Kirkdale Gaol, known as the Kirkdale House of Correction, was constructed to the then-fashionable Panopticon design, with six wings radiating from a central tower, and opened in 1819.
It was originally designed to hold 460 prisoners.
There was a Sessions House (Court) on the site, at the end of Sessions Road, to enable it to serve the West Derby Hundred (the southern division) of Lancashire.
This was replaced by St George’s Hall, which opened as Liverpool’s Assize court in 1854 and was the venue for many famous trials.
Liverpool became an Assize town in 1835; prisoners from this district had previously been sent for trial to Lancaster Castle.
Those condemned to death were no longer sent to Lancaster Castle for execution but hanged at Kirkdale Gaol, which was the prison for southern Lancashire.
Lancaster Castle was the prison for northern Lancashire, and Strangeways Prison had replaced Salford, which closed in 1868, as the prison for Manchester.
The newer Walton Prison took over Kirkdale’s remaining duties upon its closure in 1892, most of the ordinary inmates having been transferred there in 1890, as documented in our survey of execution sites from the late 18th century to abolition in 1964.
On Saturday the 15th of August 1835, the first South Lancashire Assizes was held at Kirkdale, before Lord Chief Justice Tindal, who presided over the criminal proceedings, and Lord Abinger, who dealt with the civil cases.
James Barlow, who had murdered his wife, Priscilla, was the first person to be sentenced to death here and hanged outside the prison on the 24th of August.
The court also heard the murder case against Jane Boardman from Bolton, who was accused of killing her grandson. The judge directed the jury to acquit her.
By 1842, overcrowding had become a problem.
The Bolton Free Press reported in September of that year that there were 632 prisoners incarcerated on the 16th of that month.
In a report by the Surveyor of Prisons, it was stated that there were 2,524 inmates in the period 1841–1842 and 3,041 in the period 1845–1846.
In 1847, plans were put forward to build an additional cell block at a cost of £8,000.
This was necessitated because the “separate system” of incarceration had been instituted here, which meant that each inmate had his own cell, whereas before prisoners could share a cell.
At the county sessions in Preston, it was resolved that towards carrying into effect resolutions of the Courts of Annual Session 1866, authorising the General Finance Committee of the county to borrow £35,000 for altering, enlarging, and repairing the county prisons at Preston and Kirkdale, to approve the mortgage of the rates for these purposes for the sum of £8,000.
The building, located two miles from the centre of Liverpool at North Dingle Lane, Kirkdale, closed in 1892 and was demolished in 1897, with a recreation centre built on the site.
The Gallows and Execution Facilities at Kirkdale
Executions began on the 24th of August 1835 with James Barlow and ended with the hanging of John Conway there on the 20th of August 1891.
Strangely for three years, both Walton and Kirkdale prisons had execution sheds and it would seem that the Kirkdale gallows was transported to Walton for the first hanging there, that of Elizabeth Berry on the 14th of March 1887.
Walton took over Liverpool executions permanently in August 1892, with that of Patrick Gibbons.
The Westmorland Gazette reported that for the execution of Barlow at noon on Monday the 24th of August 1835, the New Drop gallows had been borrowed from Lancaster and set up:
“in the north west angle of the Kirkdale House of Correction and erected fourteen feet above the heads of the multitude assembled to witness the awful scene.”
It would seem that the gallows was erected on the street outside the prison rather than on the gatehouse roof, as was often the case at other county gaols, operating via the short drop method.
For the quadruple execution of Alvarez, Hughes, O’Brien, and Thomas on the 12th of September 1863, it was reported that a screen had been set up on the gallows to hide the struggles of the four men and that the platform had been extended.
Some 270 policemen were on hand in an endeavour to control the crowd, estimated at 100,000 persons.
In December 1867, Captain Gibbs, the then governor, was advised of a threat by the Fenians to attack the prison, with the governor’s house and Sessions House being the principal targets for arson, using a flammable fluid known as “Greek fire”.
Captain Gibbs increased security substantially and it does not appear that these threats were carried out. The Fenians also made threats against other public buildings at this time.
John Gregson’s was the first private hanging under the Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868, the gallows being erected in the north-west corner of the prison.
William Calcraft pinioned Gregson in the condemned cell where he was praying with the chaplain, the Rev. Piggott.
A procession consisting of two visiting justices, the governor (Mr. Gibbs), Gregson, the chaplain, Calcraft, and two warders set out for the gallows.
The execution took place on Monday the 10th of January 1870 at 8:00 a.m., with the drop falling two minutes later.
On Wednesday the 22nd of September 1886, Crimean War veteran Major Knox took over as governor of Kirkdale, having held the same position at Cardiff for the previous fifteen years.
Dr. James Barr and “The Mechanics of Hanging”
Kirkdale had Dr. James Barr as its surgeon at this time, who was considered an expert on judicial hanging.
He had written an authoritative paper on the subject, entitled The Mechanics of Hanging.
He testified in depth before the Royal Commission (the Aberdare Committee) in 1886, shaping the standards that led to the evolution of the long drop in the 20th century.
Dr. Barr had witnessed 15 executions at Kirkdale since 1877, including two double hangings.
In three cases he recorded death by asphyxia, and in the others death by cervical fracture and dislocation.
He offered views on all aspects of the execution process and criticised the overcomplicated pinioning process, which he claimed could take 3 to 4 minutes to complete.
Dr. Barr favoured a drop which produced a final force of 1,260 foot-pounds for prisoners of normal build and weight, with a reduced figure for smaller persons.
He was very unimpressed with Bartholomew Binns’s work as an executioner, especially with the execution of Henry Dutton, who strangled to death.
Barr also had several run-ins with hangman James Berry over the way in which he conducted hangings.
In October of 1888, Dr. Barr was stabbed by an inmate after he had tried to break up a fight between the man and another prisoner.
Dr. Barr was quite seriously injured in this incident but made a full recovery.
After the failure of the trapdoors to open at the hanging of John Lee at Exeter in 1885, the Home Office commissioned Lieutenant Colonel Alton Beamish to design a standard gallows for use throughout the country.
This consisted of two uprights with a crossbeam in 8-inch section oak.
The beam was long enough to execute three prisoners side by side and was set over a 12-foot-long by 4-foot-wide two-leaf trap set level with the surrounding floor.
The trapdoors were made from three-inch-thick oak and were released by an iron lever.
This was a great improvement over older designs, eliminated steps up to the scaffold, and was first tested on Matthew William Chadwick at Kirkdale on the 15th of April 1890 before being permanently installed in Walton’s I Wing.
The final execution at Kirkdale occurred on the 20th of August 1891, when James Berry hanged 62-year-old John Conway for child murder.
During this hanging, Conway was nearly decapitated by the excessive drop distance insisted upon by the prison medical officer, an incident that prompted Berry’s immediate resignation from the Home Office execution list.
Public Executions at Kirkdale (32)
Thirty men and two women were publicly hanged at Kirkdale between 1835 and 1867.
These hangings were typically carried out at noon:
| Execution Date | Condemned Name | Age | Hangman | Crime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24/08/1835 | James Barlow | 40 | Samuel Haywood | Murder of wife, Priscilla |
| 09/04/1836 | Betty Rowland | 46 | Samuel Haywood | Murder of husband, William |
| 21/04/1838 | William Hill | 27 | Samuel Haywood | Rape and murder of Elizabeth Winshall |
| 03/09/1842 | Francis Bradley | 32 | William Calcraft | Murder of wife |
| 06/05/1843 | Betty Eccles | 38 | William Calcraft | Murder of stepson |
| 06/05/1843 | Wilmot Buckley | 22 | William Calcraft | Murder of wife, Elizabeth |
| 20/01/1844 | John Roberts | 26 | William Calcraft | Murder of gamekeeper |
| 04/01/1845 | George Evans | 20 | William Calcraft | Murder of Mrs. Miller |
| 04/01/1845 | Thomas Stew | 21 | William Calcraft | Murder of Alice Nolan |
| 16/09/1848 | William Adams | 32 | William Calcraft | Murder of wife |
| 06/01/1849 | James Kelly | 24 | William Calcraft | Murder of Eliza Faulkner |
| 15/09/1849 | John Wilson | 26 | Nathaniel Howard | Murder of Mrs. Hinrickson |
| 26/04/1851 | Patrick Lyons | 21 | William Calcraft | Murder of Peggy Fahay |
| 05/01/1856 | Jonathan Heywood | 47 | William Calcraft | Murder of Margaret Jones |
| 12/09/1857 | Capt. Henry Rogers | 37 | William Calcraft | Murder of Andrew Rose |
| 01/01/1859 | Henry Reid | 38 | William Calcraft | Murder of wife, Susannah |
| 08/09/1860 | Thomas Gallagher | 40 | William Calcraft | Murder of wife |
| 11/01/1862 | Patrick M’Caffery | 29 | William Calcraft | Murder of Col. Crofton |
| 13/09/1862 | William Taylor | 37 | William Calcraft | Murder of Mr. Evan Meller |
| 13/09/1862 | John Ward | 30 | William Calcraft | Murder of PC William Jump |
| 03/01/1863 | Thomas Edwards | 30 | William Calcraft | Murder of Isabella Tonge |
| 25/04/1863 | Duncan McPhail | 34 | William Calcraft | Murder of Mrs. Ann Walne |
| 25/04/1863 | George Woods | 35 | William Calcraft | Murder of Mrs. Ann Walne |
| 12/09/1863 | José Alvarez | 22 | William Calcraft | Murder of James Harrison |
| 12/09/1863 | John Hughes | 51 | William Calcraft | Murder of wife |
| 12/09/1863 | James O’Brien | 26 | William Calcraft | Murder of Elizabeth Callaghan |
| 12/09/1863 | Benjamin Thomas | 24 | William Calcraft | Murder of Mary Rowland |
| 09/01/1864 | Luke Charles | 25 | William Calcraft | Murder of wife, Mary |
| 16/04/1864 | James Clitheroe | 32 | William Calcraft | Murder of Mary Woods |
| 07/01/1865 | Hugh Brown | 32 | William Calcraft | Murder of Thomas McCarthy |
| 01/09/1866 | Thomas Grimes | 30 | William Calcraft | Murder of James Barton |
| 14/09/1867 | Henry Farrington | 25 | William Calcraft | Murder of wife |
Private Executions at Kirkdale (34)
Thirty-one men and three women were hanged within the walls of Kirkdale Prison between 1870 and 1891:
| Execution Date | Condemned Name | Age | Hangman / Assistant | Crime and Victim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/01/1870 | John Gregson | 27 | William Calcraft | Murder of wife, Ellen |
| 09/01/1873 | Spencer Richard | 60 | William Calcraft | Murder of girlfriend, Elizabeth Wharton |
| 08/09/1873 | James Conner | 29 | William Calcraft | Murder of James Gaffney |
| 05/01/1874 | Thomas Corrigan | 23 | William Calcraft | Matricide |
| 31/08/1874 | Mary Williams | 40 | William Marwood | Murder of Nicholas Manning |
| 31/08/1874 | Henry Flanagan | 22 | William Marwood | Murder of aunt |
| 04/01/1875 | John McCrave | 20 | Robert Anderson (Evans) | Cornermen gang murder of Richard Morgan |
| 04/01/1875 | Michael Mullen | 17 | Robert Anderson (Evans) | Cornermen gang murder of Richard Morgan |
| 04/01/1875 | William Worthington | 33 | Robert Anderson (Evans) | Murder of wife, Ann |
| 19/04/1875 | Alfred Heap | 41 | William Marwood | Death of Margaret McKivett during abortion |
| 05/09/1875 | William Baker | 25 | William Marwood | Murder of Charles Langan |
| 05/09/1875 | Edward Cooper | 33 | William Marwood | Murder of Edward Jones at sea |
| 14/08/1876 | William Fish | 26 | William Marwood | Murder of child, Emily Holland |
| 14/08/1876 | Richard Thompson | 22 | William Marwood | Murder of John Blundell |
| 21/08/1877 | John Golding | 25 | William Marwood | Murder of friend, Daniel Lloyd |
| 21/08/1877 | Patrick McGovern | 53 | William Marwood | Murder of John Campbell |
| 12/02/1878 | James Trickett | 42 | William Marwood | Murder of wife, Mary |
| 28/05/1879 | Thomas Johnson | 20 | William Marwood | Murder of Eliza Mary Patten |
| 02/03/1880 | Patrick Kearns | 21 | William Marwood | Murder of Patrick Tracey |
| 02/03/1880 | Hugh Burns | 30 | William Marwood | Murder of Patrick Tracey |
| 31/05/1881 | Joseph McEntee | 42 | William Marwood | Murder of wife, Ellen |
| 21/08/1882 | William Turner | 52 | William Marwood | Murder of wife, Ellen |
| 04/12/1882 | Bernard Mullarky | 19 | William Marwood | Murder of Thomas Cruise |
| 03/12/1883 | Henry Dutton | 22 | Bartholomew Binns | Murder of Hannah Hamshaw |
| 05/03/1884 | Catherine Flannigan | 55 | Bartholomew Binns & Samuel Heath | Liverpool Black Widows poisonings |
| 05/03/1884 | Margaret Higgins | 41 | Bartholomew Binns & Samuel Heath | Murder of husband, Thomas Higgins |
| 10/03/1884 | Michael McLean | 18 | Bartholomew Binns | Murder of sailor E. R. Nunez |
| 19/08/1884 | Peter Cassidy | 54 | James Berry | Murder of wife, Mary |
| 08/12/1884 | Arthur Shaw | 31 | James Berry | Murder of wife, Elizabeth |
| 08/12/1884 | Ernest Ewerstaedt | 23 | James Berry | Murder of Elizabeth Hamblin |
| 09/12/1885 | George Thomas | 29 | James Berry | Murder of Margaret Askin |
| 15/04/1890 | William Chadwick | 23 | James Berry | Murder of Walter Davies |
| 30/12/1890 | Thomas McDonald | 32 | James Berry | Murder of Elizabeth Ann Holt |
| 20/08/1891 | John Conway | 62 | James Berry | Murder of child, Nicholas Martin |
Notable Cases: The “Liverpool Black Widows” (1884)
One of the most notorious capital cases in British criminal history concluded on the Kirkdale gallows on the 5th of March 1884, when sisters Catherine Flannigan (55) and Margaret Higgins (41) were hanged side by side by Bartholomew Binns and Samuel Heath.
Known in the contemporary press as the “Black Widows of Liverpool”, the pair ran a burial club insurance racket in the Skirving Street slums.
They poisoned multiple family members and lodgers using arsenic extracted by soaking flypapers in water.
Their victims included:
- John Flannigan (Catherine’s 22-year-old son, who died in 1880);
- Thomas Higgins (Margaret’s husband, who died in 1883);
- Mary Higgins (Thomas’s eight-year-old daughter);
- Margaret Jennings (a 19-year-old lodger).
Autopsies conducted after multiple exhumations revealed lethal traces of arsenic in all four bodies, securing murder convictions that generated nationwide horror.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Kirkdale Prison in Liverpool built?
Kirkdale Gaol (the Kirkdale House of Correction) was built on North Dingle Lane, Kirkdale, opening in 1819. Designed by architect John Foster on a radial Panopticon plan with six wings extending from a central inspection tower, it originally accommodated 460 inmates.
How many executions took place at Kirkdale Prison?
Between 1835 and 1891, a total of 66 people were executed at Kirkdale: 32 in public outside the walls (30 men and two women between 1835 and 1867) and 34 in private behind closed doors (31 men and three women between 1870 and 1891).
Who were the “Liverpool Black Widows” executed at Kirkdale?
Catherine Flannigan and Margaret Higgins were sisters executed together on March 5, 1884, for poisoning family members with arsenic soaked from flypapers to claim life and burial club insurance payouts.
What role did Dr. James Barr play in execution history?
Dr. James Barr, surgeon at Kirkdale Gaol, was a leading Victorian authority on the medical mechanics of capital punishment. His research and testimony before the 1886 Aberdare Committee established scientific drop energy targets (advocating 1,260 foot-pounds) that defined standard British long drop tables.
When did Kirkdale Prison close?
Kirkdale Prison closed in 1892, with ordinary prisoners and capital execution duties transferred to the nearby Walton Prison (HMP Liverpool). The prison buildings were demolished in 1897, and a public recreation ground was constructed on the site.
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