Until the early part of the nineteenth century, executions in Lincoln were carried out in public at the junction of Westgate and Burton Road. The area became known as Hangman’s Ditch.
The gallows were a simple construction, easily erected, with two vertical posts supporting a crossbeam. The condemned person was driven up on a horsedrawn cart, or tumbril, and a noose was placed around his or her neck. After the chaplain had said a few prayers the prisoner was allowed to address the crowd; sometimes displaying bravado, sometimes admitting their guilt or sometimes still protesting their innocence.
The executioner would then give the horse a whack with his whip and the wagon would jerk forward, leaving the prisoner just hanging there, choking and struggling, giving the public house opposite its name: The Strugglers Inn.
Hanging at this time was a very crude affair, death eventually being caused by strangulation, but often taking more than ten minutes to happen. Sometimes friends or relatives would hang on to their legs and pull to bring about a speedier end – hence the term ‘hangers-on’.
Sometimes those sentenced to death were executed in batches, often for very trivial offences. On 18th March 1785 nine prisoners were hanged at one time, three for highway robbery, two for stealing cattle, two for sheep stealing, one for horse stealing and one for house breaking. It was reported that a crowd of 20,000 turned up to watch this event. In April 1747, Mary Johnson was burned at the stake on the same site for the murder of her husband, a fate often inflicted on women instead of hanging. The last person to be hanged at this site was William Ward, for shopbreaking at Mareham on 1st April 1814. In 1817 it was decided that executions should be moved to a position where they could attract a larger audience than was possible in Westgate.
The roof of Cobb Hall in Lincoln Castle proved to be the ideal location. The elevated position allowed the condemned person a wonderful view of the Cathedral, but only briefly of course. It also provided a much better view of the proceeding for the crowd. In 1868 public executions were abolished by an Act of Parliament.
The last public executions in Lincoln were carried out on 5th August 1859. This was the double hanging of Henry Carey and William Picket for the murder of William Stevenson at Stickney West Houses, near Boston. After that, hangings were carried out inside the Castle grounds, in private, in a yard to the west of the courthouse. By law they were to take place in the presence of the Sheriff, the gaoler, the chaplain, a surgeon and such other officers of the prison as the Sheriff may require or allow. A chaplain is recorded as saying: “The part of my duties I dread most is the morning walk to the scaffold. The Justices expect me to bring the condemned man to penitence. I console myself that thus far I always seem to have brought comfort to the poor creatures.”
Later executions took place inside the grounds of Lincoln Prison on Greetwell Road. From 1900 to 1961, 18 executions were carried out at the prison. The last hanging there was in 1961. That was Wasyl Gnypiuk, a Polish-Ukrainian immigrant who was executed for the murder of his landlady, Louise Surgey. And finally, in 1872 William Frederick Horry was convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to death. This was the first execution carried out by the Horncastle cobbler William Marwood, but that’s a story for another issue of Lincolnshire Life.
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Later executions took place inside the grounds of Lincoln Prison on Greetwell Road. From 1900 to 1961, 18 executions were carried out at the prison. The last hanging there was in 1961. That was Wasyl Gnypiuk, a Polish-Ukrainian immigrant who was executed for the murder of his landlady, Louise Surgey.
Who was the last woman to be hung in Lincolnshire? ›
Mary Lefley was the last woman to be executed in Lincoln, arraigned for the alleged brutal poisoning of her husband in 1884 with enough arsenic to kill fifty men. Despite there being little hard evidence, including a lack of motive, as well as a total absence of poison in the house.
What is the long drop method of execution? ›
Marwood developed the "long drop" technique of hanging, which aimed to ensure that the prisoner's neck was broken instantly at the end of the drop, resulting in the prisoner dying of asphyxia, but while unconscious.
Is hanging considered cruel and unusual punishment? ›
The eighth amendment of the Bill of rights states that cruel and unusual punishment shall not be inflicted. During this time period, hanging was not considered to be cruel and unusual, yet almost two hundred years later, this amendment was key to the temporary suspension of capital punishment by the Supreme Court.
Who was the woman who survived being hung? ›
Anne Greene ( c. 1628 – 1659 or c. 1665) was an English domestic servant who was accused of committing infanticide in 1650. She is known for surviving her attempted execution by hanging, being revived by physicians from the University of Oxford.
Who was the second last woman to be hanged in Britain? ›
Styllou Pantopiou Christofi (Greek: Στυλλού Χριστοφή; 1900 – 13 December 1954) was a Greek Cypriot woman hanged in Britain for murdering her daughter-in-law. She was the penultimate woman to be executed in Britain, followed in 1955 by Ruth Ellis.
How do convicts behave before hanging? ›
“How do the convicts behave minutes before hanging?” I asked. “Once the black warrant informing them of impending execution is read out to them, they become silent. Sometimes, they start weeping loudly. They become listless, do not eat much, and the night before hanging, they do not sleep at all.
What is the form of execution in China? ›
China commonly employs two methods of execution. Since 1949, the most common method has been execution by firing squad, which has been largely superseded by lethal injection, using the same three-drug co*cktail pioneered by the United States, introduced in 1996. Execution vans are unique to China, however.
What is the distance of a long drop hanging? ›
Suicide by long drop hanging is a rare occurrence. These are usually 'short-drops,' and the total distance of the drop is less than 0.6–0.9 m. It is uncommon for suicidal hanging to involve a 'long-drop' in which the descent is between 4.3 and 5.2 m (Hellier and Connolly 2009).
What is the most humane execution method? ›
Killing a prisoner with nitrogen is the latest attempt to humanely administer capital punishment after lethal injection has been the primary method in the 27 states with the death penalty still in place since the 1970s.
The same reason that they would usually cover the faces of criminals being hanged or shot: to keep people from seeing the expressions of fear or agony on the faces of the ones being executed as they die. It can take minutes and can be very distressing to watch.
Does any state still use hanging as execution? ›
Firing squads are still allowed in Utah, Oklahoma, and Mississippi, but Utah is the only one to have performed one in the last ten years. New Hampshire is currently the only state that allows hanging as a means of execution.
Who was the last woman to be hanged in England in 1965? ›
In 1955, at the age of 28, Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be hanged for murder in the UK. Her death, coming after she shot her lover outside a Hampstead pub two months before, sparked a wave of public opprobrium and likely contributed to the outlawing of the death penalty a decade later in 1965.
What was the name of the last woman to be hanged in Britain? ›
Ruth Ellis (née Neilson; 9 October 1926 – 13 July 1955) was a British nightclub hostess and convicted murderer who became the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom following the fatal shooting of her lover, David Blakely.
Who was the last person hung in Delaware? ›
Famous Cases. Billy Bailey was the last inmate to be executed by hanging in Delaware and was the third inmate hung in the United States since 1976.
Where was the last public hanging in England? ›
26 May 1868: Fenian Michael Barrett was executed at Newgate Prison for mass murder. He had participated in the Clerkenwell explosion, which had killed 12 people. His execution was the last public hanging in the UK. 1 April 1872: William Frederick Horry was hanged at Lincoln Castle.
