James Billington (hangman)
Encyclopedia
James Billington was a hangman
for the British government from 1884 until 1901.
Born in Preston, in 1859 he moved with his family to Farnworth
, northwest of Manchester. After leaving school he worked in a cotton mill for a time, but by the early 1880s he had become a Sunday school
teacher and was running a barbershop in Market Street, Farnworth. Billington had a "lifelong fascination" with hanging, and made replica gallows
in his back yard on which he practised with weights and dummies and, it was rumoured locally, stray dogs and cats.
Following the death of William Marwood
in 1883, a vacancy arose for the post of Executioner for the City of London and Middlesex. Of the more than 100 applicants, Billington was one of three short-listed to be interviewed, but the job was offered to Bartholomew Binns
. Undaunted, Billington wrote to other English prison authorities offering his services as a hangman, an offer that was eventually taken up by the authorities in Yorkshire.
Billington died at home from bronchitis in the early hours of 13 December 1901, one month after having executed Patrick McKenna, a man he knew well.
, on 26 August 1884. Laycock, a hawker
from Sheffield
, had been convicted of the murder of his wife and four children. In 1891, Billington succeeded James Berry
as chief executioner of Great Britain and Ireland.
The 1896 execution of Charles Thomas Wooldridge was immortalised by Oscar Wilde
in his The Ballad of Reading Gaol
. Wooldridge, known as "C.T.W" in the poem, was a trooper serving with the Royal Horse Guards
in Windsor
who had killed his wife Laura with a cut-throat razor during a fit of jealous rage. Wilde recounts that the condemned man seemed resigned to his fate on the gallows, and Wooldridge even petitioned the Home Secretary
requesting that he not be reprieved, despite a plea for clemency submitted by the jury at his trial and various petitions organised by the residents of Berkshire. He told the prison chaplain that he wanted to die in payment for his crime, and he was allowed to carry his regimental colours to the gallows. Given a longer drop than usual, the force of his fall when the trapdoor was released stretched his neck by "an almost incredible eleven inches".
Billington executed serial poisoner Thomas Neill Cream
on 15 November 1892. Billington claimed that Cream's last words as he fell were "I am Jack ...", and that this was a confession to having been Jack the Ripper
. Cream had, however, been confined in Chicago's Joliet State Penitentiary at the time of the Ripper murders.
Billington's final execution was of a man he knew well, Patrick McKenna. The pair knew each other because McKenna was a regular at the Derby Arms public house
in Bolton
, at that time Billington's home. McKenna killed his wife after she refused to give him money to buy beer, and Billington was one of a number of men who happened to be near the scene of the crime and succeeded in detaining McKenna until the arrival of the police. McKenna was sentenced to be hanged at Strangeways Prison
on 13 November 1901. Although Billington was suffering badly from bronchitis he managed to carry out the execution, but as soon as it was over he returned home to his sick bed and died a month later at the age of 54.
, William
, and John
– followed in their father's footsteps and became hangmen. Thomas died within a month of his father, but William and John carried on their profession until 1905. William was removed from the list of official executioners after he was sentenced to serve one month in Wakefield Gaol for failing to maintain his wife and their two children, who had been admitted to a workhouse
in Bolton
. His brother John died of pleurisy
in October 1905, brought on by injuries he had sustained two months earlier at Leeds Gaol when he fell through the open trapdoor of the gallows.
Hangman
Hangman may refer to:* Hangman, an executioner who carries out a death sentence by hanging* Hangman , a game of guessing a word or phrase one letter at a timeIn literature:* Hangman , an enemy of Batman...
for the British government from 1884 until 1901.
Born in Preston, in 1859 he moved with his family to Farnworth
Farnworth
Farnworth is within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is located southeast of Bolton, 6 miles south-west of Bury , and northwest of Manchester....
, northwest of Manchester. After leaving school he worked in a cotton mill for a time, but by the early 1880s he had become a Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
teacher and was running a barbershop in Market Street, Farnworth. Billington had a "lifelong fascination" with hanging, and made replica gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
in his back yard on which he practised with weights and dummies and, it was rumoured locally, stray dogs and cats.
Following the death of William Marwood
William Marwood
William Marwood was a hangman for the British government. He developed the technique of hanging known as the "long drop".-Early life:Marwood was originally a cobbler, of Church Lane, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England.-Executioner:...
in 1883, a vacancy arose for the post of Executioner for the City of London and Middlesex. Of the more than 100 applicants, Billington was one of three short-listed to be interviewed, but the job was offered to Bartholomew Binns
Bartholomew Binns
Bartholomew Binns was an English executioner from November 1883 to March 1884. He had previously assisted William Marwood at executions, and when Marwood was dismissed, he took over the position of Executioner for the City of London and Middlesex...
. Undaunted, Billington wrote to other English prison authorities offering his services as a hangman, an offer that was eventually taken up by the authorities in Yorkshire.
Billington died at home from bronchitis in the early hours of 13 December 1901, one month after having executed Patrick McKenna, a man he knew well.
Career as a hangman, 1884–1901
Billington's first engagement was the execution of Joseph Laycock at Armley Gaol in LeedsLeeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, on 26 August 1884. Laycock, a hawker
Peddler
A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a canvasser, cheapjack, monger, or solicitor , is a travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used for travellers hawking goods in the countryside to small towns and villages; they might also be called tinkers or gypsies...
from Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, had been convicted of the murder of his wife and four children. In 1891, Billington succeeded James Berry
James Berry (hangman)
James Berry was an English executioner from 1884 until 1891. Berry was born in Heckmondwike in Yorkshire, where his father worked as a wool-stapler. His most important contribution to the science of hanging was his refinement of the long drop method developed by William Marwood, whom Berry knew...
as chief executioner of Great Britain and Ireland.
The 1896 execution of Charles Thomas Wooldridge was immortalised by Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
in his The Ballad of Reading Gaol
The Ballad of Reading Gaol
The Ballad of Reading Gaol is a poem by Oscar Wilde, written in exile either in Berneval or in Dieppe, France, after his release from Reading Gaol on or about 19 May 1897. Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading, after being convicted of homosexual offences in 1895 and sentenced to two years' hard...
. Wooldridge, known as "C.T.W" in the poem, was a trooper serving with the Royal Horse Guards
Royal Horse Guards
The Royal Horse Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry.Founded August 1650 in Newcastle Upon Tyne by Sir Arthur Haselrig on the orders of Oliver Cromwell as the Regiment of Cuirassiers, the regiment became the Earl of Oxford's Regiment during the reign of...
in Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
who had killed his wife Laura with a cut-throat razor during a fit of jealous rage. Wilde recounts that the condemned man seemed resigned to his fate on the gallows, and Wooldridge even petitioned the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
requesting that he not be reprieved, despite a plea for clemency submitted by the jury at his trial and various petitions organised by the residents of Berkshire. He told the prison chaplain that he wanted to die in payment for his crime, and he was allowed to carry his regimental colours to the gallows. Given a longer drop than usual, the force of his fall when the trapdoor was released stretched his neck by "an almost incredible eleven inches".
Billington executed serial poisoner Thomas Neill Cream
Thomas Neill Cream
Dr. Thomas Neill Cream , also known as the Lambeth Poisoner, was a Scottish-born serial killer, who claimed his first proven victims in the United States and the rest in England, and possibly others in Canada and Scotland...
on 15 November 1892. Billington claimed that Cream's last words as he fell were "I am Jack ...", and that this was a confession to having been Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
. Cream had, however, been confined in Chicago's Joliet State Penitentiary at the time of the Ripper murders.
Billington's final execution was of a man he knew well, Patrick McKenna. The pair knew each other because McKenna was a regular at the Derby Arms public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
in Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, at that time Billington's home. McKenna killed his wife after she refused to give him money to buy beer, and Billington was one of a number of men who happened to be near the scene of the crime and succeeded in detaining McKenna until the arrival of the police. McKenna was sentenced to be hanged at Strangeways Prison
Manchester (HM Prison)
HM Prison Manchester is a high-security male prison situated in Manchester, England operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service. It is a local Prison, holding prisoners remanded into custody from the courts in the Manchester area as well as a number of Category A prisoners.HM Prison Manchester was...
on 13 November 1901. Although Billington was suffering badly from bronchitis he managed to carry out the execution, but as soon as it was over he returned home to his sick bed and died a month later at the age of 54.
Legacy
All three of Billington's sons – ThomasThomas Billington (hangman)
Thomas Billington was an English executioner from 1897 to 1901 and was one of four family members who worked as hangmen for England.-Biography:...
, William
William Billington
William Billington was an English executioner. He was on the Home Office list from 1902 to 1905 and had participated in hangings starting in 1899.-Career:...
, and John
John Billington (hangman)
John Billington was an English executioner. He was on the Home Office list from 1901 to 1905.-Career:Billington came from a family of hangmen. His father, James, was a hangman from 1884 to 1901, and his two older brothers, Thomas and William, were also hangmen.In early 1902, at the age of 21, John...
– followed in their father's footsteps and became hangmen. Thomas died within a month of his father, but William and John carried on their profession until 1905. William was removed from the list of official executioners after he was sentenced to serve one month in Wakefield Gaol for failing to maintain his wife and their two children, who had been admitted to a workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
in Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
. His brother John died of pleurisy
Pleurisy
Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
in October 1905, brought on by injuries he had sustained two months earlier at Leeds Gaol when he fell through the open trapdoor of the gallows.