Free 100 Facts About British Executions by John J Eddleston

 
     
    100 Facts about British Executions
     
     
    By
     
    John J Eddleston
     
     
    Copyright John J Eddleston 2012
     
    John Eddleston has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
     
     
    First published in Great Britain by
     
    Bibliofile Publishers
    Sussex
     

     
    *****
     
     
    1 - There were four offences which ended in an execution in the twentieth century.  The vast majority were for murder but there were also executions for spying, treason and rape.
     
    2 – A total of 865 people were executed from 1900 to 1964.  Only 16 of that number were women.
     
    3 – The first two executions in the century were both women.
     
    4 – The last execution in London was that of Hendryk Niemasz, at Wandsworth, on Friday, 8 th September, 1961.
     

     
    Hendryk Niemasz , the last man hanged in London
     
     
    5 – The last double execution w h ere both prisoners were hanged at the same prison at the same time was that of Kenneth Gilbert and Ian Arthur Grant, at Pentonville, on Thursday, June 17 th , 1954.
     
    6 – The only occasion where a man and a woman were hanged at the same time, at the same prison, was that of Emily Swann and John Gallagher, at Leeds, on Tuesday, December 29 th , 1903.
     
    7 – The last person hanged for the murder of a policeman was Guenther Fritz Erwin Podola, hanged at Wandsworth on Thursday, November 5 th , 1959.
     

     
    Podola (centre) the last man hanged for the
    murder of a policeman
     
     
     
    8 – The last child killer executed in England was Ernest Charles Harding, hanged at Birmingham on Tuesday, August 9 th , 1955
     
    9 – The year 1956 was the only one from 1900 to the last hangings in 1964, without a single execution.
     
    10 – The year with the most executions in the twentieth century was 1903, with 27.  The second placed year was 1945, with 26.
     
    11 – Rhoda Willis was hanged on her birthday in 1907.  She was forty four.
     
    12 – The last death sentence ever handed out in the UK was that given to Anthony Teare on the Isle of Man on July 10 th , 1992.   The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
     
    13 – The prison where most executions were carried out was Pentonville, with 120
     
    14 – Eight prisons saw just one execution.  They were Aberdeen, Armagh, Caernarfon, Devizes, Hereford, Inverness, Lancaster , and Ruthin
     
    15 – The last person ever executed at the infamous Newgate prison was George Woolfe, hanged there on Tuesday, May 6 th , 1902
     
    16 – The oldest person hanged was Charles Frembd (sic) hanged at Chelmsford on Wednesday, November 4 th , 1914.  He was 71
     
    17 – The average number of executions each year from 1900 to 1964 was 13.31
     
    18 – Only two methods of execution were used from 1900 – hanging and shooting.
     
    19 – In the First World War, all the spies executed were shot, except one who was hanged.  In the Second World War, all the spies executed were hanged, except one who was shot.
     
    20 – The last man executed for rape was an American soldier, Aniceto Martinez, who was hanged at Shepton Mallet on Friday, June 15 th , 1945.   He had raped a 75 year old woman in Staffordshire.
     
    21 – The last poisoner executed was Louisa May Merrifield, hanged at Manchester on Friday, September 18 th , 1953.
     

     
    Louisa Merrifield, the last poisoner to be executed
     
     
    22 – Four people hanged during the twentieth century have since received pardons.  They are Timothy John Evans, George Kelly, Mahmood Hussein Mattan and Derek William Bentley
     
    24 – The last execution in Wales was that of Vivian Frederick Teed on Tuesday, May 6 th , 1958
     
    25 – Though there were no executions on Christmas Day, three men have been hanged on Christmas Eve.  They are John Harrison in 1901, Edward Scoller in 1940 and Herbert Appleby in 1952.
     
    26 – Four men have been hanged on New Year’s Day.  They were John Davis in 1907, Lee Kun in