The Frome Family History Group welcomed a return visit from Dr Steve Poole to their June meeting for a fascinating if gruesome talk entitled “Hanging Felons at the Scene of their Crime.”
Steve began by outlining the various ways a hanging could take place and what happened to the body afterwards. Gibbeting was a common punishment in addition to execution.
The unfortunate felon was placed in a metal cage and left suspended on the gibbet for a considerable length of time to deter others from choosing a life of crime. This practice is also known as hanging in chains.
Following the 1752 Murder Act anatomising was another punishment that could be added to the death sentence. Passing the body to surgeons for dissecting helped to increase the number of bodies available to them. This practice continued until the 1832 Anatomy Act when prisoners were required to be buried within the precincts of the prison in which they were last confined.
The usual place for scene of crime hangings to take place was on the outskirts of the nearest town or on a hill or crossroads near to where the crime took place. The site chosen needed to give the required prominence to the execution but must also allow for many thousands of spectators. This necessitated a long procession by horse and cart for the felon who had to be accompanied by the Chief Constable, one hundred Special Constables and many other dignitaries.
The village of Kenn in North Somerset was where the last scene of crime hanging took place. The felons were William Wall, John Rowley and Richard Clarke who were convicted in 1830 of setting fire to wheat on the property of Mr Benjamin Poole. The men were thought to be part of a gang who committed various crimes in the neighbourhood.
William Wall was the proprietor of a cider shop where young men of bad habits and idle character frequented. We presume the authorities decided that the obviously lawless village of Kenn should witness the punishment bestowed on three of their number. All three men repented their sins and their bodies were placed in the coffins that had accompanied them on the procession and returned to Illchester prison where they were interred.
Steve was thanked for a truly amazing talk and one that would probably give many of us nightmares, but that would be a small price to pay for such an interesting evening!
Our next event will be on Tuesday 25th July and is a talk by local author, David Lassman, on Frome in the Great War. Family history advice sessions continue on the first Saturday in the month, but please book a computer in the library.
