George Smith (1805–1874), popularly known as Throttler Smith, was an English
hangman from 1840 until 1872. He was born in
Rowley Regis
Rowley Regis ( ) is a town and former municipal borough in Sandwell in the county of the West Midlands, England. It encompasses the three Sandwell council wards of Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill, and Rowley. At the 2011 census, the comb ...
in the English
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
, where he performed the majority of his executions. Although from a good family he became involved with gangs and petty crime in his early life, and was imprisoned in
Stafford Gaol
HM Prison Stafford is a Category C men's prison, located in Stafford, Staffordshire, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. In 2014 it became a sex offender-only jail.
History
His Majesty's Prison at Stafford was orig ...
on several occasions for theft.
Career as a hangman, 1840–1872
Smith learned his trade as an assistant to
William Calcraft
William Calcraft (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 cobbler by trade, Ca ...
. His first engagement as Calcraft's assistant was the public execution of
James Owen and George Thomas outside Stafford Gaol. Smith was a prisoner at Stafford at the time of Owen and Thomas' execution, and Calcraft appointed Smith for the task because his regular assistant had turned up drunk. In addition, he assisted Calcraft at the first two private hangings in England, of Thomas Wells and Alexander Mackay in 1868. He later obtained the post of public executioner for Staffordshire although he continued to work with Calcraft around the country.
Smith's highest profile hanging was
William Palmer, executed on 14 June 1856 after having been found guilty of poisoning John Parsons Cook, but widely believed to have murdered some 14 people including his mother-in-law to fund his gambling debts. Smith was paid £5 plus expenses to carry out the hanging. The notoriety of the case drew large crowds to Stafford for the execution. It was reported that Palmer's last words, spoken to the hangman on the scaffold, were "God bless you".
His final public execution took place in 1866, once again at Stafford Gaol. The victim was a man named William Collier, a poacher who had been found guilty of the murder of a local worthy. Unfortunately for Collier the rope slipped from the overhead beam of the gallows on Smith's first attempt and Collier fell through the trap to the ground with the halter still around his neck. There was a five-minute delay before a replacement could be rigged and Collier executed. A newspaper report referred to the event as a "shocking scene on the scaffold" and reported that the crowd cried "Shame!" and hooted when Collier made his second appearance on the scaffold.
Although Smith's final public execution was held in 1866, he carried on to perform more executions elsewhere. Smith was to hang 20 men and one woman, Sarah Westwood, at Stafford, plus a further three men at
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
, one woman at Kirkdale, two men at
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
, six men at
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
and one man at
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
. George Smith carried out 33 public hangings and just one private one, this held on 13 August 1872, when he hanged 34-year-old Christopher Edwards at Stafford for the murder of his wife.
Smith was renowned for the long white coat and top hat he wore at public hangings. Smith's son, also George, may have assisted at the three executions outside Stafford prison in 1866. Initially, it is said that Smith was hired by the
undersheriff
An undersheriff (or under-sheriff) is an office derived from ancient English custom that remains in, among other places, England and Wales and the United States, though performing different functions.
United States
In American law enforcement, ...
of Staffordshire to save the cost of bringing Calcraft up from London.
George Incher
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
took over the post of Staffordshire's hangman after Smith's death on 4 April.
References
Citations
Bibliography
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Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, George
1805 births
1874 deaths
English executioners
People from Rowley Regis