Dick Hughes is mentioned in the Newgate Calendar as a robber who came to London at the start of the eighteenth century to make money the dishonest way. He’d already been arrested and tried in Worcester for theft. On that occasion he’d been whipped at the cart’s tail “crying carrots and turnips” as he was…
The Tower of London still possesses the axe and “heading block” used for executions right up to the mid-18th century. There’s also a mask that was worn by the executioner. The block is chipped and dented as a result of some considerable use. On this block, the heads of three Scottish rebels – Lords Lovat,…
How could somebody come to be executed not once – but twice? Such is the tale of one poor, unfortunate Londoner at a time of great cruelty and savagery. Thomas Savage – appropriately named – was born in the parish of St Giles in the Fields and as a youth, became an apprentice to a…
The Calves Head Club comprised a group of wealthy London traders and merchants who welcomed the beheading of King Charles the first and the rule of Oliver Cromwell. Even after the Restoration of King Charles the second, the executed king’s son, to the throne – they continued to meet in secret. Wealthy people who disliked…
This is the first of a series of blog posts about the notorious Newgate Prison that once stood on the site of the Old Bailey You might assume that hanging people in public had died out in England after the 18th century but in fact, these gruesome events continued right up until 1868. The authors…
The prince who wanted an execution in front of his own house
In 1743 two LGBT men were hanged in London for the crime of sodomy and as Tony McMahon discovers, being outwardly gay was a very dangerous business
Richard Rose was a chef boiled to death in Tudor England for trying to poison his master Bishop John Fisher as Tony McMahon discovers
