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walked to the gallows, where they were placed on a trapdoor and their heads and faces covered with a white cap, or hood. The purpose of the hood was to prevent the prisoner seeing the hangman pull the lever that released the trapdoor – and thus attempting to jump at the critical moment – and to hide from spectators any agony on the dying prisoner's face. After the noose had been secured around each victim's neck and the hangman had retired to a safe distance, the trapdoor was released. The bodies were left hanging for some time to ensure that death had occurred, before being lowered to the ground. Calcraft employed the
251:
Dalrymple have suggested that
Calcraft's "controversial" use of the short-drop allowed him a couple of minutes to entertain the large crowds of 30,000 plus that sometimes attended his public executions. "Renowned for his poor taste", he would sometimes swing from his victim's legs or climb onto their shoulders in an attempt to break their necks. In one of the first executions Calcraft carried out at the new Reading Gaol his victim, Thomas Jennings, took more than three minutes to die.
235:
erected, and preserved his extraordinary firmness even on the drop while
Calcraft was adjusting the rope. He said 'Good-bye' when Calcraft shook hands with him, and as he left him he turned his head as if about to speak, but at that moment the drop fell ... In turning his head round Mapp displaced the rope, and the noose was brought round almost under his chin, the consequence being that the fall not being immediately fatal, he struggled for half a minute before he died.
255:
raised one of his legs to support himself on the platform. Calcraft's assistant tried to push the victim off, but
Bousfield repeatedly succeeded in supporting himself. The officiating chaplain forced the frightened Calcraft to return to the scaffold, where he "threw himself around his legs and by the force of his weight finally succeeded in strangling him". Calcraft's bungling became the subject of a popular ballad.
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on 1 January 1880 reported that "Several so-called biographies of
Calcraft were published during his lifetime, but all are notable for a narrow stream of fact meandering through a broad meadow of commentary, and not one may be considered worthy of the subject or to be relied on for a strict accuracy
54:
After Foxton's death in 1829 the government appointed
Calcraft the official Executioner for the City of London and Middlesex. Following this, his executioner services were in great demand throughout England. Nevertheless, some considered Calcraft incompetent, in particular for his controversial use
254:
On 31 March 1856, Calcraft executed
William Bousfield, but a threat he had received that he would be shot on the scaffold unnerved him. After releasing the bolt securing the trapdoor on which the condemned man was standing, Calcraft ran off, leaving Bousfield hanging; a few moments later Bousfield
245:
Although
Calcraft's career as a hangman spanned 45 years, he appears to have been "particularly incompetent", frequently having to "rush below the scaffold to pull on his victim's legs to hasten death". Those being hanged had their arms pinioned to their sides with leather straps before being
150:
and birch rods, and supplemented his income by selling sections of the rope used to hang his victims, for which he charged between five shillings and ÂŁ1 per inch. Calcraft's first duty in his new role was the execution of Thomas Lister and George
Wingfield, hanged together on 27 March 1829, Lister
250:
method of execution, in which the drop through the trapdoor might be around 3 feet (0.91 m) or so. That was often insufficient to break the prisoner's neck, and therefore death was not always instantaneous, typically occurring slowly by strangulation. Historians
Anthony Stokes and Theodore
196:
newspaper observed that "if their visitor had been a Royal personage, or an eminent statesman he could hardly have been treated with greater consideration". They further reported that
Calcraft arrived with only one piece of hand luggage, a carpet bag containing "a new rope, a white cap, and some
234:
At a quarter to 8 he was brought into the pinioning room, where the governor of the gaol formally handed him over to Calcraft ... Beyond a slight trembling of the limbs he displayed no sign of fear ... He walked steadily up the winding staircase to the tower on which the gallows was
145:
Foxton died on 14 February 1829, and Calcraft was appointed as his successor. He was sworn in as the official Executioner for the City of London and Middlesex on 4 April 1829, a position for which he was paid one guinea a week plus an additional guinea for each execution. He also received an
62:
Because with Calcraft's methods the condemned took several minutes to die, to hasten death Calcraft would sometimes dramatically pull on legs or climb on shoulders in an effort to break the victim's neck. It has been speculated that Calcraft used these methods partly to entertain the crowds,
266:. The three Fenians had been found guilty of the murder of a police officer, and were hanged together. Most accounts claim that Allen died almost instantaneously from a broken neck, but Larkin and O'Brien were not so fortunate. A Catholic priest in attendance, Father Gadd, reported that:
155:. Esther Hibner, known in the press as the "Evil Monster", was the first woman hanged by Calcraft. She was executed on 13 April 1829, having been found guilty of starving to death her apprentice, Frances Colppits. Hibner did not go to the scaffold willingly, but had to be restrained in a
189:. Members of the press were allowed to attend and reported that Wells, who wore his railway porter's uniform, did not die quickly, "struggling on the end of the rope for several minutes". Calcraft's final official duty was the hanging of James Godwin, on 25 May 1874.
224:, who was hanged on 2 April 1868. Convicted of drowning her stepdaughter, she was executed in front of a crowd of 2,000, amongst whom was reported to be her husband. After her drop of 3 feet (0.91 m) she struggled for "two or three minutes" before expiring.
279:
Father Gadd refused to allow Calcraft to dispatch O'Brien in the same way, and so "for three-quarters of an hour the good priest knelt, holding the dying man's hands within his own, reciting the prayers for the dying. Then the long drawn out agony ended."
270:
The other two ropes, stretched taut and tense by their breathing twitching burdens, were in ominous and distracting movement. The hangman had bungled! ... Calcraft then descended into the pit and there finished what he could not accomplish from above.
319:. Calcraft was ordered to pay 3 shillings a week towards her upkeep, to which he objected, arguing that his brother and sister should be made to help, and that he had three children of his own to support, although there is no record of his marriage.
66:
Executions in England were public until 1868. That year the law changed, mandating executions would take place privately and inside the prison. In 1868 Calcraft carried out the last public and first private executions. Among his executions were
326:. Although as a younger man Calcraft had been considered to be "genial", with a love of breeding rabbits, in his later years he was described as "surly and sinister-looking, with long hair and beard, in scruffy black attire and a fob chain".
125:
200:
The number of executions Calcraft carried out is unrecorded, but it has been estimated at 450, of whom 35 were women, making him one of the most active of British executioners. Among his better-known victims was
181:. Calcraft also carried out the first private execution in Britain under the new law. Eighteen-year-old Thomas Wells, who had been convicted of the murder of his superior Edward Walshe, the stationmaster at
124:
39:(11 October 1800 – 13 December 1879) was a 19th-century English hangman, one of the most prolific of British executioners. It is estimated in his 45-year career he carried out 450 executions. A
283:
Towards the end of his career the feeling began to be expressed in the press that Calcraft's age was catching up with him. On 15 November 1869, aged 69, Calcraft executed Joseph Welsh, for murder, at
220:
on 13 November 1849. The couple had murdered Marie's wealthy lover, Patrick O'Connor, with the aim of stealing his money. Calcraft also officiated at the last public execution of a woman in Britain,
322:
After reluctantly being forced to retire from office because of old age in 1874, Calcraft received a pension of 25 shillings a week from the City of London and was succeeded as hangman by
649:
262:, because of threats he had received. On 22 November 1867 he officiated at the public execution of William Philip Allen, Michael Larkin, and Michael O'Brien, who became known as the
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588:
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was passed, requiring that all executions must be conducted in private. Calcraft carried out the last public execution in Britain on 26 May 1868, when he hanged the
141:
Newgate Prison in the mid-19th century. Between 1783 and 1868 all public executions in London took place on a temporary gallows erected in front of the prison.
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commented that "the adjustment of the rope was slow and bungling, and such as to show that Calcraft's age has unfitted him for his occupation".
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489:"Biography of a Hangman; William Calcraft's Career. How he Adopted his Dismal Calling—His Peculiar Ways and Habits—Gallows Literature"
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to prevent her from attacking her executioners. As she was hanged the watching crowd shouted out "Three cheers for the Hangman!"
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Account of the execution on 9 April 1869 of John Mapp at Shrewsbury Gaol for the murder of a young girl, Catherine Lewis
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Calcraft officiated at one of the very few executions of a husband and wife, and the first since 1700, when he hanged
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68:
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hanging method in which the condemned were slowly strangled to death, instead of having their necks broken.
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The Groans of the Gallows; or; The Past and Present Life of William Calcraft, the Living Hangman of Newgate
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217:
186:
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147:
394:
Boasel, G. C.; (rev.) Gilliland, J. (2004). "Calcraft, William (1800–1879)". In Gilliland, J (ed.).
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47:. While selling meat pies on streets around the prison, Calcraft met the City of London's hangman,
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Calcraft was "in great demand" as an executioner elsewhere in the country as well, such as at
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Reporting on Calcraft's visit to Dundee to perform an execution in that city in April 1873,
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209:, and had murdered his master after being caught stealing silverware from the household.
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855:
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99:, London. While attempting to earn a living by selling meat pies on the streets around
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746:""Going through all these things twice" : a brief history of botched executions""
1011:
22:
837:
The Executioner's Bible: The Story of Every British Hangman of the Twentieth Century
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Hanging in the Balance: A History of the Abolition of Capital Punishment in Britain
163:
156:
112:
80:
428:
875:
205:, executed on 6 July 1840 outside Newgate Prison. Courvoisier had been valet to
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96:
48:
111:'s hangman for 40 years. That meeting led to his employment at Newgate to
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994:
898:
Punishment and Civilization: Penal Tolerance and Intolerance in Modern Society
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88:
84:
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by trade, Calcraft was initially recruited to flog juvenile offenders held in
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juvenile offenders, for which he was paid 10 shillings a week.
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71:, the first husband and wife to be hanged together since 1700.
307:
By 1869 Calcraft's mother, Sarah, was living as a pauper in a
185:, was hanged on 13 August 1868 in a former timber yard inside
880:
The Hanging Tree: Execution and the English People, 1770–1868
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521:
952:
Qualities of Mercy: Justice, Punishment, and Discretion
916:
The Manchester Martyrs: The Story of a Fenian Tragedy
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by trade, but had also worked as a nightwatchman at
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395:
258:Calcraft was also reportedly nervous of executing
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177:in front of Newgate Prison for his part in the
63:sometimes numbering 30,000 spectators or more.
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512:
453:
934:Pit of Shame: The Real Ballad of Reading Gaol
932:Stokes, Anthony; Dalrymple, Theodore (2007),
8:
408:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
346:of statement". The earliest of them was an
857:Robert Surtees and Early Victorian Society
799:Block, Brian P.; Hostettler, John (1997),
717:"Execution in Maidstone Gaol–Joseph Welsh"
699:
697:
754:(7). Faculty of Law, University of Otago.
954:, University of British Columbia Press,
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650:"The Execution at Shrewsbury: John Mapp"
575:
551:
688:
441:
405:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
398:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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333:, on 13 December 1879 and is buried in
781:Beadle, Jeremy; Harrison, Ian (2007),
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168:Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868
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350:pamphlet published in 1846 entitled
119:Career as an executioner, 1829–1874
1023:People from the City of Chelmsford
166:. During his tenure of office the
14:
329:Calcraft died at Poole Street in
993:
783:Firsts, Lasts & Onlys: Crime
21:For the rugby union player, see
821:, vol. 1, Chancery House,
151:for burglary and Wingfield for
32:William Calcraft, c. 1870
1:
744:Smith, Stephen Eliot (2012).
287:. Reporting on the execution
429:UK public library membership
183:Dover Priory railway station
103:he made the acquaintance of
882:, Oxford University Press,
861:, Oxford University Press,
765:Block & Hostettler 1997
616:Stokes & Dalrymple 2007
528:Stokes & Dalrymple 2007
471:Block & Hostettler 1997
341:. An obituary published in
214:Marie and Frederick Manning
69:Marie and Frederick Manning
1049:
918:, Lawrence & Wishart,
819:Hangman's Record 1868–1899
637:Beadle & Harrison 2007
513:Beadle & Harrison 2007
454:Beadle & Harrison 2007
20:
950:Strange, Carolyn (1997),
839:, John Blake Publishing,
132:The Chronicles of Newgate
835:Fielding, Steve (2008),
817:Fielding, Steve (1994),
733:(subscription required)
666:(subscription required)
605:(subscription required)
303:Calcraft in later years
968:Wilson, A. N. (2003),
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277:
237:
142:
134:
33:
900:, Sage Publications,
853:Gash, Norman (1993),
589:"A Pleasure deferred"
414:10.1093/ref:odnb/4363
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218:Horsemonger Lane Gaol
140:
129:
79:Calcraft was born in
31:
1018:English executioners
896:Pratt, John (2002),
207:Lord William Russell
203:François Courvoisier
130:William Calcraft in
87:, in 1800. He was a
936:, Waterside Press,
914:Rose, Paul (1970),
803:, Waterside Press,
335:Abney Park Cemetery
197:pinioning straps".
179:Clerkenwell Outrage
16:English executioner
723:, 16 November 1869
493:The New York Times
343:The New York Times
305:
264:Manchester Martyrs
148:cats o' nine tails
143:
135:
34:
998:Works related to
979:978-0-09-945186-0
961:978-0-7748-0585-8
943:978-1-904380-21-4
925:978-0-85315-209-5
876:Gatrell, V. A. C.
846:978-1-84454-648-0
810:978-1-872870-47-2
792:978-1-905798-04-9
444:, pp. 44, 51
427:(Subscription or
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1033:1879 deaths
1028:1800 births
727:8 September
660:9 September
599:9 September
554:, p. 2
542:, chapter 2
105:John Foxton
97:Clerkenwell
49:John Foxton
1012:Categories
540:Pratt 2002
431:required.)
358:References
317:Chelmsford
295:Later life
248:short-drop
85:Chelmsford
75:Early life
57:short-drop
721:The Times
704:Rose 1970
654:The Times
593:The Times
564:Gash 1993
499:22 August
419:20 August
363:Citations
309:workhouse
289:The Times
228:Technique
194:The Times
878:(1996),
260:Fenians
89:cobbler
83:, near
55:of the
41:cobbler
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348:octavo
331:Hoxton
172:Fenian
81:Baddow
315:near
974:ISBN
956:ISBN
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920:ISBN
902:ISBN
884:ISBN
863:ISBN
841:ISBN
823:ISBN
805:ISBN
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729:2010
662:2010
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113:flog
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311:at
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