The last hanging at Tyburn

Posted in Anniversary, Law, Literature on Saturday, 23 October 2010

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picture, prisoner, Tyburn gallows

An unidentified prisoner about to suffer at the gallows before a baying crowd

3 November marks the anniversary of the last hanging at Tyburn gallows in London in 1783. Tyburn became synonymous with the hanging of highwaymen and other rogues in penny dreadfuls, prisoners usually being brought from Newgate Prison to dangle from the “Tyburn tree” – a unique triangular gallows where several felons could be hung at once built near today’s Marble Arch.

The first recorded execution took place at Tyburn in 1196 and the last almost six hundred years later. The last wretch to swing was John Austin, a highwayman convicted of robbery with violence. The noose slipped causing him to choke to death rather than have his neck snapped. Future hangings were carried out at Newgate.

Many more pictures relating to crime and criminals throughout history can be found at the Look and Learn picture library.

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