Tom Long (hangman)
Encyclopedia
Tom Long was the New Zealand
government hangman
in the late 19th-early 20th century, although it was not a full time position. He executed the "baby farm" murderer Minnie Dean
, the only woman hanged in New Zealand.
Long, an Irishman who claimed to have been an executioner in Australia
, was appointed as New Zealand's first official hangman in 1877. In a newspaper interview in 1905 he claimed to have executed "fifteen in this country but hundreds in India.". He worked as a bushman and is said to have taken his swag through Wairarapa
in between jobs. He was killed in 1908 while felling trees at Kauangaroa east of Wanganui
.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
government hangman
Executioner
A judicial executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence ordered by the state or other legal authority, which was known in feudal terminology as high justice.-Scope and job:...
in the late 19th-early 20th century, although it was not a full time position. He executed the "baby farm" murderer Minnie Dean
Minnie Dean
Williamina "Minnie" Dean was a New Zealander who was found guilty of infanticide and hanged. She was the only woman to receive the death penalty in New Zealand....
, the only woman hanged in New Zealand.
Long, an Irishman who claimed to have been an executioner in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, was appointed as New Zealand's first official hangman in 1877. In a newspaper interview in 1905 he claimed to have executed "fifteen in this country but hundreds in India.". He worked as a bushman and is said to have taken his swag through Wairarapa
Wairarapa
Wairarapa is a geographical region of New Zealand. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest...
in between jobs. He was killed in 1908 while felling trees at Kauangaroa east of Wanganui
Wanganui
Whanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....
.
People hanged by Long
- 1895 Minnie DeanMinnie DeanWilliamina "Minnie" Dean was a New Zealander who was found guilty of infanticide and hanged. She was the only woman to receive the death penalty in New Zealand....
, murderer. - 1897 William Sheehan, murderer.
- 1905 James William Ellis, murderer.
See also
- Capital punishment in New ZealandCapital punishment in New ZealandCapital punishment in New Zealand first appeared in a codified form when New Zealand became a British territory in 1840, and was first employed in 1842. It was last used in 1957, abolished for murder in 1961, and abolished altogether, including for treason, in 1989. During the period that it was in...
- List of people executed in New Zealand