A Brief History
On November 3, 1783, highwayman John Austin became the last person to be publicly hanged at London’s Tyburn gallows.
Digging Deeper
For centuries Tyburn, formerly a village, but now within the city of London, had the infamous distinction of being the principal place of execution in England’s capital for criminals, traitors, and even religious martyrs. Executions and sometimes public torture occurred in Tyburn from at least 1196 until 1783. The executed included noblemen and commoners alike of both sexes. Even the dead could be “executed” there, as was the case of notorious rebel Oliver Cromwell whose corpse was disinterred so as to be publicly mutilated as a caution to would be traitors to the monarchy.
Convicted robber John Austin would be the last man hanged at the “Tyburn Tree” before authorities disassembled these dreaded gallows. Before the execution, Austin uttered the following last words: “Good people, I request your prayers for the salvation of my departing soul. Let my example teach you to shun the bad ways I have followed. Keep good company, and mind the word of God. Lord have mercy on me. Jesus look down with pity on me. Christ have mercy on my poor soul!”
Unfortunately for him, the execution did not go smoothly. Instead of snapping his neck as intended, his noose slipped in such a way that he instead wound up choking to death. Or course, unlike certain other historical figures, given that he had not just robbed someone, but attacked his victim, cutting and wounding him, it is hard to feel too much sympathy for Austin.
Question for students (and subscribers): Is hanging a justifiable form of punishment? If so, should hangings be done in public view? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For whatever reason, we humans have an enduring fascination with executions. As such, no shortage of books cover this hanging and many others. For more information, please start with the suggestions listed below.
Fielding, Steve. The Executioner’s Bible: The Story of Every British Hangman of the Twentieth Century. John Blake, 2008.
Kellaway, Jean. The History of Torture and Execution: From Early Civilization through Medieval Times to the Present. Lyons Press, 2002.
The featured image in this article, a photograph by RioVerde of a stone marking the site of the Tyburn tree on the traffic island at the junction of Edgware Road, Bayswater Road and Oxford Street, has been released by the copyright holder of this work into the public domain worldwide.
You can also watch a video version of this article on YouTube.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="607 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=607">20 Comments
I would definitely have a hard time watching a public execution and it would definitely be worse if it was a hanging gone wrong. It appears that he knew he was wrong and excepted his fate, but he suffered more than people had intended him too. I think it makes sense that he was the last person to go through public hanging, at least in London.
Even though it is a fortunate thing that this was the last public hanging in the Tyburn gallows, I was surprised that it happened so early in 1783. Michael Barrett was the last man to be publicly hanged in England, for his part in the Clerkenwell explosion in December 1867. Because public hangings occurred throughout the 1800s, I wonder why the Tyburn gallows shut down before then.
This sounds like a dramatic execution. I wonder if they always let the people being killed to say their last words before they died. Even though he did attack somebody, it does not seem like a just punishment.
It is crazy to think that execution and tortures in Tyburn lasted for at least 587 years! Austin’s last words were indeed inspirational! I wonder if that was the reason why the authorities considered disassembling hanging. I don’t think I agree with not feeling as sympathetic towards Austin. Yes, his did wound the person he robbed, but I still believe hanging someone was extreme and every one of these people deserved sympathy.
I agree with Maria in that its shocking at how long such a place lasted in England. Despite its horrific context of executions, it is interesting how such a place saw so many different individuals throughout history and lived through several eras of England’s past.
I wonder what process led to stopping executions at this location. Did a group of leaders determine this was no longer going to happen? It would be interesting to see a figure of the total number of people that lost their lives at this location.
I wonder if people were aware that John Austin would be the last person executed at Tyburn. If people did know this I wonder if the crowd on hand was larger than normal. It is weird to think how common execution was in the history of the human race.
The execution process went on for 600 years at Tyburn. Thousands or maybe even millions were hung and it is interesting that they just stopped this process after so many years of this process of hanging. Everyone that has been executed on this spot probably committed terrible crimes and deserved the punishment.
Tyburn sounds like an awful place to be. I never understood why public executions used to be such a spectical. I understand there wasn’t much else to do during a time before technology but watching someone be killed sounds like a horrible way to pass your time.
Public executions and tortures should never have taken place in a public square. I cannot imagine why anyone would want to go and watch an execution in person. Thank goodness public executions have been abolished.
While I do believe that people should receive consequences for their actions, I don’t think public executions was the answer and am glad they no longer take place. I think it is very sick for societies to get so much enjoyment about gathering to watch someone get hung. I know personally I would never want to willingly witness something like that first hand.
On November 3, 1783 the last hanging at Tyburn Gallows occurred. Although this man prayed for forgiveness as his last statement before death, the article is right that it is hard to feel sympathy for him. However, I would not wish for anyone to go through more pain than necessary when being sentenced to die. It is unfortunate that many people back then who were hung probably met the same fate he did in chocking to death instead.
Public executions are gruesome acts and I am happy that they were put to a stop. John Austin’s religious/soulful plea was said a little late and it is was quite ironic because he obviously had no should when he attacked the robbed victim.
Interesting to think if public executions were still around toddy. I’m glad they aren’t, should’ve never been started back then. But I guess it’s the path humans needed to take along the way
I’d be interested to see the monument today that stands in place of this piece of history.
Tyburn would not be a place I would want to visit today. I wonder if it is possibly haunted in some way because of all the executions that have occurred there. I do not agree with public executions and am glad it is not something we do today.
The tradition of execution by hanging is a terrible one, and it is something we see a lot throughout history. Austin was one of many hung not just in Tyburn but all over the world from earlier centuries up through the 19th century.
It’s very intriguing that someone would be put to death for only robbing and cutting someone. In present day you can only be put to death for committing a murder. I wonder how many people were put to death in those gallows for crimes we consider petty these days.
It is kind of ironic that his last words were about the people should learn form his mistakes and asking for the Lord to have mercy on his soul, because when he was hung he was choking to death instead of his neck snapping. The article is correct in saying to not have much sympathy for him since he did a wrong thing.
I think it is pretty interesting when they stated “even the dead could be executed”. In the Pioneer section articles read last week, a man was dug up from his grave to be executed. Pretty ironic ties.