Hello friends, I’ve seen a couple of comments querying my mention of Charles II’s executioner, Jack Ketch. Having seen these, I am now realising how poorly I worded that - especially considering the fact that his father did have an executioner in the most brutal sense 😬 Jack Ketch worked for Charles II to dispatch his enemies and that is what I was referring to by calling him “Charles II’s”. I will endeavour to be much clearer in the future 🤦🏻♀️
@@Romartus there isn’t, either in the above text or in the video it refers to - Jack Ketch was an executioner during the reign of Charles II. That is what I meant by Charles II’s executioner - he was one employed by the crown (Charles II). I’m not insinuating he chopped off his head. As I said above, it’s poorly worded but not an error.
I was a child of 11 when I met Albert Pierrepoint. In his retirement, he ran a very pleasant country pub. My family and I were on our way home to Liverpool when the bus stopped at this pub. Because they had a child with them - me, we could not sit inside the pub itself, but had to sit outside in the garden. No problem there as it was a beautiful sunny day. I recall sipping my lemonade with my Mum and Dad outside in a beautiful back garden and meeting the proprietor Mr.Pierrepoint who was the most amiable gentleman you could ever meet. He was going around meeting and greeting all his customers, even including me, a child. That was my recollection of him. I do clearly remember my parents explaining that he was the last hangman in Britain at the time. It added a little of a macabre mystery to our meeting I admit, but his geniality overrode all that. Quite a pleasant man as I recall.
What a lovely comment and memory! I could picture you sitting there in the garden , meeting him! He was an extraordinary sort of man, he had to be. Carrying out the letter of the law can sometimes be intensely personal and requires great inner fortitude and settling it within oneself.Bless him and his family!
My Dads first job on leaving school was to deliver beer to Albert Pierrepoints pub he said he was always a nice friendly man and he never spoke about what he did
@@geezerp1982 She knows that, as it was clarified in the video. Pamela is merely recounting her parents' words, something that should have been obvious.
Albert's use of "had to" when speaking about his executions felt incredibly correct to me. It was a duty, one he felt compelled to do, but he did not take pleasure in it or seek to give out justice. That's not really the job. The job is to end a life in as quick and dignified a way as possible for this person, so really to be a professional in that field, he shouldn't feel any way about it. It sounds like he was a sober and professional man, really, just the kind of person you would want in that position.
I really like you insight. Imagine people carrying out a sentence could decide whether they wanted to. Why have a judge pass sentences if those carrying them out had the final say in whether the sentence was carried out or not. That would make the whole justice system obsolete. Additionally, his professionalism is in line with his refusal to share his thoughts on the death penalty.
It's rather like listening to how some soldiers referring to "having to fight" or "having to kill", yes they signed up for military service, yes they went through all the training, and yes they got on the boat/plane and went to somewhere else they knew fighting was going on at. But ultimately, it isn't something they relished or did a happy jig over, it was a call to service that required of them to use weapons, be shot at, potentially kill other people, and protect the man standing beside them. Or how some doctors may refer to procedures they may loathe to do (removing a person who is brain-dead from the life support, removing a leg in order to save a person's life) but know are necessary. His "had to" to not mean he did or did not agree with the penalty. It was, as you said, the professional way of putting something somewhat distasteful. It is professional, almost clinical. A way of detaching one's self from the action by making himself a cog in the machine. He didn't investigate, arrest, try, convict, or sentence this person - his job was to carry out the sentence. To ensure the person had as humane and quick an exit as could be given under the circumstances.
Hi Dr Kat, Albert was in fact a greengrocer during most of his time as Chief Executioner, this is how he met his wife Anne, he used to deliver fruit and veg to her shop. When they married, even Anne didn’t know where Albert went when he travelled to a prison to perform an execution. A letter would arrive, giving him the time, and place, and off he went. Anne eventually figured it out when Albert went away, and the execution was reported in the paper the next day. Both he and Anne ran a pub together in the later part of his career, when he’d returned from executing the Nazi war criminals, prior to that, no one knew of his clandestine profession.
There is a tv Spanish series called Loving in turbulent times (Amar en tiempos revueltos) where one of the girls falls in love with a very sweet man. She didn't know he was the official executioner as in this case. The romance was short-lived though...
Thank you. I didn't realise it was a Pierrepoint family career. Heart breaking to hear about those people who were controversially hanged. Poor Ruth Ellis. Her poor daughter
I have a memory of Albert Pierrepoint being interviewed on TV. He said he carried out executions rather than leave them all to others because he knew that he was an expert at it. He took great care to ensure that the condemned person died as quickly and efficiently as possible. It was even said that the condemned were relieved to know that Albert was going to do the deed.
There's a definite science to it. I read a book about him years ago and it was an eye opener about getting the length of the rope right based on height and weight of the person to be hanged. Professional hangmen do it in a way that makes the process quick and efficient Get it wrong you suffocate them, or pull their head off. AWFUL
My thought exactly. If he were to leave the task to someone else, it might leave the condemned in the hands of someone who might not care as much about providing a quick and humane death. Without a doubt Pierrepoint knew his peers and their individual proclivities, so I totally understand why he would say he ‘had to’ execute someone even though he didn’t have to take the job.
So true. I'd like to add that many people have an interest in a career and then when they start it realize it isn't for them and want to change or get tired of a career as they get older. However, due to all kinds of reasons, decide to continue, and that may have been the case for Pierrepoint. It also sounds like his uncle had given him wise guidance, and seeing how his father had probably not coped with it, looked after his mental health as seeing it as a job that someone had to do and endeavored to do it as humanely as possible.
It sounds like Albert viewed his position in the same way that soldiers view theirs. Both soldiers and executioners kill in the name of the state and only when under orders to do so. Because the death penalty has been made illegal in many countries and continues to be debated in others, people now want to pretend that executioners are some kind of moustache-twirling villains that were doing something evil. We are trying to distance ourselves and our governments from "yesterday's norms", but ultimately, I think Albert was an empathetic person who knew that if he didn't do it someone else would. And he knew he could do it well, sparing the condemned unnecessary suffering. I think that makes Albert about as far from a cartoon villain as anyone can be.
I think it shows in the line "had to hang" from his book, it wasnt something he enjoyed doing, it was just something that had to be done by someone and he was trained to do so. He wasnt the judge who conviced them, he was the one doing the dirty work
as the daughter of an elementary school teacher, I recommend stocking up on scented soaps and hand sanitizer- kids are far more likely to use them when they like the scent. my mother's students' prefer strawberry poundcake and raspberry lemonade
I live in the Northern California county, Marin, where Drake made his North American landing. He just missed the Golden Gate, the entrance to San Francisco Bay, one of the world’s great natural harbors, probably because it’s obscured by fog most of the time. The Golden Hind is a popular name here, as is Sir Francis Drake, the name of the principal highway through the county, a high school, and many other places, like beaches and bays. So is the Pelican, the original name of the ship. The Pelican Inn is an old English inn, disassembled, transported here, and reassembled. It’s a fun place to stay, driving up from San Francisco.
They really are... Little mucus filled, sticky gremlins who touch EVERYTHING and put questionable stuff up their facial orifices. They also screech like banshees and have no sense of personal space. They can also be incredibly sweet, and loving, and bubbly, and funny and witty. That's why I hand them back to the parents after we've done the fun stuff, to let them deal with the tired little monsters. ☺️ God, I love being an aunty!
Thank you for handling this account so tactfully. The content made me squirm; it is so distasteful when one really looks at the truth behind executions and executioners. Death by execution is handled by humans. We seldom think about the personal cost to the people who carry out the sentence. Distance in thought from the deed is a protection for the mind. I wonder about the minds inner workings of Pierrepoints family and their "job".
I agree with this. I think the psychological effects on the human executioner is little considered generally, and a degree of mental distancing might well be required to deal with the aftermath.
From what I have read about him, he tried very hard to allow the people he executed to retain their dignity at the end, no matter what his personal feelings were. He maintained a professional attitude towards a most difficult job. I read that he executed the young female Nazi guard first, so that she wouldn’t have to wait through execution after execution. He was especially compassionate towards the women, careful to clean them afterwards and arrange their clothing to cover their modesty. He also was the one who developed the ‘drop formula’ ratio of length of rope to weight of the condemned to insure their necks snapped instantly for a quick death. He did the best he could to elevate a most horrific job to a professional level.
I have been viscerally anti-death penalty since childhood (around 10). I remember at 12, my father telling me that it was no good to be against something without being able to muster facts to persuade others. In the U.S., where our death penalties are a checkerboard of states, I encourage people to look at the murder rate per 100,000 of population. It's usually higher in death penalty states, partially, it has been speculated, because criminals fear leaving witnesses alive.
And unfortunately ends up promoting the case for execution. Tough to get out of a cycle like that if you can't persuade the law to drop that particular penalty.
I'm not in favor of the death penalty, but the vast majority of murders don't involve wiping out the witnesses. :) The biggest value of the death penalty is not as a deterrent anyway; it's as a bargaining chip in plea bargaining and obtaining subsequent confessions. For example, Chris Watts who killed his pregnant wife and two little daughters in Colorado agreed to plead guilty in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table.
A wonderful tradition we need somebody like him in Britain today .......... it`s cost effective and we could soon reduce the prison population ...... bring the hangman or hangwoman back now ... Britain needs you as do the people of Liverpool.
I'm so excited to see this video! I've wondered for years about the executioners. It is one thing to make the ruling that one should be put to death but it is a far other to be the person that is tasked with the job. Knowing that there were families that carried this position is even more interesting to me. I also love that you discuss how these men felt about their jobs. It must have been a burden to their psyches.
I thought for a second it was Scottish comedian/actor Billy Connolly (instead of Timothy Spall) that had the starring role in that particular👌🏻film. BUT Billy was in the 1997 'Deacon Brodie' film. Portraying the 18th Century man, who perfected the design for the gallows. But Brodie was eventually (after being convicted of a terrible crime) executed on the gallows, he had designed himself. ✌🏻
You did an excellent job of relaying the information. Thank you. I found the info sad, which is not to be reflecting on you. Going into this, I thought-- a family of executioners, how interesting. It wasn't for me. Well, I guess someone has to do it.
Love your videos. I have been binge watching them recently. Fun fact, I'm born and raised and still live in Southport UK where Albert Pierrepoint died so having one of those weird 'this is a sign that I definitely should be watching your videos' moments!
I giggle every time she says "you're very welcome" as I'm used to hearing it in response to a thank you not as a welcome :) yes, Dr. Kat is cheery and genuine.
Thanks you for this piece of history. Pierrepoint/Pierrepoynt is in my ancestry so it's good to add this story. My grandson will enjoy this one, along with the pirate on my Mum's side of the family !
Thank you again. I first learned about Albert Pierrepoint after watching a movie about him starring Timothy Spall. The movie and content were eye-opening.
I interpret the way he used to say “I had too” as normal. Killers would say they killed someone. An executioner is following orders. He has to do it, not because he wants to, but because that is his duty. I think it might’ve been his way of distancing himself from the action itself, to express that there was no pleasure in executing people.
Life without studying history? Impossible! At least from age 7, for me, when my parents assured me that reading “books” was the same as all the other reading I did. In my funny-child way, I thought books were a different type of reading, like a foreign language. I think I took a teacher too literally when she always told us “soon you will be reading books”, we already were, they were just smaller.
Fascinating. There must be some kind of reference to Anne Boleyn's executioner as it was so different: he was paid and he had to come over from France! A nice liitle job for someone, trawling thru' the National Archives at Kew perhaps? Kilmainham Jail in Dublin was where the first 'properly measured' condemned met their ends, apparently, as a little exhibition shows. I'm left imaging the conversations around the Pierrepoint dining table or even someone asking little Albert: 'and what does your father do?'...
Another wonderful video. I really enjoy your content. Quickly make a cup of tea and settle in for a great story. So glad to know that you're feeling better.
The last execution of the two men, Gwynne Owen Evans and Peter Allen happened on my literal birthday, August 13, 1964. As you were reading the date I was thinking, "That would be so crazy if it was on my birthday." That's why I like history so much! You never know what you're going to learn.
I read a memoir years ago of someone in the profession of executioner. He had retired, but it was obvious he was deeply affected by it. I know journalists who covered executions and they were very disturbed by it, even though one doesn't see the actual process. The observation room curtains are closed once the condemned makes a final statement, and then are opened after the prison doctor calls the time of death. It's a grisly business, all the way around. Very disturbing.
Sorry, doctor Kat, I don't have Instagram and I've been eschewing social media for the benefit of my mental health. But I absolutely LOVE your CZcams channel and I certainly will continue to follow you here. I favour your channel for several reasons: your wit, your knowledge, your diction, your personality and your mesmerising eyes, which I'm sure could rival those of Anne Boleyn.
I'm not sure why I watched this, executioners and executions not really my cup of tea, however, informative and entertaining as always. You never fail to leave me thinking.
There is a wonderful play written by London Irish playwright Marten McDonagh called Hangmen. It was performed at the Royal Court and then the west end. It was broadcast on NT Live . It deals with the rivalry between Albert Pierrepoint and Harry Wade (the second best hangman) brilliantly played by David Morrrissey. I think you may still be able to watch it on the NT live site. Also, there was a great teleplay with Timothy Spall called Pierrepoint (The Last Hangman USA) Thanks for doing this, it was really interesting.
I absolutely loved the video you did with Lauren !!!!!!!!!!!! It was very entertaining and educational. BTW...It is coincidence but I am listening to an audiobook "The Hangman's Daughter". Takes place in Bavaria and explains some of the reasons why being a hangman was passed down in generations of a family. TY for covering this very interesting topic.
I had an opportunity , along with my children, to visit and take a short voyage on the Golden Hind replica. Enlightening, to say the least. I, also, apologize to Dr Kat for being so late in viewing this video. Sometimes life gets in the way. Glad to be back, and good to hear that you’re recovering.
I just watched a documentary, here elsewhere on youTube, about Albert. I think he was a bit twisted, too, in his way from some of the things his friends (interviewed for the film) said. In any case, I don't believe in the death penalty for any reason.
It's odd that despite having spent a decent amount of time researching the end of the death penalty in the UK (though I'll admit this was some time ago and not especially thorough) not a single source I've accessed thought to explicitly mention that 3 of the key cases in the abolition of it all had the same Executioner? I knew speaking about executioners was something of a taboo in the past but didn't know it was that pervasive.
I did not know that US military personnel were executed by British authority in WWII UK. And my father was a military historian specializing in WWII military. I learned something new today.
Yes. Dr Kat, can you possibly explain how a British executioner came to execute American soldiers for court martial? I would have thought that would remain within the American legal system. Thank you- these videos are always interesting.
@@poetryqn I don't know for sure, but it may have been part of the agreement for US troops to be stationed on British land that they would have to come under British law if they committed crimes. I remember when I was stationed in Germany, if a US soldier committed a crime and was arrested by Germany police, they were turned over to the US army for prosecution. But the army kept the German authorities informed as to what was going on per an agreement between the two governments.
I watched someone on Antiques Roadshow who had one of his notebooks where he recorded the heights and weights of the prisoners being hanged. Dont think I would want to keep it!!!
Funnily enough, a couple of days ago I read an article about Ruth Ellis and Albert Pierrepoint being her hangman. I am sure like many people, I have very mixed feelings about capital punishment. Part of me strongly feels that is it wrong to answer violence with more violence. On the other hand, I can only imagine the rage and anguish should someone murder someone I care deeply about. However, an interesting talk and I am now wondering how much macabre these talks become as Hallowe'en gets closer;-)
If you think the plagues your son brings home are bad, just wait until he starts school and brings home nits! For 5 years our house reeked of lavender and Tea Tree oil.
I'd heard of the Pierrepoints, or at least that it was the surname of the 'last hangmen', I didn't know it was a family business. I thought they came from Halifax, but I was possibly mistaking that with the making of the Guillotine. But regardless, another notch on Bradford's infamousy to have well known executioners (I'm a Bradfordian, so I can comment!) The 'had to hang them' I do agree with. He may have volunteered and chosen to become an executioner, but he didn't choose who to hang, as in deemed who was guilty or innocent, he hanged who he was told to.
Glad to hear you are feeling better. I found this interesting. Being from the US, I was not aware of the history of this family. I have read about the last woman who was executed. I think she was suffered from domestic abuse. This issue should have been taken into consideration at her sentencing.
I thoroughly enjoyed your video with Lauren! yes, i am a 40 year old woman and yes, i enjoy her kid's history channel a whole lot. You both looked like you had the best time making it! "No, I am *not* that kind of doctor..." 😂
Albert certainly wrote in his autobiography, post retirement, that he had cone to believe that executions were revenge and not deterrence. However, in a subsequent tv appearance, he said he wasn’t sure any more as a policeman friend had recently been killed on duty. No final answers.
My Grandmother used to mention that somewhere down the line we were related to Albert Pierrepoint, (We're from St.Helens near Liverpool), i have some family tree already uncovered and must look more into this, fascinating.
Wasn’t there a movie made about Albert’s time as Chief Executioner? I seem to recall a Netflix movie about a British executioner who was actually very exacting, while also being compassionate toward those convicted.
There was the Timothy Spall film, called, simply, Pierrepoint. It shows Albert in a fairly sympathetic light and he is brilliantly played by Spall. Albert wasn't a cruel or sadistic man. It was the family trade and he did it well and quickly, which is all the condemned person could hope for. I am very opposed to capital punishment, by the way, but it is a compelling account of a harsher time.
Something to keep in mind when looking back on executioners like Pierrepoint and the like is that it’s very difficult to trust that their perspective on capital punishment as described in memoirs is accurate to their actual opinion on the matter. One executioner had a post-hangman career as an anti-death penalty activist, while at the same time trying to get his job as an executioner reinstated. It became de rigeur to play the abolitionist after the fact, for some reason.
Love your videos, would love to see you do a video on the catacombs in Paris and why they started “burying” people down there…. I know it’s kind of morbid but still a very I interesting historical event 🙂
Firstly I love your phrase ‘Pestilence vectors ‘ as I too have been a recent victim via the innocent affection of my one year old grand daughter . Here’s hoping we manage to dodge their gifts in the future ! I really enjoyed this video as it reminded me of an old book I purchased many years ago in Aberystwyth. The book OFF WITH HIS HEAD By Geoffrey Bryan is filled with stories about the history of decapitation . Starting with John the Baptist . It is made up of two sections France and the rest of the world . Obviously the French became experts in this field during the Terror . ( such an evocative word to describe this period ) The French had their own Pierrepoint family called Sanson, a dynasty of decapitators . Charles Sanson de Longval the first was a Chevalier who had the bad luck to meet Marguerite the local area,s executioner . He got her pregnant and was obliged by her father Pierre Jouanne to marry her and thus joined the family business. As his son in law , he was forced to take up the mantle of executioner when his father in law passed away . The tradition being that this position was handed down through the male line ( Marguerite was an only child ) . It was his grandson Charles Henri Sanson who dispatched Louis XVI and Marie Antonette . Seven Sansons carried this position . I think you would enjoy this book Kat , I think I shall re-read it myself .
I live minutes away from where the 'help the poor struggler' pub used to be in Oldham that Albert Pierrepoint ran, it was pulled down in the 90's to make way for the M60 motorway,
Very educational thank you. I did not know this at all. It would be interesting to have the history of the french exocutioners during the revolution. Did they have family legacy too?. I'm enthralled. Thank you.
I live near HMP Manchester and had a friend who worked there. I asked him if the graves of the executed prisioners still remained. But he told me they were moved when the prison was modernised in the 1990's after the prison was badly damaged when the prisoners rioted.
Yes and they're so much more... my daughter was taken somewhat by surprise when she sent her older child to school for the first time. The entire family caught cold, and I told her, "Yup, this is just the beginning, strap yourself in.)
Smashing and balanced report of the Hanging family. I like the comment about the debate as to the number Albert hung. On general history though I feel that you can't really compare money from one era to another. To me, 10 days tradesman's pay in2017 was about £1500 to £2000 not £500. I think that if had the death penalty today the fee would be more than 2G. I don't think that it'll ever be brought back because the media portray the murderer as the victim.
I enjoyed this episode. I did know about the family and I am old enough to remember the debates before Parliament decided to forbid the death sentence. It also reminded me of a story my daughter’s friend told me. Her family lived in an English village and every day she, and her brother, were given a lift by the family doctor and his children to school. Years later that friendly family doctor was convicted of murdering a large number of old people in his care. This was not mercy killing ,more he used his position to decide they should die. Was it better or worse that he will spend his life in prison.? Was it better for the victims families? It’s a quandary. I’m still glad the death penalty is banned as innocent people died in the past.
It's interesting that Albert was the executioner in 4 cases that were eventually made into 3 of my favourite movies. "10 Rillington Place" with John Hurt as Tim Evans, and Richard Attenborough as Reginald Christie. "Let Him Have It" with Christopher Eccleston as Derek Bentley. "Dance With A Stranger" with Miranda Richardson as Ruth Ellis, and Rupert Everett as David Blakely. I wonder if there will ever be a film made about the Pierrepoints??
Have you thought about making a video on the Sanson family? They were also a family of executioners during the fall of the french monarchy. I'd love to see a video by you on them
I loved the Golden Hind&Lauren&Dr.Kat show, that was delightful! What a unique family trade... it does make me wonder, if he spoke of it as a compulsion, what would have happened if he hadn't been an executioner for the state. I feel like killing that many people and continuing on requires a certain mindset?
Hi Dr. Kat...I watch your google channel a lot:) You are the last of the utubers that ask for money....I will watch you until that happens...:) Good Luck and I am sure your channel will succeed...
On a slight tangent; the Billington family are still known in certain circles. Thomas Billington and David "Davey Boy" Smith were cousins and both professional wrestlers, known as the Dynamite Kid and the British Bulldog respectively. Both began their careers in the UK at different points during the 1970s, eventually finding fame as a tag team known as the British Bulldogs (Smith would later go on to use the name himself exclusively) in the mid-to-late 1980s, wrestling for the (then) WWF. Thomas Billington retired from wrestling in the late 1980s and sadly passed away in 2018. Smith was an active wrestler until his untimely death in 2002. The family legacy continues in Billington's nephews Thomas and Mark, known as the Billington Bulldogs, and in Smith's son Harry who wrestles under the name Davey Boy Smith Jr.
The line 'Let him have it Chris' was in fact never spoken. It was claimed by the prosecution that police had heard Derek say this. But it has since been shown that police account could not be correct. It was certainly never claimed by Derek Bentley's defence that he meant for Christopher Craig to hand over the weapon.
According to reports on the trial, which were later reproduced on the BBC news website: “Three officers told the court they had heard him encourage Craig to shoot by shouting “let him have it”. Bentley‘s defence claimed he was already under arrest at the time the shots were fired and was simply urging Craig to give up his gun.” Of course that doesn’t mean that the officers weren’t mistaken or being deceptive but it certainly seems it was presented in court and countered at the time.
@@ReadingthePast If you read David Yallop's book book to encourage the others you will see that the officers who claimed to have heard Bentley say this had reason to lie. Of course even had Bentley said this it would have to have been heard not only by the officers holding Bentley but also the officers who were trying to arrest Christopher Craig and Craig himself immediately prior to the shooting of PC Sydney Miles. The positioning of where Bentley was in, in relation to Craig would have made this impossible. After the trial and conviction as there had been a finding of fact that it these words were spoken. The upshot of this would have been the defence would need to raise the argument that even if it were said and heard, it may have had a different meaning. In the Court of Appeal the only arguments that can be put are that there has been an error of law. You can't dispute a finding of fact. The police were believed by the jury. Unless they had been misdirected by the judge this finding of fact can't be challenged. Bentley died denying it was ever said. Forensic examination of the evidence since bears this out.
A few observations. I think Albert Pierrepoint saw himself as a skilled craftsman, taking pride in doing a good job well. I did read his autobiography years ago and, as far as I recall, he saw himself as a functionary of the state. The trial had taken place, the verdict reached and sentence passed. It didn’t matter who the condemned was or what crime they had committed, his role was to conclude the State’s process in as clean and effective a manner possible. The film 10 Rillington Place depicts the execution of Timothy Evans and is apparently very realistic. The film is based on Ludovic Kennedy’s book by the same title dealing with the miscarriage of justice in the execution of Timothy Evans. I thoroughly recommend the film. Let Him Have It (available on CZcams) also depicts the execution of Derek Bentley and is nearly identical to the scene in 10 Rillington Place. I guess once the curtain is pulled back, the mystery or secrecy is gone. Bentley denied saying “Let him have it” and this hampered his defence team. Bentley’s denial of the phrase was not good for his case, his barrister could not argue that the words were an exhortation for Craig to surrender the weapon. So the jury were determining if the phrase was used (and they had the testimony of police officers that it had been said) rather than what it meant. I’m rewatching the film “Let Him Have It” on CZcams and Bentley is shown as saying “let him have it” on the rooftop. I have looked into this and both Bentley and Craig denied in court the use of this phrase. Defence counsel did try to argue the ambiguity of the phrase but it is a difficult argument to make when your client denies saying the words. I think the scientific approach to the execution, the tables for the length of the drop etc, was introduced by Bill Marwood, the Victorian executioner. Victorian children had the riddle, “if pa killed ma, who’d kill pa?“ “Marwood”
My late Mother in Law told of Albert Pierrepont coming for tea when she was a child . Her Mother was the Matron of cells/prisoners at Bow Street Magistrates Court. Although I’m unsure how long she worked there we have newspaper clippings from the London papers on her retirement commending her work in the role . She also claimed to have the plate /cup and saucer from Ruth Ellis last meal … but I think probably it may have been from her sentencing ?? But I would love to know how many famous or infamous London prisoners passed through her care !!
Mr Perrepoints on his retirement ran a pub in Southport, Lancashire,he was know has a really king,funny ,friendly man. He retired when he realised a man he was due to execute was a distance relative. He made a point of (unlike some) making the act of execution as quick as possible ,to spare ( has much has possible of course) the prisoners. During the war he worked with the American army because they had so many soldiers waiting execution and was enraged that it would take the yanks nearly 10 mins ,from first standing on the scaffold,to execution he considered it torture ( he took 2mins) and when he saw they left the dead just lying on the floor for hours before being put in the coffins he refused to do anymore for them.
A day or so before an execution, a box would be delivered to the prison by the railway parcels service. This was the Executioner's Box and it contained two ropes. some empty sandbags, a tape measure and a roll of copper wire, all the kit needed for a long drop. I often wonder if the railway workers knew what it was? I suspect they did. Especially as it was returned to the Home Office after the execution.
I saw Albert Pierrepoint being interviewed on TV when his memoirs were published. He said his one aim was to end the condemned's life quickly, cleanly and with dignity. British executions after James Marwood devised the long drop in the 1870s were very, very quick. No speeches, no delays; the executioner entered the condemned cell, took the condemned man (or woman) to the gallows, hooded him, put the noose round his neck and pushed the lever. The whole thing took about 15 seconds and death was caused by fracture of the spinal column and the spine between the 2nd and 3rd vertebrae (known as a hangman's fracture). Death was instantaneous. I'm glad capital punishment has been abolished but I think the way it was carried out in Britain during the century before abolition was the most clean, humane way of doing it. Incidentally, Timothy Evans was hanged for the murder of Baby Geraldine, not Beryl. John Christie confessed to murdering Beryl but never admitted killing the baby, although he almost certainly did.
Some of Billington's decendants started a "wrestling dynasty" in Canada and America. There's quite a few of them who are fairly well known. Some of them married into the Hart "First Family of Wrestling" family. Im not a wrestling fan. But, it is interesting.....
It strikes me that Albert Pierrepoint approached his job as an executioner as a job. He seems to have viewed it as a necessary service for the safety of the community, but not one he took joy in. His reference to his feelings about the hangings as "sacred" seems to me to be his way of saying "I have taken lives, and that is serious business, not to be taken lightly or flippantly". Certainly, he did not choose who he executed. There was unlikely to have been malice.
Most professional executioners of this XX century Europe were volunteers but they had quite a distorted view of their jobs. Simply put that when your father's an executioner and traumatized by it, your uncle is an executioner traumatized by it and your father-in-law is an executioner and traumatized by it and so on for all the men in your life, then your vision of what is normal and ethical will be vastly different from any normal person.
I think that Albert's changing language related to his job speakes to what he used as coping skills because his job was so very singular and not one that people always want to be close to (except for morbid curosity of course). There are so many thoughts/emotions that you can't express one way or another that I can see how one would fall into dual for lack of a better word, language.
Have you read ‘Diary of a hangman’ by John Ellis, who came after ? It’s fascinating and really sad. I am going to feel so silly if you reference it, now. But i didn’t want to forget.
Hello friends,
I’ve seen a couple of comments querying my mention of Charles II’s executioner, Jack Ketch. Having seen these, I am now realising how poorly I worded that - especially considering the fact that his father did have an executioner in the most brutal sense 😬 Jack Ketch worked for Charles II to dispatch his enemies and that is what I was referring to by calling him “Charles II’s”. I will endeavour to be much clearer in the future 🤦🏻♀️
Typo as regard which Charles was executed.
@@Romartus there isn’t, either in the above text or in the video it refers to - Jack Ketch was an executioner during the reign of Charles II. That is what I meant by Charles II’s executioner - he was one employed by the crown (Charles II). I’m not insinuating he chopped off his head. As I said above, it’s poorly worded but not an error.
I was a child of 11 when I met Albert Pierrepoint. In his retirement, he ran a very pleasant country pub. My family and I were on our way home to Liverpool when the bus stopped at this pub. Because they had a child with them - me, we could not sit inside the pub itself, but had to sit outside in the garden. No problem there as it was a beautiful sunny day. I recall sipping my lemonade with my Mum and Dad outside in a beautiful back garden and meeting the proprietor Mr.Pierrepoint who was the most amiable gentleman you could ever meet. He was going around meeting and greeting all his customers, even including me, a child. That was my recollection of him. I do clearly remember my parents explaining that he was the last hangman in Britain at the time. It added a little of a macabre mystery to our meeting I admit, but his geniality overrode all that. Quite a pleasant man as I recall.
That is fascinating, thank you for sharing your experience 🌟
What a lovely comment and memory! I could picture you sitting there in the garden , meeting him! He was an extraordinary sort of man, he had to be. Carrying out the letter of the law can sometimes be intensely personal and requires great inner fortitude and settling it within oneself.Bless him and his family!
he was not the last hangman
My Dads first job on leaving school was to deliver beer to Albert Pierrepoints pub he said he was always a nice friendly man and he never spoke about what he did
@@geezerp1982 She knows that, as it was clarified in the video. Pamela is merely recounting her parents' words, something that should have been obvious.
Albert's use of "had to" when speaking about his executions felt incredibly correct to me. It was a duty, one he felt compelled to do, but he did not take pleasure in it or seek to give out justice. That's not really the job. The job is to end a life in as quick and dignified a way as possible for this person, so really to be a professional in that field, he shouldn't feel any way about it. It sounds like he was a sober and professional man, really, just the kind of person you would want in that position.
I really like you insight. Imagine people carrying out a sentence could decide whether they wanted to. Why have a judge pass sentences if those carrying them out had the final say in whether the sentence was carried out or not. That would make the whole justice system obsolete.
Additionally, his professionalism is in line with his refusal to share his thoughts on the death penalty.
It's rather like listening to how some soldiers referring to "having to fight" or "having to kill", yes they signed up for military service, yes they went through all the training, and yes they got on the boat/plane and went to somewhere else they knew fighting was going on at. But ultimately, it isn't something they relished or did a happy jig over, it was a call to service that required of them to use weapons, be shot at, potentially kill other people, and protect the man standing beside them. Or how some doctors may refer to procedures they may loathe to do (removing a person who is brain-dead from the life support, removing a leg in order to save a person's life) but know are necessary.
His "had to" to not mean he did or did not agree with the penalty. It was, as you said, the professional way of putting something somewhat distasteful. It is professional, almost clinical. A way of detaching one's self from the action by making himself a cog in the machine. He didn't investigate, arrest, try, convict, or sentence this person - his job was to carry out the sentence. To ensure the person had as humane and quick an exit as could be given under the circumstances.
Hi Dr Kat, Albert was in fact a greengrocer during most of his time as Chief Executioner, this is how he met his wife Anne, he used to deliver fruit and veg to her shop.
When they married, even Anne didn’t know where Albert went when he travelled to a prison to perform an execution.
A letter would arrive, giving him the time, and place, and off he went.
Anne eventually figured it out when Albert went away, and the execution was reported in the paper the next day.
Both he and Anne ran a pub together in the later part of his career, when he’d returned from executing the Nazi war criminals, prior to that, no one knew of his clandestine profession.
There is a tv Spanish series called Loving in turbulent times (Amar en tiempos revueltos) where one of the girls falls in love with a very sweet man. She didn't know he was the official executioner as in this case. The romance was short-lived though...
Thank you. I didn't realise it was a Pierrepoint family career. Heart breaking to hear about those people who were controversially hanged. Poor Ruth Ellis. Her poor daughter
I have a memory of Albert Pierrepoint being interviewed on TV. He said he carried out executions rather than leave them all to others because he knew that he was an expert at it. He took great care to ensure that the condemned person died as quickly and efficiently as possible.
It was even said that the condemned were relieved to know that Albert was going to do the deed.
There's a definite science to it.
I read a book about him years ago and it was an eye opener about getting the length of the rope right based on height and weight of the person to be hanged.
Professional hangmen do it in a way that makes the process quick and efficient
Get it wrong you suffocate them, or pull their head off.
AWFUL
My thought exactly. If he were to leave the task to someone else, it might leave the condemned in the hands of someone who might not care as much about providing a quick and humane death. Without a doubt Pierrepoint knew his peers and their individual proclivities, so I totally understand why he would say he ‘had to’ execute someone even though he didn’t have to take the job.
Sounds like the Dexter of his day. 😬
So true. I'd like to add that many people have an interest in a career and then when they start it realize it isn't for them and want to change or get tired of a career as they get older. However, due to all kinds of reasons, decide to continue, and that may have been the case for Pierrepoint. It also sounds like his uncle had given him wise guidance, and seeing how his father had probably not coped with it, looked after his mental health as seeing it as a job that someone had to do and endeavored to do it as humanely as possible.
Yes, that’s true. I once met a descendant of Albert’s who actually told me that.
It sounds like Albert viewed his position in the same way that soldiers view theirs. Both soldiers and executioners kill in the name of the state and only when under orders to do so. Because the death penalty has been made illegal in many countries and continues to be debated in others, people now want to pretend that executioners are some kind of moustache-twirling villains that were doing something evil. We are trying to distance ourselves and our governments from "yesterday's norms", but ultimately, I think Albert was an empathetic person who knew that if he didn't do it someone else would. And he knew he could do it well, sparing the condemned unnecessary suffering. I think that makes Albert about as far from a cartoon villain as anyone can be.
I couldn't agree more.
I think it shows in the line "had to hang" from his book, it wasnt something he enjoyed doing, it was just something that had to be done by someone and he was trained to do so. He wasnt the judge who conviced them, he was the one doing the dirty work
as the daughter of an elementary school teacher, I recommend stocking up on scented soaps and hand sanitizer- kids are far more likely to use them when they like the scent. my mother's students' prefer strawberry poundcake and raspberry lemonade
I live in the Northern California county, Marin, where Drake made his North American landing. He just missed the Golden Gate, the entrance to San Francisco Bay, one of the world’s great natural harbors, probably because it’s obscured by fog most of the time. The Golden Hind is a popular name here, as is Sir Francis Drake, the name of the principal highway through the county, a high school, and many other places, like beaches and bays. So is the Pelican, the original name of the ship. The Pelican Inn is an old English inn, disassembled, transported here, and reassembled. It’s a fun place to stay, driving up from San Francisco.
🤣🤣"pestilence vectors!".... you really are in the halloween mood Dr Kat
I'm glad I had just swallowed my coffee when she said that! 😂😂😂
US teacher such as I refer to the kids as Petrie dishes.
🤣🤣yeah I'm with the brits on this one. Petrie dishes is way to politically correct.
They really are... Little mucus filled, sticky gremlins who touch EVERYTHING and put questionable stuff up their facial orifices. They also screech like banshees and have no sense of personal space. They can also be incredibly sweet, and loving, and bubbly, and funny and witty.
That's why I hand them back to the parents after we've done the fun stuff, to let them deal with the tired little monsters. ☺️ God, I love being an aunty!
Waite till dr Kat realises they get sick about 4 times a year😂....Pestilence vector would make a great drag name
Thank you for handling this account so tactfully. The content made me squirm; it is so distasteful when one really looks at the truth behind executions and executioners. Death by execution is handled by humans. We seldom think about the personal cost to the people who carry out the sentence. Distance in thought from the deed is a protection for the mind. I wonder about the minds inner workings of Pierrepoints family and their "job".
I agree with this. I think the psychological effects on the human executioner is little considered generally, and a degree of mental distancing might well be required to deal with the aftermath.
Well, somebody had to do it!
From what I have read about him, he tried very hard to allow the people he executed to retain their dignity at the end, no matter what his personal feelings were. He maintained a professional attitude towards a most difficult job. I read that he executed the young female Nazi guard first, so that she wouldn’t have to wait through execution after execution. He was especially compassionate towards the women, careful to clean them afterwards and arrange their clothing to cover their modesty. He also was the one who developed the ‘drop formula’ ratio of length of rope to weight of the condemned to insure their necks snapped instantly for a quick death. He did the best he could to elevate a most horrific job to a professional level.
I have been viscerally anti-death penalty since childhood (around 10). I remember at 12, my father telling me that it was no good to be against something without being able to muster facts to persuade others.
In the U.S., where our death penalties are a checkerboard of states, I encourage people to look at the murder rate per 100,000 of population. It's usually higher in death penalty states, partially, it has been speculated, because criminals fear leaving witnesses alive.
And unfortunately ends up promoting the case for execution. Tough to get out of a cycle like that if you can't persuade the law to drop that particular penalty.
I'm not in favor of the death penalty, but the vast majority of murders don't involve wiping out the witnesses. :)
The biggest value of the death penalty is not as a deterrent anyway; it's as a bargaining chip in plea bargaining and obtaining subsequent confessions. For example, Chris Watts who killed his pregnant wife and two little daughters in Colorado agreed to plead guilty in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table.
A wonderful tradition we need somebody like him in Britain today .......... it`s cost effective and we could soon reduce the prison population ...... bring the hangman or hangwoman back now ... Britain needs you as do the people of Liverpool.
Thank you. Albert Pierrepoint is the only executioner I could have named.
I'm so excited to see this video! I've wondered for years about the executioners. It is one thing to make the ruling that one should be put to death but it is a far other to be the person that is tasked with the job. Knowing that there were families that carried this position is even more interesting to me. I also love that you discuss how these men felt about their jobs. It must have been a burden to their psyches.
Thankyou Dr Kat for the lovely, warm welcome - it’s always such a perfect way to start your videos
❤️
The film about him with Timothy Spall is excellent.
I thought for a second it was Scottish comedian/actor Billy Connolly (instead of Timothy Spall) that had the starring role in that particular👌🏻film.
BUT Billy was in the 1997 'Deacon Brodie' film. Portraying the 18th Century man, who perfected the design for the gallows. But Brodie was eventually (after being convicted of a terrible crime) executed on the gallows, he had designed himself. ✌🏻
Glad to hear your feeling much better 😊 I love this channel! One of the better channels on CZcams 😊
You're one of my favorite channels!!! Thank you Dr Kat for such wonderful content!! You're absolutely amazing 🌺
@@markanderson0022 I'm doing well. Thank you for asking! Hope all is well for you and your family🌺
You did an excellent job of relaying the information. Thank you. I found the info sad, which is not to be reflecting on you. Going into this, I thought-- a family of executioners, how interesting. It wasn't for me. Well, I guess someone has to do it.
Love your videos. I have been binge watching them recently. Fun fact, I'm born and raised and still live in Southport UK where Albert Pierrepoint died so having one of those weird 'this is a sign that I definitely should be watching your videos' moments!
"hello, and your very welcome "
Me every time: "thank you!"
I giggle every time she says "you're very welcome" as I'm used to hearing it in response to a thank you not as a welcome :) yes, Dr. Kat is cheery and genuine.
Thanks you for this piece of history. Pierrepoint/Pierrepoynt is in my ancestry so it's good to add this story. My grandson will enjoy this one, along with the pirate on my Mum's side of the family !
Thank you again. I first learned about Albert Pierrepoint after watching a movie about him starring Timothy Spall. The movie and content were eye-opening.
I interpret the way he used to say “I had too” as normal. Killers would say they killed someone. An executioner is following orders. He has to do it, not because he wants to, but because that is his duty. I think it might’ve been his way of distancing himself from the action itself, to express that there was no pleasure in executing people.
I remember learning about all of these cases and the Family Pierrepont.
This is a well written and well narrated piece, thanks and well-done.
Life without studying history? Impossible! At least from age 7, for me, when my parents assured me that reading “books” was the same as all the other reading I did. In my funny-child way, I thought books were a different type of reading, like a foreign language. I think I took a teacher too literally when she always told us “soon you will be reading books”, we already were, they were just smaller.
What were you reading before books?
Fascinating. There must be some kind of reference to Anne Boleyn's executioner as it was so different: he was paid and he had to come over from France! A nice liitle job for someone, trawling thru' the National Archives at Kew perhaps? Kilmainham Jail in Dublin was where the first 'properly measured' condemned met their ends, apparently, as a little exhibition shows. I'm left imaging the conversations around the Pierrepoint dining table or even someone asking little Albert: 'and what does your father do?'...
Another wonderful video. I really enjoy your content. Quickly make a cup of tea and settle in for a great story. So glad to know that you're feeling better.
The last execution of the two men, Gwynne Owen Evans and Peter Allen happened on my literal birthday, August 13, 1964. As you were reading the date I was thinking, "That would be so crazy if it was on my birthday." That's why I like history so much! You never know what you're going to learn.
Another fantastic video. Your explanation of historical topics allows us to see how we have evolved as a society. Thank you Dr. Kat 👏👏👏
Well done as usual, Dr. Kat😊
I read a memoir years ago of someone in the profession of executioner. He had retired, but it was obvious he was deeply affected by it. I know journalists who covered executions and they were very disturbed by it, even though one doesn't see the actual process. The observation room curtains are closed once the condemned makes a final statement, and then are opened after the prison doctor calls the time of death. It's a grisly business, all the way around. Very disturbing.
Sorry, doctor Kat, I don't have Instagram and I've been eschewing social media for the benefit of my mental health. But I absolutely LOVE your CZcams channel and I certainly will continue to follow you here.
I favour your channel for several reasons: your wit, your knowledge, your diction, your personality and your mesmerising eyes, which I'm sure could rival those of Anne Boleyn.
I'm not sure why I watched this, executioners and executions not really my cup of tea, however, informative and entertaining as always. You never fail to leave me thinking.
There is a wonderful play written by London Irish playwright Marten McDonagh called Hangmen. It was performed at the Royal Court and then the west end. It was broadcast on NT Live . It deals with the rivalry between Albert Pierrepoint and Harry Wade (the second best hangman) brilliantly played by David Morrrissey. I think you may still be able to watch it on the NT live site. Also, there was a great teleplay with Timothy Spall called Pierrepoint (The Last Hangman USA) Thanks for doing this, it was really interesting.
I absolutely loved the video you did with Lauren !!!!!!!!!!!! It was very entertaining and educational. BTW...It is coincidence but I am listening to an audiobook "The Hangman's Daughter". Takes place in Bavaria and explains some of the reasons why being a hangman was passed down in generations of a family. TY for covering this very interesting topic.
I had an opportunity , along with my children, to visit and take a short voyage on the Golden Hind replica. Enlightening, to say the least.
I, also, apologize to Dr Kat for being so late in viewing this video. Sometimes life gets in the way. Glad to be back, and good to hear that you’re recovering.
I just watched a documentary, here elsewhere on youTube, about Albert. I think he was a bit twisted, too, in his way from some of the things his friends (interviewed for the film) said. In any case, I don't believe in the death penalty for any reason.
It's odd that despite having spent a decent amount of time researching the end of the death penalty in the UK (though I'll admit this was some time ago and not especially thorough) not a single source I've accessed thought to explicitly mention that 3 of the key cases in the abolition of it all had the same Executioner? I knew speaking about executioners was something of a taboo in the past but didn't know it was that pervasive.
I did not know that US military personnel were executed by British authority in WWII UK. And my father was a military historian specializing in WWII military. I learned something new today.
Yes. Dr Kat, can you possibly explain how a British executioner came to execute American soldiers for court martial? I would have thought that would remain within the American legal system. Thank you- these videos are always interesting.
@@poetryqn I don't know for sure, but it may have been part of the agreement for US troops to be stationed on British land that they would have to come under British law if they committed crimes. I remember when I was stationed in Germany, if a US soldier committed a crime and was arrested by Germany police, they were turned over to the US army for prosecution. But the army kept the German authorities informed as to what was going on per an agreement between the two governments.
How many American soldiers he executed? Did execute British soldiers, too? Did he execute Lord Heehaw?
@Nicky L thank you for the update.
@Nicky L I'll add my thanks for the explanation.
LOVE the upbeat music at the beginning. Perfect for talking about executioners. 👍
“Pestilence vectors”. Pahahaha. I just adore your sense of humor. LOL 🌺😂
This was so fascinating. You always give us wonderful insights into the past. I love it. Thank you.
I watched someone on Antiques Roadshow who had one of his notebooks where he recorded the heights and weights of the prisoners being hanged. Dont think I would want to keep it!!!
Funnily enough, a couple of days ago I read an article about Ruth Ellis and Albert Pierrepoint being her hangman.
I am sure like many people, I have very mixed feelings about capital punishment. Part of me strongly feels that is it wrong to answer violence with more violence. On the other hand, I can only imagine the rage and anguish should someone murder someone I care deeply about.
However, an interesting talk and I am now wondering how much macabre these talks become as Hallowe'en gets closer;-)
If you think the plagues your son brings home are bad, just wait until he starts school and brings home nits! For 5 years our house reeked of lavender and Tea Tree oil.
I'd heard of the Pierrepoints, or at least that it was the surname of the 'last hangmen', I didn't know it was a family business. I thought they came from Halifax, but I was possibly mistaking that with the making of the Guillotine. But regardless, another notch on Bradford's infamousy to have well known executioners (I'm a Bradfordian, so I can comment!)
The 'had to hang them' I do agree with. He may have volunteered and chosen to become an executioner, but he didn't choose who to hang, as in deemed who was guilty or innocent, he hanged who he was told to.
Glad to hear you are feeling better. I found this interesting. Being from the US, I was not aware of the history of this family. I have read about the last woman who was executed. I think she was suffered from domestic abuse. This issue should have been taken into consideration at her sentencing.
Gosh, and cheery music…..sooooo appropriate
Well for a long time they had constant work 🤩🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺
Yay!!! Dr. Kat!!!
I thoroughly enjoyed your video with Lauren! yes, i am a 40 year old woman and yes, i enjoy her kid's history channel a whole lot. You both looked like you had the best time making it! "No, I am *not* that kind of doctor..." 😂
Albert certainly wrote in his autobiography, post retirement, that he had cone to believe that executions were revenge and not deterrence. However, in a subsequent tv appearance, he said he wasn’t sure any more as a policeman friend had recently been killed on duty. No final answers.
Enjoyed as always! Thank You Very Much!
Killing a murderer doesn’t make any less murderers in the world xxx
I like these themes. Maybe you could do a Christmas one later on
My Grandmother used to mention that somewhere down the line we were related to Albert Pierrepoint, (We're from St.Helens near Liverpool), i have some family tree already uncovered and must look more into this, fascinating.
I wonder if they're haunted by all the executions??
Wasn’t there a movie made about Albert’s time as Chief Executioner? I seem to recall a Netflix movie about a British executioner who was actually very exacting, while also being compassionate toward those convicted.
There was the Timothy Spall film, called, simply, Pierrepoint. It shows Albert in a fairly sympathetic light and he is brilliantly played by Spall. Albert wasn't a cruel or sadistic man. It was the family trade and he did it well and quickly, which is all the condemned person could hope for. I am very opposed to capital punishment, by the way, but it is a compelling account of a harsher time.
@@catgladwell5684 Thank you, Cat, I believe that was the one I remembered👍🏼
@@catgladwell5684 A First Class Film .
Something to keep in mind when looking back on executioners like Pierrepoint and the like is that it’s very difficult to trust that their perspective on capital punishment as described in memoirs is accurate to their actual opinion on the matter. One executioner had a post-hangman career as an anti-death penalty activist, while at the same time trying to get his job as an executioner reinstated.
It became de rigeur to play the abolitionist after the fact, for some reason.
I watched you and Lauren "Frenchy" training to be a gunner and yourself as a Barber Surgeon. It was great fun!
Love your videos, would love to see you do a video on the catacombs in Paris and why they started “burying” people down there…. I know it’s kind of morbid but still a very I interesting historical event 🙂
Albert ran a pub in Oldham named 'Help the Poor Struggler'.
Firstly I love your phrase ‘Pestilence vectors ‘ as I too have been a recent victim via the innocent affection of my one year old grand daughter . Here’s hoping we manage to dodge their gifts in the future !
I really enjoyed this video as it reminded me of an old book I purchased many years ago in Aberystwyth. The book OFF WITH HIS HEAD By Geoffrey Bryan is filled with stories about the history of decapitation . Starting with John the Baptist . It is made up of two sections France and the rest of the world . Obviously the French became experts in this field during the Terror . ( such an evocative word to describe this period ) The French had their own Pierrepoint family called Sanson, a dynasty of decapitators . Charles Sanson de Longval the first was a Chevalier who had the bad luck to meet Marguerite the local area,s executioner . He got her pregnant and was obliged by her father Pierre Jouanne to marry her and thus joined the family business. As his son in law , he was forced to take up the mantle of executioner when his father in law passed away . The tradition being that this position was handed down through the male line ( Marguerite was an only child ) . It was his grandson Charles Henri Sanson who dispatched Louis XVI and Marie Antonette . Seven Sansons carried this position .
I think you would enjoy this book Kat , I think I shall re-read it myself .
Excellent presentation, thank you!
Thank you for your interesting content.
I live minutes away from where the 'help the poor struggler' pub used to be in Oldham that Albert Pierrepoint ran, it was pulled down in the 90's to make way for the M60 motorway,
I just love your accent!! & of course your channel!!
Hi DK 🤗 hope all is well with you and your family 💜 Such a great educational video! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. Take care-Debbie
Totally random, and off topic. Love your lipstick today! Care to share details?
Very educational thank you. I did not know this at all. It would be interesting to have the history of the french exocutioners during the revolution. Did they have family legacy too?. I'm enthralled. Thank you.
I live near HMP Manchester and had a friend who worked there. I asked him if the graves of the executed prisioners still remained. But he told me they were moved when the prison was modernised in the 1990's after the prison was badly damaged when the prisoners rioted.
Yes and they're so much more... my daughter was taken somewhat by surprise when she sent her older child to school for the first time. The entire family caught cold, and I told her, "Yup, this is just the beginning, strap yourself in.)
Smashing and balanced report of the Hanging family. I like the comment about the debate as to the number Albert hung. On general history though I feel that you can't really compare money from one era to another. To me, 10 days tradesman's pay in2017 was about £1500 to £2000 not £500. I think that if had the death penalty today the fee would be more than 2G. I don't think that it'll ever be brought back because the media portray the murderer as the victim.
I enjoyed this episode. I did know about the family and I am old enough to remember the debates before Parliament decided to forbid the death sentence. It also reminded me of a story my daughter’s friend told me. Her family lived in an English village and every day she, and her brother, were given a lift by the family doctor and his children to school. Years later that friendly family doctor was convicted of murdering a large number of old people in his care. This was not mercy killing ,more he used his position to decide they should die. Was it better or worse that he will spend his life in prison.? Was it better for the victims families? It’s a quandary. I’m still glad the death penalty is banned as innocent people died in the past.
Was this doctor called Harold Shipman? It sounds like his case. He was imprisoned for life but he committed suicide.
It's interesting that Albert was the executioner in 4 cases that were eventually made into 3 of my favourite movies.
"10 Rillington Place" with John Hurt as Tim Evans, and Richard Attenborough as Reginald Christie.
"Let Him Have It" with Christopher Eccleston as Derek Bentley.
"Dance With A Stranger" with Miranda Richardson as Ruth Ellis, and Rupert Everett as David Blakely.
I wonder if there will ever be a film made about the Pierrepoints??
Pierrepoint stars Timothy Spall as Albert Pierrepoint. Hardly any reference to his older relatives though.
Fun fact: Up until the late 19th century in Britain, it was common practice to bill the condemned or their family to pay the executioner's fee.
Albert was one of the people I’d like to have coffee with. He would have been so interesting.
Have you thought about making a video on the Sanson family? They were also a family of executioners during the fall of the french monarchy. I'd love to see a video by you on them
I loved the Golden Hind&Lauren&Dr.Kat show, that was delightful!
What a unique family trade... it does make me wonder, if he spoke of it as a compulsion, what would have happened if he hadn't been an executioner for the state. I feel like killing that many people and continuing on requires a certain mindset?
“Pestilence vectors😂😂”
Hi Dr. Kat...I watch your google channel a lot:) You are the last of the utubers that ask for money....I will watch you until that happens...:) Good Luck and I am sure your channel will succeed...
Fascinating. I do feel I've seen him portrayed in a movie or tv show.
On a slight tangent; the Billington family are still known in certain circles.
Thomas Billington and David "Davey Boy" Smith were cousins and both professional wrestlers, known as the Dynamite Kid and the British Bulldog respectively. Both began their careers in the UK at different points during the 1970s, eventually finding fame as a tag team known as the British Bulldogs (Smith would later go on to use the name himself exclusively) in the mid-to-late 1980s, wrestling for the (then) WWF. Thomas Billington retired from wrestling in the late 1980s and sadly passed away in 2018. Smith was an active wrestler until his untimely death in 2002.
The family legacy continues in Billington's nephews Thomas and Mark, known as the Billington Bulldogs, and in Smith's son Harry who wrestles under the name Davey Boy Smith Jr.
The line 'Let him have it Chris' was in fact never spoken. It was claimed by the prosecution that police had heard Derek say this. But it has since been shown that police account could not be correct. It was certainly never claimed by Derek Bentley's defence that he meant for Christopher Craig to hand over the weapon.
According to reports on the trial, which were later reproduced on the BBC news website: “Three officers told the court they had heard him encourage Craig to shoot by shouting “let him have it”.
Bentley‘s defence claimed he was already under arrest at the time the shots were fired and was simply urging Craig to give up his gun.”
Of course that doesn’t mean that the officers weren’t mistaken or being deceptive but it certainly seems it was presented in court and countered at the time.
@@ReadingthePast If you read David Yallop's book book to encourage the others you will see that the officers who claimed to have heard Bentley say this had reason to lie. Of course even had Bentley said this it would have to have been heard not only by the officers holding Bentley but also the officers who were trying to arrest Christopher Craig and Craig himself immediately prior to the shooting of PC Sydney Miles. The positioning of where Bentley was in, in relation to Craig would have made this impossible. After the trial and conviction as there had been a finding of fact that it these words were spoken. The upshot of this would have been the defence would need to raise the argument that even if it were said and heard, it may have had a different meaning.
In the Court of Appeal the only arguments that can be put are that there has been an error of law. You can't dispute a finding of fact. The police were believed by the jury. Unless they had been misdirected by the judge this finding of fact can't be challenged. Bentley died denying it was ever said. Forensic examination of the evidence since bears this out.
A few observations.
I think Albert Pierrepoint saw himself as a skilled craftsman, taking pride in doing a good job well. I did read his autobiography years ago and, as far as I recall, he saw himself as a functionary of the state. The trial had taken place, the verdict reached and sentence passed. It didn’t matter who the condemned was or what crime they had committed, his role was to conclude the State’s process in as clean and effective a manner possible.
The film 10 Rillington Place depicts the execution of Timothy Evans and is apparently very realistic. The film is based on Ludovic Kennedy’s book by the same title dealing with the miscarriage of justice in the execution of Timothy Evans. I thoroughly recommend the film. Let Him Have It (available on CZcams) also depicts the execution of Derek Bentley and is nearly identical to the scene in 10 Rillington Place. I guess once the curtain is pulled back, the mystery or secrecy is gone.
Bentley denied saying “Let him have it” and this hampered his defence team. Bentley’s denial of the phrase was not good for his case, his barrister could not argue that the words were an exhortation for Craig to surrender the weapon. So the jury were determining if the phrase was used (and they had the testimony of police officers that it had been said) rather than what it meant. I’m rewatching the film “Let Him Have It” on CZcams and Bentley is shown as saying “let him have it” on the rooftop. I have looked into this and both Bentley and Craig denied in court the use of this phrase. Defence counsel did try to argue the ambiguity of the phrase but it is a difficult argument to make when your client denies saying the words.
I think the scientific approach to the execution, the tables for the length of the drop etc, was introduced by Bill Marwood, the Victorian executioner.
Victorian children had the riddle, “if pa killed ma, who’d kill pa?“ “Marwood”
My late Mother in Law told of Albert Pierrepont coming for tea when she was a child . Her Mother was the Matron of cells/prisoners at Bow Street Magistrates Court. Although I’m unsure how long she worked there we have newspaper clippings from the London papers on her retirement commending her work in the role . She also claimed to have the plate /cup and saucer from Ruth Ellis last meal … but I think probably it may have been from her sentencing ?? But I would love to know how many famous or infamous London prisoners passed through her care !!
My Friend who was from Manchester was related to Pierrepoint.
Mr Perrepoints on his retirement ran a pub in Southport, Lancashire,he was know has a really king,funny ,friendly man. He retired when he realised a man he was due to execute was a distance relative. He made a point of (unlike some) making the act of execution as quick as possible ,to spare ( has much has possible of course) the prisoners. During the war he worked with the American army because they had so many soldiers waiting execution and was enraged that it would take the yanks nearly 10 mins ,from first standing on the scaffold,to execution he considered it torture ( he took 2mins) and when he saw they left the dead just lying on the floor for hours before being put in the coffins he refused to do anymore for them.
A day or so before an execution, a box would be delivered to the prison by the railway parcels service. This was the Executioner's Box and it contained two ropes. some empty sandbags, a tape measure and a roll of copper wire, all the kit needed for a long drop. I often wonder if the railway workers knew what it was? I suspect they did. Especially as it was returned to the Home Office after the execution.
Very interesting topic
Thanks for the interesting topic. Spooky Season and all!!! Take care and have fun!!! ☠️👻☠️ 😷😎😷
I saw Albert Pierrepoint being interviewed on TV when his memoirs were published. He said his one aim was to end the condemned's life quickly, cleanly and with dignity. British executions after James Marwood devised the long drop in the 1870s were very, very quick. No speeches, no delays; the executioner entered the condemned cell, took the condemned man (or woman) to the gallows, hooded him, put the noose round his neck and pushed the lever. The whole thing took about 15 seconds and death was caused by fracture of the spinal column and the spine between the 2nd and 3rd vertebrae (known as a hangman's fracture). Death was instantaneous. I'm glad capital punishment has been abolished but I think the way it was carried out in Britain during the century before abolition was the most clean, humane way of doing it.
Incidentally, Timothy Evans was hanged for the murder of Baby Geraldine, not Beryl. John Christie confessed to murdering Beryl but never admitted killing the baby, although he almost certainly did.
Some of Billington's decendants started a "wrestling dynasty" in Canada and America. There's quite a few of them who are fairly well known. Some of them married into the Hart "First Family of Wrestling" family. Im not a wrestling fan. But, it is interesting.....
Very informative, I should think that there are documents that give exact figures for the amount of executions.
It strikes me that Albert Pierrepoint approached his job as an executioner as a job. He seems to have viewed it as a necessary service for the safety of the community, but not one he took joy in. His reference to his feelings about the hangings as "sacred" seems to me to be his way of saying "I have taken lives, and that is serious business, not to be taken lightly or flippantly". Certainly, he did not choose who he executed. There was unlikely to have been malice.
Most professional executioners of this XX century Europe were volunteers but they had quite a distorted view of their jobs. Simply put that when your father's an executioner and traumatized by it, your uncle is an executioner traumatized by it and your father-in-law is an executioner and traumatized by it and so on for all the men in your life, then your vision of what is normal and ethical will be vastly different from any normal person.
I think that Albert's changing language related to his job speakes to what he used as coping skills because his job was so very singular and not one that people always want to be close to (except for morbid curosity of course). There are so many thoughts/emotions that you can't express one way or another that I can see how one would fall into dual for lack of a better word, language.
My mother did some family history a while ago and discovered we were related to this family! Bit odd but I’ll take it!
Have you read ‘Diary of a hangman’ by John Ellis, who came after ? It’s fascinating and really sad. I am going to feel so silly if you reference it, now. But i didn’t want to forget.