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From 1837 to 1901 Queen Victoria presided over the world’s biggest empire – and during her 64-year reign approximately 1,100 judicial hangings were carried out in Great Britain and Ireland. Here we present a month-by-month calendar of the fascinating stories behind some of them, set frequently against a background of dire poverty, short trials and public executions... Victorian Hangings: March March 2nd 2/3/1886 David Roberts – Cardiff “I swear my dad had nothing to do with this murder,” David Roberts shouted from the dock across the courtroom. The prosecution were impressed with his outburst, and they decided to offer no evidence a... more » March 3rd 3/3/1884 Catherine Flanagan and Margaret Higgins – Liverpool Looking for an easy way to make money, Catherine Flanagan, 55, and her sister Margaret Higgins, 41, decided midway through their lives to go for the big insurance payout. One of the victims upon whom ... more » March 11th 11/3/1889 Jesse King – Edinburgh Women who had a baby they didn’t want in the 19th century went along to see Jesse King, who “took care” of the problem for them. Although Edinburgh Police believed she killed many children for financi... more » March 14th 14/3/1838 George Fletcher and William Roach – Hertford William Bennett fought for king and country against Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and for that he was still drawing an army pension many years later. When he went to collect it on Wednesday, Octo... more » March 14th 14/3/1862 Jonathan Gould – Windsor Poor little Hannah Gould! She was only seven years old, and her father beat her mercilessly when she didn’t do the housework to his satisfaction. One day in December 1861, Hannah fell short in her “du... more » March 14th 14/3/1887 Elizabeth Berry – Liverpool Eleven-year-old Edith Berry was another Victorian child savagely put to death by a parent. This time the killer was her own mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Berry, 31, who poisoned little Edith by putting creos... more » March 14th 14/3/1898 John Herdman – Edinburgh Christmas Day in England and New Year’s Day in Scotland are statistically bad days for family quarrels. So it was with John Herdman, a 52-year-old print worker. He punched, beat, and stabbed to death ... more » March 15th 15/3/1862 William Charlton – Carlisle Widowed Jane Emerson, 72, led a sad and solitary life in Victorian England. Despite her age she was employed manning the level crossing at Durrin Hill, Carlisle, and after a 10-hour shift on November ... more » March 17th 17/3/1847 George Matthews and James Welch – Morpeth A drunken fight between Irishmen after a christening party in a pub brought two of them to Newcastle Assizes on murder charges. Both men, George Matthews, 20, and James Welch, 23, were involved in sep... more » March 17th 17/3/1885 Henry Kimberley – Birmingham By the standards of the day, the legal contract that Henry Kimberley entered into with his partner Harriet Stewart was generous enough. The couple had been living together for 17 years and now, on Chr... more » March 19th 19/3/1856 John Fowkes – Leicester Few things are more dangerous in a man than a persecution complex. John Fowkes, 45, known to his friends as “Butcher” Fowkes, believed that several members of his family were against him, and he made ... more » March 20th 20/3/1858 Manoeli Selapatana and Panaotis Alepis – Swansea Mid-19th-century Swansea was a thriving seaport and a consequent magnet for drunks, thieves and prostitutes, whose excursions into the low-life dens sometimes had fatal consequences. On February 16th... more » March 20th 20/3/1888 James Jones and Alfred Scandrett – Hereford A pair of burglars charged with murder caused mayhem in the dock at Hereford Assizes when one of them tried to strangle the other as the verdict was being announced. Alfred Scandrett attempted to kil... more » March 22nd 22/3/1852 Giovanni Kalabergo – Banbury “My great ambition is to go to England and settle down there,” Giovanni Kalabergo, 22, wrote from Italy to his uncle, Giovanni Kalabergo senior, who had owned a jewellery shop and watch repair busines... more » March 22nd 22/3/1898 Charles Smith – Gateshead “My bonnie wife has been murdered in the water closet!” Scotsman Charles Smith shouted out in the early hours of December 27th, 1897. His wife, Mary Anne, 30, wasn’t in the water closet, however. Her... more » March 24th 24/3/1845 James Tapping – Bethnal Green, London “She was jealous of me, so she shot herself,” declared James Tapping as he showed a policeman the body of his girl friend Emma Whiter, 18, at the home they shared in South Conduit Street, Bethnal Gree... more » March 24th 24/3/1863 Noah Austin – Upper Heyford, Oxon Farmer Thomas Allen didn’t much like his daughter Elizabeth’s suitor. He didn’t intend giving his consent to her marriage to that young scoundrel. The scoundrel was Noah Austin, 25, himself the son o... more » March 24th 24/3/1854 Moses Hatto – Aylesbury Miss Mary Ann Spurgeon was the very strict, very severe housekeeper at Burnham Abbey Farm, four miles from Windsor – so strict and so severe that she got up the nose of the new groom, Moses Hatto. But... more » March 25th 25/3/1851 Sarah Chesham – Clavering, Essex Married at 19 when she was already pregnant, Sarah Chesham gave birth to five more children by the time she was 30. Then something must have gone disastrously wrong in her mind – or with her marriage.... more » March 27th 27/3/1849 John Smith – Everley, Wiltshire The Rev. Hadlow, vicar of Everley in Wilshire, got a big surprise when a tramp started hurling stones at him. The aggressor, John Smith, was tried for attempting to murder the vicar and sentenced to s... more » March 27th 27/3/1863 Charles Fooks and Edwin Preedy – Bridport “I didn’t like my cousin. He looked at me in a funny way.” This was the explanation Charles Fooks, 49, gave for shooting dead his cousin and neighbour Daniel Stone at Walditch, Bridport, in August, 18... more » March 27th 27/3/1894 Walter Smith – Nottingham When Catherine Cross, 25, a Liverpool nurse, went to the home of Mrs. Jane Smith to have her wedding dress fitted, she met Mrs. Smith’s son Walter for the first time. They chatted, and Smith invited C... more » March 28th 28/3/1839 William Seager – Otterden, Kent Aware that his affair with the local rat-catcher’s wife was causing a scandal and that there was no long-term future in it for him, William Seager, 40, a shoemaker of Otterden, Kent, killed his lover ... more » March 28th 28/3/1845 John Tawell – Aylesbury “Arrest the man in the Kwaker garb,” the Great Western Railway’s electric telegraph flashed out from Aylesbury railway station to the railway police in London. For some unknown reason the telegraph di... more » March 28th 28/3/1899 George Robertson – London’s West End Mrs. Emily Kenealy returned to her home in Drury Lane, London, one evening in January 1899, to find George Robertson, a local labourer who she knew well, cleaning up bloodstains from her carpet. In th... more » March 30th 30/3/1861 Robert Hackett – Exeter Private soldiers shouldn’t argue with sergeants – at least they shouldn’t have done so in the mid-nineteenth century. Private Robert Hackett made that mistake when he took offence at a remark made by ... more » March 31st 31/3/1843 Samuel Bonsall, William Bland and John Hulme – Derby “The crowd of spectators was immense,” declared The Times when three notorious burglars mounted the scaffold outside Derby Prison. Other sources put it at 50,000. In September, 1842, Samuel Bonsall, ... more » March 31st 31/3/1856 William Boulsfield – Soho, London A press report described it as “one of those dreadful spectacles” when William Boulsfield, 34, was executed outside Newgate Prison on Monday, March 31st, 1856. The report was not referring to the exec... more » March 31st 31/3/1860 Joseph Castle – Luton “Get out!” the irate husband shouted at his wife. “All right, I will!” she yelled back at him She got up, ready to flounce out. Suddenly changing his mind, her husband threw himself at her and ripped... more » March 31st 31/3/1868 William Worsley – Luton The name of the pub, in Luton, was The Old English Gentleman, but that certainly wasn’t an apt description of some of its clientele in the 1860s. Three of them, William Worsley, 45, Levi Welch, 40, an... more »
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