The Evolution of the “Long Drop” in the 20th Century

With special thanks to Traugott Vitz for his help with this article.

Table of Contents

Although large strides were made in the science of hanging, particularly in the last quarter of the 19th century—as detailed in our account of the evolution of the long drop in the 19th century—considerable further developments and progress lay ahead, particularly in the first three decades of the 20th century.

All of these innovations were aimed at making death by hanging more humane, quicker, and less prone to mechanical error.

Early 20th-Century Hangings and the Final Days of Newgate (1900–1902)

The year 1900 saw fourteen executions in England and Wales. Unusually, the first two were both of women.

On the 9th of January 1900, French-born Louisa Masset was hanged at Newgate Prison for the murder of her four-year-old son, Manfred.

William Warbrick, who assisted at the hanging, recorded that Louisa’s hair had turned completely white in the final twenty-four hours of her life.

This same phenomenon would also be reported in the case of Charlotte Bryant at Exeter in 1936. Whether this really occurred—and if it did, over what time period—is not known, as rapid pigment change is generally considered biologically impossible.

Louisa weighed 106 lbs and was given a drop of 7 feet 3 inches, resulting in an energy (striking force) of 769 ft-lbs.

On the 6th of March 1900, twenty-four-year-old Ada Chard-Williams followed Louisa to the same scaffold for a “baby farming” murder.

She had been convicted of battering and strangling to death twenty-one-month-old Selina Ellen Jones at Grove Road, Barnes, in London.

She holds the distinction of being the last woman hanged at Newgate.

In both instances, James Billington was the executioner.

Ada, who weighed 123 lbs, received a drop of 6 feet 2 inches, generating an energy of 758 ft-lbs.

Reporters were barred from attending both executions, and official Home Office LPC4 post-mortem forms are not available to provide anatomical details of their deaths.

However, Dr. James Scott, the medical officer of Newgate, recorded that both Masset and Chard-Williams were given reduced drops and that the outcome was satisfactory.

In the same report, Dr. Scott recorded the training of William Billington in February 1900 using a life-size dummy.

He also noted that the Register of Executions at Newgate, recording eighteen hangings there since 1892, showed that only one of the sixteen condemned men had been given the exact drop specified by the 1892 Table of Drops—and this exception was made solely because the prisoner had attempted suicide by cutting his throat.

In the other fifteen cases, the drop given was greater than the official table specified—ranging from 1½ inches to 26 inches extra—and in Dr. Scott’s professional opinion, in no case was the fall excessive.

Dr. Scott also commented upon the discomfort to the prisoner’s wrists caused by the stiff leather pinioning straps, recommending that softer leather, such as buckskin, be adopted.

Administrative and Ceremonial Reforms (1901–1902)

In 1901, the administrative rule requiring the continuous tolling of the prison bell during executions was amended.

The regulation was modified to require tolling for only fifteen minutes after the hanging had been completed.

Thus, the condemned prisoner was spared the distressing sound of the funeral knell for up to fifteen minutes prior to reaching the scaffold, which had been the ordeal suffered by Louisa Masset when the bell of St. Sepulchre’s church began tolling at 8:45 a.m.

The year 1902 also saw the end of the traditional practice of hoisting a black flag over the prison exterior following an execution.

From then on, bystanders gathered outside had to content themselves with the posting of official statutory notices upon the prison gates.

The Evolution of the Gallows Rope and Noose (1901–1904)

In December 1901, the Governor of Durham Prison submitted a formal memorandum to the Prison Commission regarding the use of gutta-percha (a rigid natural latex) to cover the rope splice and brass eyelet of the noose.

In freezing weather, gutta-percha hardened and cracked, producing sharp, jagged fragments that cut into the prisoner’s neck upon drop arrest.

The Prison Commission acknowledged the hazard and instructed that the gutta-percha covering be softened over a candle flame and kept warm until the execution took place.

However, the problem recurred.

It was noted by the medical officer at Wandsworth Prison in the case of Charles Robert Earl, hanged on the 29th of April 1902.

The LPC4 post-mortem form records that:

“there was a wound on the right side under the chin, about 2 inches long and a 1/4” deep caused by a splinter from the gutta-percha covering of rope.”

Wandsworth Governor James Knox was ordered to provide an official report, prompting systematic modifications to the noose over the subsequent two years.

On the 29th of December 1903, Emily Swann and John Gallagher were hanged side-by-side by William Billington at Armley Gaol in Leeds for the murder of Emily’s husband—the final occasion in British history where a man and a woman were hanged simultaneously on the same scaffold.

Dr. Exley, the prison medical officer, documented lacerations to the skin of Emily’s neck, caused by an incorrectly positioned sewn seam in the leather sleeve of the noose.

In January 1904, Brixton Prison submitted testing findings regarding the nooses used in the Swann and Gallagher double hanging.

Brixton officials noted that the gutta-percha covering the splice remained too rigid, preventing the hemp loop from conforming to the contours of the prisoner’s neck.

They suggested replacing gutta-percha with vegetable tar on the portion of the rope passing around the brass eyelet, and using soft white russet hide to sheath the splice.

A revised pattern rope was made available for Home Office inspection in February 1904:

The seam of the leather covering was relocated to prevent direct friction against the neck;
The length of the gutta-percha section was shortened;
The tar treatment was abandoned after rope manufacturers Edgington & Co. advised that no further improvements could be achieved without an entire redesign.

The modified noose was first deployed on the 29th of March 1904 for the hanging of James Clarkson at Leeds, where it functioned satisfactorily.

The Transfer of London Executions to Pentonville and Holloway (1902–1903)

In 1902, historic Newgate Prison was permanently decommissioned.

The ancient structure was no longer considered fit for purpose, and the municipal authorities required the site for the construction of the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey).

George Woolfe became the last person hanged at Newgate, executed on the 6th of May 1902 for the murder of his girlfriend.

Over the 119-year period from the 7th of November 1783 (following the relocation from Tyburn) to May 1902, a total of 1,120 men and 49 women were executed at Newgate (including three women burned at the stake for coining before 1790).

Following Newgate’s closure, male capital executions in London were transferred to Pentonville Prison, while female executions were moved to Holloway Prison.

On the 30th of September 1902, John MacDonald became the first of 120 men executed at Pentonville.

The gallows framework from Newgate was dismantled, transported, and reassembled inside an execution shed built adjacent to B Wing at Pentonville, alongside two newly constructed condemned cells.

Pentonville also became the official training centre for apprentice executioners.

Concurrently in 1902, Holloway was converted into London’s dedicated female-only prison.

On the 3rd of February 1903, the inaugural executions were carried out in the newly built execution suite at the end of B Wing, when “Finchley Baby Farmers” Annie Walters and Amelia Sach were hanged together by William Billington, assisted by Henry Pierrepoint and John Billington.

The LPC4 post-mortem forms recorded complete dislocation of the upper cervical vertebrae in both women, marking the final female double execution in the United Kingdom.

Scaffold Procedure and the 1909 Durham Execution

Newspaper journalists were routinely admitted to witness male executions in English prisons until the outbreak of World War I.

A detailed contemporary record survives of the execution of Abel Atherton at Durham Prison on the 8th of December 1909, conducted by executioner Henry Pierrepoint.

At 7:50 a.m., the Under Sheriff entered the gaol accompanied by three newspaper reporters, who were stationed directly outside the execution shed.

Atherton was brought into the doctor’s room by two warders, where his arms were pinioned to his sides with a leather body belt.

He was escorted toward the gallows in a formal procession comprising:

The Chief Warder;
The Prison Chaplain;
The Prisoner (supported on either side by a warder);
Executioner Henry Pierrepoint and his assistant, William Willis;
The Principal Warder;
The Prison Governor;
The Medical Officer;
A final escorting warder.

All officials except the Chaplain entered the execution chamber.

Once Atherton stepped onto the trapdoors, assistant Willis knelt behind him to strap his legs at the ankles, while Pierrepoint placed the noose around his neck, adjusted the sub-aural knot, and pulled the white linen hood over his head.

Henry Pierrepoint was unusual in adjusting the noose prior to applying the hood—a direct violation of the official Memorandum of Instructions to Executioners, which specified applying the hood first.

As the clock of the nearby Assize Courts began striking 8:00 a.m., Pierrepoint pulled the lever, giving Atherton a drop of 7 feet 3 inches.

The execution was completed before the chimes concluded.

Reporters who peered down into the pit confirmed that death was instantaneous and that the body hung motionless.

The execution shed was locked, the corpse remained suspended for the statutory hour, the death notice was affixed to the gate, and an inquest was convened later that morning.

Analysis of LPC4 Autopsy Records and Asphyxia

In the early decades of the 20th century, executioners routinely gave drops significantly longer than those prescribed by the 1892 Table of Drops to guarantee immediate cervical fracture.

From surviving LPC4 post-mortem forms from this period, only two cases of death involving asphyxia are recorded, even though both also showed vertebral dislocation:

Samuel Herbert Dougal (57 years old): Hanged at Chelmsford on the 14th of July 1903 by William Billington and John Ellis for the Moat Farm murder. Billington may have slightly reduced the drop in consideration of Dougal’s older age, leading to partial asphyxiation alongside cervical dislocation.
Alfred Stratton (23 years old): Hanged at Wandsworth on the 23rd of May 1905 by John Billington and Henry Pierrepoint for the Deptford oil shop murders. Stratton was given a drop of 7 feet 6 inches—1 foot 10 inches more than the 1892 table required—which produced an energy of 1,103 ft-lbs for his 147 lb weight. The drop caused dislocation of the 4th and 5th cervical vertebrae, though the medical officer recorded signs of asphyxia. Beside him on the double gallows, his younger brother, Albert Stratton, sustained identical dislocation of the 4th and 5th vertebrae with no evidence of asphyxia.

The 1913 Home Office Table of Drops

In 1913, the Prison Commission revised the official schedule, issuing a new Table of Drops designed to develop a uniform striking energy of approximately 1,000 foot-pounds—representing an increase of 160 ft-lbs over the 1892 scale.

In practical execution work, hangmen continued to adjust falls slightly upward, typically achieving striking energies between 1,040 and 1,100 ft-lbs.

Official 1913 Table of Drops

Weight of Culprit (lbs)	Drop in Feet & Inches	Energy Developed (ft-lbs)
118	8′ 6″	1,003
120	8′ 4″	1,000
125	8′ 0″	1,000
130	7′ 8″	996
135	7′ 5″	1,001
140	7′ 2″	1,003
145	6′ 11″	1,003
150	6′ 8″	999
155	6′ 5″	995
160	6′ 3″	1,000
165	6′ 1″	1,004
170	5′ 10″	992
175	5′ 8″	991
180	5′ 7″	1,005
185	5′ 5″	1,002
190	5′ 3″	998
195	5′ 2″	1,008
200	5′ 0″	1,000

It was rare for an executioner to exceed a drop of 8 feet 6 inches, though exceptions occurred with very light prisoners:

Walter Brooks: A diminutive man standing 5 feet 1½ inches tall and weighing only 110 lbs. Thomas Pierrepoint gave him a drop of 8 feet 10 inches at Strangeways on the 28th of June 1928, successfully dislocating the second and third cervical vertebrae.
John Joseph Dorgan: Weighed 113 lbs and stood 5 feet 3½ inches tall. Thomas Pierrepoint gave him a drop of 9 feet 2 inches at Wandsworth on the 22nd of December 1943.

Under the 1913 table, only one surviving LPC4 form records evidence of asphyxia: that of Dorothea Waddingham, executed at Winson Green Prison in Birmingham by Thomas Pierrepoint, assisted by his nephew Albert Pierrepoint, on the 16th of March 1936.

The medical officer recorded both cervical fracture/dislocation and asphyxia as contributing causes of death.

“Nurse” Waddingham weighed 123.5 lbs and was given an 8-foot-5-inch drop, which should have been mathematically sufficient.

By coincidence, Charlotte Bryant was the exact same weight (123.5 lbs) and was given the identical drop of 8 feet 5 inches by Thomas Pierrepoint at Exeter three months later; her autopsy recorded clean cervical dislocation without asphyxial symptoms.

The Pierrepoint Era and 20th-Century Execution Speeds

Throughout the mid-20th century, British execution procedure reached extreme mechanical efficiency under executioners John Ellis, Thomas Pierrepoint, and Albert Pierrepoint.

In his autobiography, Executioner: Pierrepoint, Albert Pierrepoint described the execution day routine.

Condemned cells were positioned directly adjacent to the gallows room, separated by a disguised door hidden behind a wardrobe or bookcase.

Upon entering the condemned cell at 8:00 or 9:00 a.m.:

The executioner secured the prisoner’s arms behind their back with a leather strap in under four seconds;
Two warders guided the prisoner through the adjoining door onto the trapdoors;
The assistant dropped to his knees to buckle the ankle strap, while the principal executioner adjusted the white linen hood and positioned the sub-aural knot under the left jawline;
The executioner pushed the operating lever, releasing the balanced trapdoors.

In evidence presented to the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment (1949–1953) chaired by Sir Ernest Gowers, prison governors and medical officers testified that the entire process—from the executioner entering the condemned cell to the fall of the trapdoors—routinely took between seven and twenty seconds, with Albert Pierrepoint achieving executions in under ten seconds.

The 1913 Table of Drops, paired with standardized hemp ropes, vulcanized rubber eyelet stops, and sub-aural knot placement, remained the statutory framework of capital punishment in Great Britain until the final hangings in August 1964 and the passage of the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act in 1965.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the 1913 Home Office Table of Drops?

The 1913 Table of Drops was the official British statutory schedule that established the exact length of rope drop for prisoners based on their body weight, calculated to deliver a uniform impact force of approximately 1,000 foot-pounds to ensure instantaneous cervical dislocation without decapitation.

How fast were executions carried out in 20th-century Britain?

Under executioners like Albert Pierrepoint, executions took between seven and twenty seconds from the moment the hangman entered the condemned cell to the release of the trapdoors, facilitated by placing the gallows chamber immediately adjacent to the condemned cell.

What were the major noose modifications introduced between 1901 and 1904?

British authorities eliminated brittle gutta-percha coverings that splintered and cut prisoners’ necks in cold weather, replaced them with soft white russet leather sheathing, repositioned the leather seams away from the neck, and standardized smooth brass eyelets.

Which executions were the last at Newgate Prison?

Louisa Masset (9 January 1900) and Ada Chard-Williams (6 March 1900) were the last women executed at Newgate. George Woolfe was the final person hanged there on 6 May 1902, after which male executions moved to Pentonville and female executions to Holloway.

What was an LPC4 form?

An LPC4 form was the official post-mortem medical report completed by prison medical officers following an execution in England and Wales. It documented the prisoner’s height, weight, drop given, physical injuries, and the precise cervical vertebrae dislocated or fractured.

Support the Archive

If you have found this article useful and would like to help preserve and maintain this historical archive, please consider supporting the site.