist London hangman William Calcraft with a double hanging after prison guards refused the job, earning an early release and regular appointments from the county sheriff.

What was George Smith’s most famous execution?

His most famous hanging was that of the notorious serial poisoner Dr. William Palmer (the “Rugeley Poisoner”), executed outside Stafford Gaol on 14 June 1856 before an estimated crowd of 30,000 onlookers.

Why was George Smith attacked at Warwick railway station in 1860?

During the hanging of Francis Price at Warwick Gaol, Smith pulled the gallows bolt prematurely while the prisoner was still praying. An angry crowd pursued him to the local train station and attempted to throw him in front of an oncoming train before railway staff intervened.

What occurred during Staffordshire’s last public hanging in 1866?

While executing poacher William Collier on 7 August 1866, Smith failed to fasten the rope securely to the crossbeam. When the trapdoors dropped, the rope slipped off, sending Collier to the ground; the prisoner had to be carried back up and hanged a second time.

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