Crime & Punishment

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Bristol & Gloucestershire Crime & Punishment Photographs.

In Britain hanging was the principal form of execution from Anglo-Saxon times up to abolition of the death penalty in 1964. There were hundreds of executions a year in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with many being carried out in the West of England.

Hangings were carried out in public until 1868, the last being on the 26th of May of that year. From then on, executions were carried out within the walls of county prisons. The first "private" hanging was that of 18 year old Thomas Wells, who was hanged by William Calcraft at Maidstone prison on August the 13th, 1868. A few witnesses, including reporters were generally admitted up to about 1910, with the last witnessed hanging taking place in 1934.

Thereafter, executions were carried out in complete secrecy. The last hangings in Britain were two carried out simultaneously at 8.00 a.m. on August the 13th, 1964 at Walton (Liverpool) and Strangeways (Manchester) prisons. The last hanging in Scotland was that of 21 year old Henry Burnett at Craiginches Prison in Aberdeen on August 15th, 1963 for the murder of Thomas Guyan.

Public hangings apparently met the needs of justice well, attracting large crowds who were at least supposed to be deterred by the spectacle, but who more probably went for the morbid excitement and a day out. (The modern expression Gala Day is derived from the Anglo-Saxon gallows day.)

96 photos | 3,503 views

items are from between 15 Nov 2007 & 31 Jan 2009.