William Marwood (1818 – 4 September 1883) was a hangman for the British government. He developed the technique of

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

known as the " long drop".

Early life

Marwood was born in 1818 in the village of

Goulceby Goulceby ( ) is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south-west from the market town of Louth, and lies in the Lincolnshire Wolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Goulceby vil ...

, the fifth of ten children born to William and Elizabeth Marwood. He was originally a cobbler like his father, of Church Lane,

Horncastle, Lincolnshire Horncastle is a town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, east of Lincoln. Its population was 6,815 at the 2011 census and estimated at 7,123 in 2019. A section of the ancient Roman walls remains. History Romans ...

, England. He was married twice: first to a woman named Jessey (who died in 1860s), then to Ellen Andrews (who died less than a year after Marwood at the age of 55).

Executioner

At the age of 54 he persuaded the governor of Lincoln Castle Gaol to allow him to conduct an execution. The efficient way in which he conducted the

of William Frederick Horry without a hitch on 1 April 1872 assisted him in being appointed hangman by the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex in 1874, in succession 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 ...

, at a retainer of £20 a year plus £10 per execution.

The "Long Drop"

Marwood developed the " long drop" technique of hanging, which ensured that the prisoner's neck was broken instantly at the end of the drop, resulting in the prisoner dying of asphyxia while unconscious. This was considered more humane than the slow death by strangulation caused by the " short drop" method, which was particularly distressing to prison governors and staff who were required to witness executions at close quarters following the abolition of public executions by the

Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868 The Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c.24) received Royal Assent on 29 May 1868, putting an end to public executions for murder in the United Kingdom. The act required that all prisoners sentenced to death for murder be execute ...

Notable executions

In his nine years as a hangman, Marwood hanged 176 people, including: * William Frederick Horry, the first person to be hanged by William Marwood and the first person to be hanged using the "long drop" method; executed at Lincoln Castle,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

on 1 April 1872. * Henry Wainwright, a brushmaker who murdered his mistress Harriet Lane in September 1874 and buried her body in a warehouse he owned. When he was declared bankrupt the next year, he disinterred the body in September 1875 and was arrested attempting to rebury it. He was hanged in Newgate on 21 December 1875. * Charles Peace, the archetypal Victorian burglar and murderer, whose name struck terror in the hearts of everyone at the time; hanged at Armley Jail,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

, Yorkshire, on 25 February 1879. Marwood apparently met Charles Peace on a railway journey a few years before the execution. Peace asked Marwood about his experiences. At the time of the hanging, Marwood reassured Peace he would make it fast and painless with the long drop method. * Kate Webster, an Irish servant woman who murdered her employer; hanged at

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

Prison, London, on 29 July 1879. * Charles Shurety who viciously beat his common-law wife's young daughter to death in London; he was executed at

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...

, London on 5 January 1880, after a failed attempt to stop the execution with a forged order from the Home Office. *

Percy Lefroy Mapleton Percy Lefroy Mapleton (also known as Percy Mapleton Lefroy; 23 February 1860 – 29 November 1881) was a British journalist and murderer. He was the British "railway murderer" of 1881. He is important in the history of forensics and policing as ...

, who murdered Isaac Frederick Gold on a train between London and

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

for his watch and some coins; Mapleton was arrested almost immediately, but escaped before being arrested again, convicted, and hanged on 29 November 1881. * Dr George Henry Lamson, who poisoned Percy Johns (his crippled brother-in-law) with aconitine at Wimbledon so his wife could inherit some money. Lamson actually returned from France, certain he had covered his tracks; he was tried and convicted, and hanged at

Wandsworth Prison HM Prison Wandsworth is a Category B men's prison at Wandsworth in the London Borough of Wandsworth, South West London, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service and is one of the largest prisons in the UK. History The prison was ...

on 28 April 1882. *

Maolra Seoighe Maolra Seoighe (English: ''Myles Joyce''), Cappancreha, County Galway, was a man who was wrongfully convicted and hanged on 15 December 1882. He was found guilty of the Maamtrasna Murders and was sentenced to death. The case was heard in Englis ...

, convicted, along with six other men, of the murders of five members of the Joyce family in Maamtrasna. He was hanged, alongside two of the other convicted men, on 15 December 1882 in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

. Seoighe's hanging did not go smoothly as during his vehement protests of innocence, right up to the drop, the rope became disarranged and he took several minutes to die. Marwood was heard to say ‘bother the fellow’ and to sit at the edge of the scaffold and move the rope back and forward to aid the process. An inquest jury severely censured Marwood for his carelessness. On 4 April 2018 the

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Ireland and the supreme commander of the Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.Constitu ...

issued a posthumous pardon for Seoighe due to evidence that he was innocent of the murders. * Joe Brady and four other members of the '' Irish National Invincibles'' gang who murdered

Lord Frederick Cavendish Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish (30 November 1836 – 6 May 1882) was an English Liberal politician and ''protégé'' of the Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone. Cavendish was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland in May 1882 but was ...

, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Thomas Henry Burke, the Permanent Under-Secretary for Ireland, with surgical knives in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and t ...

; they were hanged at

Kilmainham Jail Kilmainham Gaol ( ga, Príosún Chill Mhaighneann) is a former prison in Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland. It is now a museum run by the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Government of Ireland. Many Irish revolutionaries, including the leade ...

in Dublin in 1883.

Legacy

William Marwood influenced James Berry, a retired police officer and friend to take up the role of hangman. During his time Berry improved upon William Marwood's technique of the long drop. Marwood was one of two executioners to give their name to the character of the hangman in the British

Punch and Judy Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character w ...

puppet show (

Jack Ketch John Ketch (died November 1686), generally known as Jack Ketch, was an infamous English executioner employed by King Charles II. He became famous through the way he performed his duties during the tumults of the 1680s, when he was often mentio ...

being the better known one). In Marwood's time there was a popular saying which went: :''If Pa killed Ma'' :''Who'd kill Pa?'' :''Marwood.'' In the play ''The Life and Adventurers of Charles Peace'' (1927) Marwood's role of executioner was played by the former hangman John Ellis.

Death

Marwood died in 1883 from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

and

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme meta ...

and was buried at Trinity Church,

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * Browne, Douglas G., ''The Rise of Scotland Yard: A History of the Metropolitan Police'', (London, Toronto, Wellington, Sydney: George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd., 1956), p. 181 (re Charles Shurety). * Fullerty, Matt
'The Murderess and the Hangman.'
A

biographical novel The biographical novel is a genre of novel which provides a fictional account of a contemporary or historical person's life. Like other forms of biographical fiction, details are often trimmed or reimagined to meet the artistic needs of the fict ...

about Marwood's hangings of celebrated Victoria criminals Charles Peace and Kate Webster. * Hargrave, Adam L. (ed.), ''Notable British Trials Series: Trial of George Henry Lamson'' (London, Edinburgh, Glasgow: William Hodge & Co., Ltd., 1912, 1951), pp. 210–13 * Laurence, John, ''A History Of Capital Punishment'' (London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd., 930, pp. 114–20 * Parry, Leonard A., ''Some Famous Medical Trials'' (New York:

Charles Scribner%27s Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...

, 1928), p. 226 (re Charles Shurety)