John Dean ( 1620 - 23 February 1629) was an 8- or 9-year-old English boy who was hanged under the reign of
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
. He is likely the youngest person ever to be executed in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Dean was accused of setting fire to two barns or houses in the nearby town of
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
, and was subsequently indicted, arraigned, and convicted on the same day, and was "hanged accordingly". It is unknown if anyone was harmed in the alleged acts of
arson
Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
, but the judge presiding Dean's conviction said that Dean showed signs of "
malice,
revenge
Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...
, craft, and cunning". The evidence for Dean's guilt in the alleged crimes has never been recovered. Even for the time, it was unusual and frowned upon by society in England for minors to be executed, but Dean was nevertheless sentenced to death and executed soon after.
See also
*
Capital punishment in the United Kingdom
Capital punishment in the United Kingdom predates the formation of the UK, having been used within the British Isles from ancient times until the second half of the 20th century. The last executions in the United Kingdom were by hanging, and t ...
*
Alice Glaston
Alice Glaston ( – 13 April 1546) was an 11-year-old English girl from Little Wenlock who was hanged in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, England under the reign of Henry VIII. She is likely the youngest girl ever to be legally executed in England, thou ...
, 11-year old girl who was the youngest girl executed in the history of England
*
Hannah Ocuish
Hannah Ocuish (sometimes "Occuish"; March 1774 – December 20, 1786) was a 12-year old Pequots, Pequot Native American girl with an intellectual disability who was hanged on December 20, 1786, in New London, Connecticut, New London, Connecticu ...
*
Mary (slave)
Mary (died August 11, 1838) was an American enslaved teenager who was hanged for the murder of Vienna Brinker, a two-year-old girl she was babysitting. Her case was notable both for her youth and for the extended legal process that preceded her ex ...
Notes
References
1620s births
1629 deaths
Date of birth unknown
Year of birth unknown
17th-century executions by England
Executed children
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