The hangman

[ThrelfallYorky]

There's also a very distant family link by marriage, from my lot to the Pierrepoint family - more than one held the office of hangman, I think, off the top of my head, father, uncle, and a son ... two generations, certainly.

[stanmapstone]

There was his father Henry Albert Pierrepoint, his uncle Thomas William Pierrpoint, and Albert Pierrepoint, who was the last 'Number One' Official Exxecutioner, he did not have a son. He was succeeded by Harry Allen and Robert Stewart when he resigned in February 1956.
Stan

[ThrelfallYorky]

That's it! Knew there were two generations involved, somehow....

[Ayashi]

I remember there was one hangman who hanged a woman who haemorrhaged badly (modern historians wonder if she miscarried as she was hanged) and he was so traumatised that he committed suicide.

I have one ancestor who was tried basically for attempted murder at the Old Bailey and was in my mind exceptionally lucky he was found not guilty (despite having done it). He would have been hanged. I don't know how I'd feel about an ancestor who was a hangman.

[stanmapstone]

I remember there was one hangman who hanged a woman who haemorrhaged badly (modern historians wonder if she miscarried as she was hanged) and he was so traumatised that he committed suicide.

Are you referring to John Ellis?
In his autobiography Albert Pierrepoint states that "it is a matter of historical fact that the executioner Ellis attempted suicide once and succeeded in a second attempt years later: the fact has been falsely manipulated to indicate that his mind became unhinged because of alleged unnerving scenes at the execution of Mrs. Thompson."
Edith Thompson was executed 9th January 1923. John Ellis attempted suicide in August 1924, and he was found dead 20th September 1932.

Stan

[deebel]

This is gruesomely fascinating ... I know hanging has been abolished in this country (UK) but what about the rest of Europe ??

You can whet your whistle here

 http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/

[barryd]

The whole subject is rather awful.

"Ever since Edith Thompson's execution in 1923, condemned female prisoners had been required to wear thick padded calico knickers"

Wikipedia article on Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the UK.