Albert Pierrepoint (30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) is the most famous member of a Yorkshire family who provided three of Britain's Chief Executioners in the first half of the 20th century. He lived at Clayton, Bradford, Lincoln, Oldham and the Merseyside seaside resort of Southport. is the 89th day of the year (90th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... A view of The Albion – one of the series of pubs on Claytons main street Clayton is an area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, in England, situated to the west of the town centre. ... The larger City of Bradford Metropolitan District includes other settlements in the surrounding area. ... Lincoln (pronounced //) is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England. ... For the larger local government district, see Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. ... Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. ... For other uses, see Southport (disambiguation). ...

Biography

Albert Pierrepoint was by far the most prolific British hangman of the twentieth century. In office between 1932 and 1956, he is credited with having executed an estimated 433 men and 17 women, including 6 US soldiers at Shepton Mallet and some 200 Nazis after the Second World War. The number of executions was never confirmed by himself; he even declined to give a precise number when giving testimony to the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment of 1949, and the precise number has never been verified; the most accurate being in Steve Fielding's 2006 book on the Pierrepoint Family^{[citation needed]}. Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Shepton Mallet is a small rural town in Somerset, England, situated five miles to the east of Wells and just south of the Mendip Hills. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Albert Pierrepoint was born on 30 March 1905 at Clayton, Bradford, the middle child and eldest son of Henry and Mary Pierrepoint. He was plainly influenced by the side-occupation of his father and uncle, writing as an 11-year old in response to a school "When I grow up..." exercise "When I leave school I should like to be the Official Executioner..." ^[1] Albert spent his school summer holidays at the home of his uncle Tom and aunt Lizzie in Clayton, his own family having moved to Huddersfield when Henry ceased to be an executioner, and he became very close to his uncle. While Tom was away on business, his aunt would allow Albert to read the diary Tom kept of his executions. In 1917, at the age of twelve and a half, he began work at the Marlborough Mills in Failsworth, Oldham, earning six shillings a week. Following Henry's death in 1922, Albert took charge of Henry's papers and diaries, which he studied at length. Towards the end of the 1920s he changed his career, becoming a horse drayman for a wholesale grocer, delivering goods ordered through a travelling salesman. In 1930 he learned to drive a car and a lorry to make his deliveries, earning two pounds five shillings (£2.25) a week. On 19 April 1931 Albert wrote to the Prison Commissioners offering his services as an Assistant Executioner to his uncle should he or any other executioner retire. Within a few days he received a reply that there were currently no vacancies. ^[2] is the 89th day of the year (90th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... Clayton can refer to many things: It is a goalie // Clayton, Victoria Clayton, South Australia Clayton, West Yorkshire Clayton-le-woods, Lancashire Clayton, Manchester Clayton, Newcastle-under-Lyme Clayton, Sussex Clayton, Alabama Clayton, California Clayton, Connecticut Clayton, Delaware Clayton, Georgia Clayton, Idaho Clayton, Illinois Clayton, Indiana Clayton, Iowa Clayton, Kansas... The larger City of Bradford Metropolitan District includes other settlements in the surrounding area. ... Huddersfield is a large town in England near the confluence of the River Colne and the River Holme. ... Failsworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. ... For the larger local government district, see Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. ... April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the autumn of 1931 Lionel Mann, an assistant of five years' experience, resigned when his employers informed him that his sideline was affecting his promotion prospects, and Albert received an official envelope inviting him to an interview at Manchester's Strangeways Prison; his mother Mary, having seen many such envelopes in Henry's time as an executioner, was not happy at Albert's career choice. After a week's training course at London's Pentonville Prison, Albert was added to the List of Assistant Executioners on 26 September 1932. At that time, the assistant's fee was £1 11s 6d per execution, with another £1 11s 6d paid two weeks later if his conduct and behaviour were satisfactory. Executioners and their assistants were required to be extremely discreet and conduct themselves in a respectable manner, especially avoiding contact with the press. HM Prison Manchester is a British prison. ... Pentonville Prison is a prison built in 1842 in North London. ... is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

There were few executions in Britain in the summer and autumn of 1932 and the first execution Albert attended was in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, on 29 December 1932, ^[3] when his uncle Thomas was chief executioner at the hanging of Patrick McDermott and engaged Albert as assistant executioner (having previously shown Albert his duties, as Henry had over 20 years earlier literally "shown him the ropes"), even though Albert had not yet observed a hanging in England and thus, despite being on the Home Office list of approved Assistant Executioners, was not yet allowed to officiate in England. Albert's first execution as chief executioner was that of gangster Antonio Mancini at Pentonville prison, London, on 17 October 1941, who said "Cheerio!" before the trapdoor was sprung. Mountjoy Prison is a closed medium security prison located in Dublin, Ireland. ... The Spire at night WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Leinster County: Dáil Éireann: Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East European Parliament: Dublin Dialling Code: 01, +353 1 Postal District(s): D1-24, D6W Area: 114. ... is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... HMP Pentonville Pentonville Prison in 1842 HM Prison Pentonville is a prison built in 1842 in North London. ... is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ...

On 29 August 1943 Albert married Anne Fletcher, who had run a sweet shop and tobacconists' shop two doors from the grocery shop where Albert worked, and they set up home at East Street, Newton Heath, Manchester. The couple did not discuss Albert's "other career" until after Albert had to travel to Gibraltar in January 1944 to conduct a double execution; although Anne had known about it for many years she refused to ask him about it, waiting for Albert to discuss the subject. is the 241st day of the year (242nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Manchester shown within England Coordinates: , Sovereign state United Kingdom Constituent country England Region North West England Ceremonial county Greater Manchester Admin HQ Manchester City Centre Founded 13th Century City Status 1853 Government  - Type Metropolitan borough, City  - Governing body Manchester City Council Area  - Borough & City 115. ...

Following the Second World War the British occupation authorities conducted a series of trials of concentration camp staff, and from the initial Belsen Trial eleven death sentences were handed down in November 1945. It was agreed that Albert Pierrepoint would conduct the executions and on 11 December he flew to Germany for the first time to execute the eleven, plus two other Germans convicted of murdering an RAF pilot in the Netherlands in March 1945. Over the next four years, Albert was to travel to Germany and Austria twenty five times to execute two hundred war criminals. The press discovered Albert's identity and he became a celebrity, being hailed as a sort of war hero, meting out justice to the Nazis. The very substantial boost in income provided by the German executions allowed Albert to leave the grocery business, and he and Anne took over the running of a pub on Manchester Road, Hollinwood, between Oldham and Manchester, named somewhat memorably "Help the Poor Struggler", which allowed for plenty of journalistic puns. As a pub landlord, Albert was an affable character and his reputation brought coach loads of curious trippers to the pub. He later moved to another pub, the "Rose and Crown" at Hoole, near Preston. Bergen-Belsen, sometimes referred to as just Belsen, was a German concentration camp in the Nazi era. ... December 11 is the 345th day of the year (346th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... RAF is an three letter acronym for: Royal Air Force -- the Air Force of the United Kingdom (see also Air Ministry) Red Army Faction (Rote Armee Fraktion) -- a German terror organisation Rigas Autobusu Fabrika -- a factory making buses in Riga, Latvia Rapid Action Force in India Računarski Fakultet RAF... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Hollinwood is a district within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. ... For the larger local government district, see Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. ... Hoole is a large area in the north-east of Chester, running from Chester railway station to the M53 motorway. ... Preston is a city and local government district in Lancashire, England and is located on the River Ribble. ...

Albert Pierrepoint resigned in 1956 over a disagreement with the Home Office about his fees. In January 1956 he had gone to Strangeways Prison, Manchester, to officiate at the execution of Thomas Bancroft, who was reprieved less than twelve hours before his scheduled execution, when Pierrepoint was already present making his preparations - the first time in his career that this had happened in England. He claimed his full fee of £15 but the under-sheriff of Lancashire offered only £1, as the rule in England was that the executioner was only paid for executions carried out – in Scotland he would have been paid in full. Pierrepoint appealed to his employers, the Prison Commission, who refused to get involved. The under-sheriff sent him a cheque for £4 in full and final settlement of his incidental travel and hotel expenses (Pierrepoint having been unable to return home that day because of heavy snow). The official story is that Pierrepoint's pride in his position as Britain's Chief Executioner was insulted, and he resigned, however there is evidence that he had already decided to resign, and had previously been in discussion with the editor of the Empire News and Sunday Chronicle for a series "The Hangman's Own Story" revealing the last moments of many of the notorious criminals he executed, for a fee equivalent to £500,000 in today's' money^[4]. It is no coincidence that the year Pierrepoint resigned, 1956, was the only year before abolition where not a single execution took place — he was the only executioner in British history whose notice of resignation prompted the government to write to him begging him to reconsider, such was the reputation he had established as the most efficient and swiftest executioner in British history, although on learning of the proposed newspaper series the Home Office did consider prosecuting Albert under the Official Secrets Act before deciding it would be counterproductive; they did however pressure the newspaper publishers so that the series eventually fizzled out. ^[5] The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo , or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ... HM Prison Manchester is a British prison. ... Manchester shown within England Coordinates: , Sovereign state United Kingdom Constituent country England Region North West England Ceremonial county Greater Manchester Admin HQ Manchester City Centre Founded 13th Century City Status 1853 Government  - Type Metropolitan borough, City  - Governing body Manchester City Council Area  - Borough & City 115. ... An official is, in the primary sense, someone who holds an office in an organisation, of any kind. ... Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo , or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ... Official Secrets Act warning sign, Foulness. ...

Albert Pierrepoint is often referred to as Britain's last hangman, but this is not true — executions continued until 13 August 1964 when Gwynne Owen Evans was hanged at 8.00 a.m. at Strangeways Prison by Harry Allen, while Peter Anthony Allen was hanged simultaneously at Walton Prison, Liverpool by Robert Leslie Stewart, both for the murder in a robbery of John Alan West. He was however the last official Chief Hangman for the United Kingdom (and, for a time, the unofficial one for the Republic of Ireland, along with his uncle, Thomas). is the 225th day of the year (226th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Gwynne Owen Evans (real name John Robson Walby) was 24 years old when on 13 August 1964 he became one of the last two people in Britain to be executed, when he was hanged for the murder the previous 7 April of John Alan West. ... HM Prison Manchester is a British prison. ... Harry Allen (1911-1992) was one of Britains last executioners, officiating between 1941 and 1964 when he was the chief executioner at 29 executions and assisted at 40 others. ... Peter Anthony Allen was 21 years old when on 13 August 1964 he became one of the two last people in Britain to be executed, when he was hanged for the murder the previous 7 April of John Alan West. ... Location within England Coordinates: , Sovereign state United Kingdom Constituent country England Region North West England Ceremonial county Historic county Merseyside Lancashire Admin HQ Liverpool City Centre Founded 1207 City Status 1880 Government  - Type Metropolitan borough, City  - Governing body Liverpool City Council Area  - Borough & City 43. ... Robert Leslie Stewart (1918-1988), from Edinburgh, was one of Britains last executioners, officiating between 1950 and 1964. ... John Alan West was a 53 year-old laundry van driver of Workington, Cumbria, England, murdered by two men on 7 April 1964. ...

Albert and Anne Pierrepoint retired to the seaside town of Southport, where he died on 10 July 1992 in a nursing home where he had lived for the last four years of his life. For other uses, see Southport (disambiguation). ... is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ...

A film about Pierrepoint's life was made in 2005. Timothy Spall stars as Pierrepoint. The film went on general UK release in April 2006 under the title Pierrepoint and is to be released in the US under the (factually inaccurate) title The Last Hangman. Timothy Leonard Spall OBE (born February 27, 1957) is an English BAFTA award-nominated film, stage and television actor. ... Pierrepoint (2006), to be released in the US as The Last Hangman, is a British film directed by Adrian Shergold about the life of British executioner Albert Pierrepoint. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from...

Notable executions

Among the notable people he hanged:

• 13 German war criminals - Irma Grese, the youngest concentration camp guard to be executed for crimes at Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz (aged 22), Elisabeth Volkenrath (Bergen-Belsen & Auschwitz), and Juana Bormann (Auschwitz), plus ten men including Josef Kramer, the Commandant of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. All were executed at Hameln on 13 December 1945 at half-hour intervals, the women being hanged individually, the men in pairs.
• John Amery, son of wartime Secretary of State for India, Leopold Amery, and the first person to plead guilty to treason in an English court since Summerset Fox in May 1654. He was described by Albert as "the bravest man I ever hanged", he greeted his executioner with the words "Oh! Pierrepoint." The executioner, however, took the proffered hand only to put the pinioning strap on, and replied nothing. Hanged at Wandsworth Prison, London, 19 December 1945. ^[6]
• "Lord Haw-Haw", William Joyce, controversially convicted as a traitor and executed at Wandsworth, 3 January 1946.
• John George Haigh, the "Acid-bath murderer" executed at Wandsworth on 10 August 1949.
• Derek Bentley, controversially executed at Wandsworth on 28 January 1953 for his part in the death of Police Constable Miles, despite his having already been under arrest at the time of the fatal shot. The execution was carried out despite pleas for clemency by large numbers of people including 200 Members of Parliament, the widow of Miles, and the recommendation of the jury in the trial. After a long campaign, Bentley received a posthumous pardon in July 1993. An article written by Pierrepoint for The Guardian newspaper, but withheld until the pardon was made, dispelled the myth that Bentley had cried on his way to the scaffold. Right until the last, he believed he would be reprieved. In 1998, the Court of Appeal ruled that Bentley's conviction was "unsafe" and quashed it.
• Timothy John Evans, hanged at Pentonville Prison on 9 March 1950 for the murder of his daughter (he was also suspected of having murdered his wife). It was subsequently discovered that Evans' neighbour John Reginald Christie, a self-confessed necrophiliac, was a multiple murderer, who was also executed by Pierrepoint on 15 July 1953 at Pentonville. Timothy Evans received a posthumous pardon in 1966 for the murder of his daughter.
• Michael Manning on 20 April 1954 the last person to be executed in the Republic of Ireland.
• Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain, on 13 July 1955 for shooting her lover. Contrary to myth, Pierrepoint had no regrets about her execution — in fact it was one of the few times he spoke publicly about one of his charges, and he made it abundantly clear he felt she deserved no less.
• James Inglis, the fastest hanging on record - only seven seconds from being led out of his cell until the trapdoor opened to send him on his fatal drop.

Irma Grese (born October 7, 1923 at Wrechen near Pasewalk, Mecklenburg – died December 13, 1945 Hameln) was a supervisor at the Nazi concentration camps at Ravensbrück, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. ... Bergen-Belsen, sometimes referred to as just Belsen, was a German concentration camp in the Nazi era. ... Auschwitz, in English, commonly refers to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex built near the town of Oświęcim, by Nazi Germany during World War II. Rarely, it may refer to the Polish town of Oświęcim (called by the Germans Auschwitz) itself. ... Categories: 1919 births | 1945 deaths | Holocaust | Nazi leaders | Personnel of Nazi concentration camps | People stubs ... Juana Bormann was a prison guard at several Nazi death and concentration camps, and was executed as a war criminal at Hameln after a trial in 1945. ... Josef Kramer, in Celle awaiting trial, August 1945. ... Map of Germany showing Hamelin Watershed of the River Weser Hamelin (German: Hameln) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... John Amery (March 14, 1912–December 19, 1945) was a British anti-Communist who proposed to Hitler the forming of a British volunteer force (what became the British Free Corps), made recruitment efforts and propaganda broadcasts for Nazi Germany. ... Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery was a British Conservative Party politician and journalist, noted for his interest in military preparedness, India and the British Empire. ... Summerset Fox, Catholic and Royalist conspirator who plead guilty to an Indictment of High Treason. ... Events April 5 - Signing of the Treaty of Westminster, ending the First Anglo-Dutch War. ... HM Prison Wandsworth is a prison in Wandsworth in south London, England. ... is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Lord Haw-Haw is the nickname of an announcer on the English language propaganda World War II radio programme Germany Calling. ... Joyce lies in an ambulance under armed guard before being taken from British Second Army Headquarters to hospital. ... January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... John George Haigh (July 24, 1909–August 10, 1949) was a serial killer in England in the 1940s. ... is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... January 28 is the 28th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Timothy John Evans (November 20, 1924 - March 9, 1950) was a young man, possibly mentally retarded, who was hanged in England in 1950 for the murder of his young daughter. ... March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (69th in leap years). ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Reginald Halliday Christie was a British serial killer in the 1940s and 50s. ... is the 196th day of the year (197th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Michael Manning was a 25-year old carter from Limerick who on April 20, 1954,became the last person to be executed in the Republic of Ireland. ... April 20 is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ruth Ellis (October 9, 1926 – July 13, 1955) was a British murderess who was the last woman to be executed in the UK. She was convicted of the murder of her lover, David Blakely, and hanged at Londons Holloway Prison. ... is the 194th day of the year (195th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... Inglis is brought to the courtroom James Inglis (1922 – May 8, 1951) was a 29-year-old British murderer hanged for murder. ...

Capital punishment

Pierrepoint became an opponent of capital punishment. The reason for this seems to be a combination of the experiences of his father, his uncle, and himself, whereupon reprieves were granted in accordance with political expediency or public fancy and little to do with the merits of the case in question. He had also been forced to hang James Corbitt on 28 November 1950; Corbitt was a regular in his pub, "Help The Poor Struggler", and had sung "Danny Boy" as a duet with Albert on the night he murdered his girlfriend in a fit of jealousy because she would not give up a second boyfriend. This incident in particular made Albert feel that hanging was no deterrent, particularly when most of the people he was executing had killed in the heat of the moment rather than with premeditation or in furtherance of a robbery. Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. ... James Henry („Tish“) Corbitt (ca. ... is the 332nd day of the year (333rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

But Pierrepoint kept his opinions to himself on the topic until his 1974 autobiography, Executioner: Pierrepoint, in which he commented:

"I have come to the conclusion that executions solve nothing, and are only an antiquated relic of a primitive desire for revenge which takes the easy way and hands over the responsibility for revenge to other people...The trouble with the death penalty has always been that nobody wanted it for everybody, but everybody differed about who should get off."

Father & uncle

Henry Albert Pierrepoint

In 1901 Henry Pierrepoint (1878 – 1922) was appointed to the list of executioners after repeatedly writing to the Home Office to offer his services. He later persuaded his elder brother Thomas to join the family business and influenced his son Albert to do the same. In his nine-year term of office Henry carried out 105 executions. His career was finished when he arrived the day before an execution at Chelmsford prison "considerably the worse for drink", and fought his assistant John Ellis. Ellis reported the incident to the Home Office which decided, after receiving confirmation by the warders' account of the matter, to strike Henry from the list of approved executioners. ^[7] 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1878 (MDCCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo , or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ... Chelmsford Borough Council Coat Of Arms Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England. ... John Ellis was a British executioner for 23 years at the beginning of the 20th century. ...

Thomas William Pierrepoint

Thomas Pierrepoint (1870 – 1954) worked as a hangman for 37 years until his mid-seventies in 1946. He is credited with having carried out 294 hangings in his career, although no precise figure has been verified, as some of these were in Ireland. During the Second World War he was appointed as executioner by the US Military and was responsible for 13 out of 16 hangings at the Shepton Mallet military prison in Somerset of US soldiers for crimes involving murder and/or rape, in most cases assisted by his nephew Albert who was, in turn, "Number One" for the remaining three executions. 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Shepton Mallet is a small rural town in Somerset, England, situated five miles to the east of Wells and just south of the Mendip Hills. ... This article is about the county of Somerset in England. ...

In 1940, his medical fitness for the job was questioned by a Medical Officer who called him "unsecure" and doubted "whether his sight was good". The Prison Commission discreetly asked for reports on his performance during executions in the following time, but evidently found no reason to take action, although one report said that Thomas Pierrepoint had "smelled strongly of drink" on two occasions when reporting at the prison.

Note: Henry was never officially "dismissed" or Thomas "retired", rather their names were removed from the list of executioners and invitations to conduct executions ceased to arrive. Albert formally demanded that his name be removed from the list, thus he "resigned".

Statistics

See: Locations of executions conducted by Albert Pierrepoint

Albert Pierrepoint (1905 – 1992) was the most prolific British hangman of the twentieth century, executing 433 men and 17 women between 1932 and 1955. ...

References

• Albert Pierrepoint Executioner: Pierrepoint (2005), Dobby, ISBN 1-85882-061-8 (Reprint of the 1974 Harrap edition)
• Steve Fielding Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners (2006), John Blake Publishing, ISBN 1-84454-192-4

1. ^ Fielding, Steve, Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners, 2006, ISBN 1-84454-192-4, p.127
2. ^ Fielding, ibid., p.126
3. ^ Fielding, ibid, pp.137-141
4. ^ Fielding, ibid. p.272
5. ^ Fielding, ibid. p.274
6. ^ Fielding, ibid. pp.193-194
7. ^ Fielding, ibid. p. 96-98

See also

• Capital punishment in the United Kingdom
• Hanging
• Pierrepoint (film)
• Darshan Singh

Capital punishment in the United Kingdom, now abolished has a long history, from before the United Kingdom existed. ... Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death. ... Pierrepoint (2006), to be released in the US as The Last Hangman, is a British film directed by Adrian Shergold about the life of British executioner Albert Pierrepoint. ... Darshan Singh, chief hangman of Singapore. ...

External links

• BBC story on the qualities needed of an executioner
• Quotes from Albert Pierrepoint in the 1970s (BBC)
• BBC radio interview with Albert Pierrepoint (25 minutes, Real Audio)
• Albert Pierrepoint (All-Info About English Culture)
• "Hangman 'nearly killed assistant by mistake'" The Independent article on Thomas Pierrepoint, 1 June 2006.