Britain's Most Notorious Hangmen

by Stephen Wade

A breathtaking history of Britain’s executioners—from the seventeenth court of King Charles II to the UK’s last official hangman of the twentieth century.   In 1663, Jack Ketch delighted in his profession and gained notoriety not only because of those he executed—dukes and lords—but for how often he botched the job. Centuries later, in 1965, after nearly six hundred trips to the gallows, Albert Pierrepoint retired as Britain’s longest-running executioner. Between them are three hundred years in a fascinating history of crime, and the “turn-off men” who handled the penalties—many of them criminals themselves, doing the grim work to save their own necks.  Britain’s Most Notorious Hangmen tells the stories of the men who plied their deadly trade at Tyburn tree or at the scaffolds in the prison yards across the country, including such notable “neck-stretchers” as Throttler Smith and the celebrated James Billington. But true-crime historian Stephen Wade explores the lives and crimes of many of the infamous killers that were hanged, as well. He also sheds light on the changing social norms of the country, and the moral dilemmas that arose for hangmen tasked with performing what was once considered the most crowd-pleasing free “entertainment” ever offered to the public.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

263 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2009

About the author

Stephen Wade was born in Leeds and educated at the universities of Wales and Leeds.

He taught in further and higher education for many years, and this was followed by six years as a writer working in prisons.

He has written over fifty books, mainly in non-fiction, and he also lectures part-time at the University of Hull.

Reviews

[Julia Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting if not grim account of Britain's Most Notorious Hangmen. As I was twelve when the last man was hanged and I had no knowledge of it at the time, I wanted to know the details of the work after I have read arguments about reinstating the death penalty (although not a possibility in the UK). I must admit I was surprised how many executions there were and folk must have been reading about them every few months.
Some of the names of the hangmen were known to me, but I was curious to know how hangmen were chosen in earlier centuries. It seemed they were either cajoled or took the post to save their own necks. After that they applied to the Home Office as though it was a regular job.
I was relieved that the executioner's work became more skilled in the nineteenth and more so in the twentieth centuries, although it wasn't known for mistakes to happen.
Even after reading this book I find it difficult to decide whether capital punishment actually prevents the crime of murder.
I did find the writing strange and at first I wondered if it came from a translation. Often words were hyphenated which shouldn't have been. For example inter-esting and scaf-fold.
Thankfully this didn't matter in a non-fiction book and I can recommend Britain's Most Notorious Hangmen for a comprehensive account of Great Britain's justice system.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of this dark profession. If briefly covers most of the British hangmen mainly from the 19th century onwards to 1964 when capital punishment was finally abolished.

It is a good introduction to anyone not familiar with this very secretive profession and some of the infamous victims of the noose.

[Doghouse Gav · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

A real interesting historical book. Great to learn about the dark sides of law and order and how good we have it now.

[Tim Ransom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

This book is well written and researched and an interesting read.It gives a good insight into the executioners characters and what sort of people they were...

[Kerstin Ralph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some pages were missing

It was a very macabre but interesting read but some of the pages were missing. What a shame,I would have given in five but for that problem

[Louise O'Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and informative read.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

😱

Short but concise and right to the point. Packs a lot of info into small bites. . . . .

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes it felt more information was needed. Lots of information about certain guilty criminals but not always enough about the hang man themselves

[Morv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Britain's Most Notorious Hangmen is a book about, well hangmen from the UK.  Although saying that, most were from England, although there was a couple from Wales and Scotland.

The book focuses on the history of hangmen, as well as brief biographies in regards to these infamous men.  The origins of hangmen were actually men who were criminals themselves, adn to get off from punishment they offered to do the deed instead of other people.  Because in those days, killing people for crimes was actually frowned upon, kind of like it is now.  It started there and then it actually became something that was handed down from each generation of a family, in a sense it had become a respectable job, because the men who were doing it were creating new techniques to ensure the death of a criminal was quick and painless as possible.  However this didn't mean that a hangmen was all right with what he was doing, in fact for many of them, they turned to drink to cope with the fact that they were essentially murdering people.  Even if it is in the name of the law.



So how is the book over all?

Interesting.  You get to grips over the whole aspect of why the hangmen became... well a hangman, how the job role changed and most surprisingly see that the job wasn't acutally one that was made for life.  Due to the hardships that the men got about killing people, there is a clear reason why the job isn't made for a long term role, and shows that predominately it is older men who take this role on instead.

It's also interesting to see how much the role in it's self had changed over the many years, from public execution that was a show for the whole family, to becoming a more quiet affair in a prison ground.  This book won't be of interest to people who just don't like the macabre, but if you are or you know someone who would probably like this type of book, why not give it a look into?