Scotland Executions 1900-1963

Total executions in Scotland during the 20th century was 34 (33 men and one woman).

DateNameAgePrisonVictim(s)Hangman
12/11/1902Patrick Leggett30Duke St. GlasgowSarah Jane LeggettWilliam Billington
26/07/1904Thomas Gunning48Duke St. GlasgowAgnes AllenWilliam Billington
14/11/1905Pasha Liffey20Duke St. GlasgowMary Jane WelshHenry Pierrepoint
05/03/1908Joseph Hume24InvernessJohn Barclay SmithHenry Pierrepoint
19/08/1908Edward Johnstone32PerthJane Wallace (Withers)John Ellis
06/07/1909Alexander Edmundstone23PerthMichael Swinton BrownJohn Ellis
02/10/1913Patrick Higgins38Calton EdinburghWilliam Higgins, John HigginsJohn Ellis
16/05/1917Thomas McGuiness34Duke St. GlasgowAlexander ImlachJohn Ellis
11/11/1919James Adams31Duke St. GlasgowMary Doyle (Kane)John Ellis
26/05/1920Albert James Fraser24Duke St. GlasgowHenry SeniorJohn Ellis
26/05/1920James Rollins23Duke St. GlasgowHenry SeniorJohn Ellis
21/02/1922William Harkness31Duke St. GlasgowElizabeth BenjaminJohn Ellis
11/06/1923John Henry Savage50Calton EdinburghJemma GriersonJohn Ellis
10/10/1923Susan Newell30Duke St. GlasgowJohn JohnstonJohn Ellis
30/10/1923Philip Murray31Calton EdinburghWilliam Ronald CreeJohn Ellis
24/09/1925John Keen22Duke St. GlasgowNoorh MohammedThomas Pierrepoint
24/01/1928James McKay40Duke St. GlasgowAgnes ArbuckleRobert Baxter
03/08/1928George Reynolds40Duke St. GlasgowThomas LeeRobert Baxter
13/08/1928Allen Wales22Saughton EdinburghIsabella WalesRobert Baxter
08/02/1946John Lyon21Barlinnie GlasgowJohn BradyThomas Pierrepoint
06/04/1946Patrick Carraher40Barlinnie GlasgowJohn GordonThomas Pierrepoint
10/08/1946John Caldwell20Barlinnie GlasgowJames StraitonThomas Pierrepoint
06/02/1948Stanislaw Myszka23PerthCatherine McIntyreAlbert Pierrepoint
30/10/1950Christopher Harris28Barlinnie GlasgowMartin DunleavyAlbert Pierrepoint
16/12/1950James Robertson31Barlinnie GlasgowCatherine McCluskeyAlbert Pierrepoint
15/09/1951Robert Dobie Smith30Saughton EdinburghPolice Sgt. William GibsonAlbert Pierrepoint
12/04/1952James Smith21Barlinnie GlasgowMartin Joseph MaloneAlbert Pierrepoint
29/05/1952Patrick Gallagher Deveney42Barlinnie GlasgowJeannie DeveneyAlbert Pierrepoint
26/01/1953George Francis Shaw25Barlinnie GlasgowMichael Connolly (Conly)Albert Pierrepoint
23/04/1954John Lynch45Saughton EdinburghLesley Jean Nisbet (Sinclair),
Margaret Curran (Johnson)
Albert Pierrepoint
23/06/1954George Alexander Robertson40Saughton EdinburghElizabeth Robertson,
George Robertson (child)
Albert Pierrepoint
11/07/1958Peter Manuel31Barlinnie GlasgowMarion Hunter McDonald Watt, Vivienne Isabella Reid Watt, Margaret Hunter Brown,
Isabelle Wallace Cooke,
Peter James Smart,
Doris Smart, Michael Smart
Harry Allan
22/12/1960Anthony Miller19Barlinnie GlasgowJohn CreminHarry Allan
15/08/1963Henry John Burnett21AberdeenThomas GuyanHarry Allan

All of these executions were for murder. There were 12 hangings at Duke Street prison Glasgow, prior to closure in 1955 and then 10 at Glasgow’s Barlinnie prison. Four were carried out in Edinburgh’s Saughton prison, with three at the Calton prison there, prior to its closure. There were three at Perth and one each at Aberdeen and Inverness. Susan Newell was the only woman executed.


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