Special Sub-Topic: Last Hangings in UK Prisons Click Here To Play: Last Hangings in UK Prisons

When did Winchester prison hold its last hanging?

1963. The hangman was Harry Allen and it was the third from last hanging in the UK. The executed prisoner was Dennis John Whitty.

In what year did Exeter prison hold its last hanging?

1943. The executed prisoner was Gordon Trenoweth the hangman was Thomas Pierrepoint whose brother Henry and nephew Albert were also hangmen.

Ethel Major was the last prisoner to be hanged at Hull prison. In what year did this take place?

1934. Ethel Major was executed at Hull in 1934. She had been convicted of the murder of her husband.

Newgate held its last hanging in the same year that it closed. What year was this?

1902. George Woolfe was the last person to be executed at Newgate. The first prison on the Newgate site was built in 1188; it was rebuilt in the 18th century and remained in use until 1902. It stood on a site that is now occupied by the Old Bailey which in 1856 became England's Central Criminal Court. It was at Newgate that the 'New Drop' gallows (with a trapdoor) was introduced in 1783.

Shepton Mallet prison was used during World War II to execute servicemen who had committed capital offences. When did it hold its last hanging?

1945. Aniceto Martinez was hanged for the rape of his girlfriend and was at the time of the offence a serving member of the U.S. Army. He was the last member of the U.S. Army to be executed at Shepton Mallet. According to the Wikipedia article on Shepton Mallet Prison, 16 Americans were hanged at the prison during World War II and two executed by firing squad there.

When did the last execution take place at Leeds prison?

1961. The man who was hanged was Zsiga Pankotia. who was from Hungary.

When were the gallows at Maidstone Prisons last used to execute a prisoner?

1930. Sidney Fox was executed for the murder of his mother.

When was the last condemned prisoner put to death in Dorchester prison?

1941. The condemned prisoner was David Jennings, and the hangman was Thomas Pierrepoint who was Albert Pierrepoint's uncle. (In fact, as Albert was waiting to be engaged in his first official execution in the UK he was employed by his uncle to assist in an execution at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin. Under the Irish law at the time the appointed executioner could chose to appoint whoever he wished to act as his assistant).

When did Worcester Prison carry out its last hanging?

1919. The executed prisoner was Djang Djin Sung and the hangman was John Ellis who wrote an account of his experiences as a hangman entitled "Diary of a Hangman". In fact, despite all hangmen being instructed to avoid publicity books were also written by James Berry and Albert Pierrepoint, amongst others. After he ceased to be employed as a hangman Ellis had toured the country with an exhibition demonstrating the workings of the gallows to the public.

When did final execution at Stafford Prison took place in what year?

1914. Josiah Davies was executed. The hangman was John Ellis who went on to kill himself by cutting his own throat in 1932.