My Experiences as an Executioner

by James Berry

SCALE SHOWING THE STRIKING FORCE OF FALLING BODIES AT DIFFERENT DISTANCES.

Distance Falling in Feet Zero	8 Stone	9 Stone	10 Stone	11 Stone
	Cw. Qr. lb.	Cw. Qr. lb.	Cw. Qr. lb.	Cw. Qr. lb.
1 Ft.	8 0  0	9 0  0	10 0  0	11 0  0
2 "	11 1 15	12 2 23	14 0 14	15 2  4
3 "	13 3 16	15 2 15	17 1 14	19 0 12
4 "	16 0  0	18 0  0	20 0  0	22 0  0
5 "	17 2 11	19 3  5	22 0  0	24 0 22
6 "	19 2 11	22 0  5	24 2  0	26 3 22
7 "	21 0 22	23 3 11	26 2  0	29 0 16
8 "	22 2 22	25 2  4	28 1 14	31 0 23
9 "	24 0 11	27 0 12	30 0 14	33 0 23
10 "	25 1  5	28 1 23	31 2 14	34 3  4

Distance Falling in Feet Zero	12 Stone	13 Stone	14 Stone	15 Stone
	Cw. Qr. lb.	Cw. Qr. lb.	Cw. Qr. lb.	Cw. Qr. lb.
1 Ft.	12 0  0	13 0  0	14 0  0	15 0  0
2 "	16 3 22	18 1 12	19 3  2	21 0 21
3 "	20 3 11	22 2  9	24 1  8	26 0  7
4 "	24 0  0	26 0  0	28 0  0	30 0  0
5 "	26 1 16	28 2 11	30 3  5	33 0  0
6 "	29 1 16	31 3 11	34 1  5	36 3  0
7 "	31 3  5	34 1 22	37 0 11	39 3  0
8 "	34 0  5	36 3 15	39 2 25	42 2  7
9 "	36 0 16	39 0 18	42 0 19	45 0 21
10 "	37 3 22	41 0 12	44 1  2	47 1 21

Distance Falling in Feet Zero	16 Stone	17 Stone	18 Stone	19 Stone
	Cw. Qr. lb.	Cw. Qr. lb.	Cw. Qr. lb.	Cw. Qr. lb.
1 Ft.	16 0  0	17 0  0	18 0  0	19 0  0
2 "	22 2 11	24 0  1	25 1 19	26 3  9
3 "	27 3  5	29 2  4	31 1  2	33 0  1
4 "	32 0  0	34 0  0	36 0  0	40 0  0
5 "	35 0 22	37 0 16	39 2 11	41 3 15
6 "	39 0 22	41 2 16	44 0 11	46 2  5
7 "	42 1 16	45 0  5	47 2 22	50 1 11
8 "	45 1 16	48 0 26	51 0  8	53 3 18
9 "	48 0 22	51 0 23	54 0 25	57 0 26
10 "	50 2 11	53 3  1	56 3 19	60 0  9

I do not know who was really responsible for the interference with my calculation, but do not think that the long drop was Dr. Barr’s own idea, as the drop which I suggested was on the same system as he had previously commended, and was almost identical with the drop that would have worked out on the basis of his own recommendation in a letter to the Times some years ago. Dr. Barr’s letter to me, written in 1884, was as follows:—

1, St. Domingo Grove,
Everton,
Liverpool, Sept. 2nd, 1884.

Sir,

In compliance with your request I have pleasure in giving you a certificate as to the manner in which you conducted the execution of Peter Cassidy in H.M. Prison, Kirkdale. I may now report the statement which I gave in evidence at the Inquest, “that I had never seen an execution more satisfactorily performed.” This was very gratifying to me.

Your rope was of excellent quality; fine, soft, pliable, and strong. You adjusted the ring, directed forwards in the manner in which I have recommended in my pamphlet, “Judicial Hanging.” You gave a sufficient length of drop, considering the weight of the culprit, and completely dislocated the cervical vertebræ between the atlas and axis (first and second vertebræ). I have reckoned that the weight of the criminal, multiplied by the length of the drop, might range from 1120 to 1260 foot pounds, and I have calculated that this vis viva in the case of Cassidy amounted to 1140 foot pounds.

The pinioning and other details were carried out with due decorum, I hope, whoever be appointed to the post of public Executioner, may be prohibited from also performing the part of a “showman” to gratify a depraved and morbid public curiosity.

James Barr, M.D.,
Medical Officer, H.M. Prison, Kirkdale.

To Mr. James Berry.

A few days after Conway’s execution I received a letter from a gentleman in the South of London, shortly followed by a second letter, and as they throw some useful light upon the subject I give them in full—omitting the writer’s name, as he does not wish it to be published.

August 22nd, 1891.

Re the Execution at Kirkdale.

Sir,

As the accident attending the execution on the 20th inst. at Kirkdale may be falsely, and very unjustly, charged to your account, and at the same time be brought forward by a mass of misguided people as a reason for the total abolition of capital punishment, I think the following remarks on the subject of hanging may not be out of place.

Some years ago, Dr. James Barr, medical officer at Kirkdale Gaol, published a letter in the Times regarding what he considered the proper length of drop. He said that the length of drop ought to be such as to produce a momentum of 2600 lbs., meaning by “momentum,” the convict’s weight multiplied by the velocity of his descent at the end of the fall. Now, in estimating the convict’s weight, I conceive that you ought to leave out the weight (as far as you can guess it) of his head, because the weight of his head is supported by the noose when the jerk takes place, and, therefore, cannot affect the amount of pull, or strain, on the neck. From what Dr. Barr says regarding the 2600 lbs. momentum, it is easy, by a little mathematics, to deduce the following rule.

To find length of drop in feet, divide the number 412 by the square of the convict’s weight of body in stones.

By the above rule I constructed the following table:—

Weight of body without head.		Length of drop.
15	stones	1	ft.	10	in.
14	"	2	"	2	"
13	"	2	"	6	"
12	"	2	"	11	"
11	"	3	"	5	"
10	"	4	"	2	"
9	"	5	"	1	"
8	"	6	"	6	"
7	"	8	"	5	"

Convict Conway’s weight, you are reported to have said, was 11 stones 2 lbs. Leaving 1 stone for the weight of his head, which is perhaps more than sufficient, his hanging weight would be 10 stones 2 lbs, so that a drop of 4 feet and a few inches[B] would have been, according to the doctor’s rule, quite enough for him. Regarding the value of the rule, I am, of course, unable to speak; nor do I know, from what I remember of the doctor’s letter, that he meant the 2600 lbs. momentum to apply in all cases. Much depends on the convict’s build, strength of neck, etc.

Yours truly,
X. Y.

Weight of body without head.		Length of drop.
15	stones	1	ft.	10	in.
14	"	2	"	2	"
13	"	2	"	6	"
12	"	2	"	11	"
11	"	3	"	5	"
10	"	4	"	2	"
9	"	5	"	1	"
8	"	6	"	6	"
7	"	8	"	5	"

(Second letter.)

August 25th, 1891.

Re the Execution at Kirkdale.

Sir,

In constructing the table I sent you two days ago, I find that I have made an absurd mistake. It arose from my carelessly taking a stone weight as 16 lbs., instead of 14 lbs., which I beg you to allow me correct. Instead of the number 412, I ought to have given the number 539. The corrected rule based on Dr. Barr’s momentum of 2600 lbs. is, therefore, as follows:—Length of drop, in feet, is found by dividing the number 539 by the square of the number of stones in weight of convict’s body, exclusive of the weight of his head. Thus, if a convict weighs 11 stones altogether, and we take his head as 1 stone, we have length of drop = 539/100 = 5·39 feet (5 ft. 5 in. nearly).

The table, corrected, stands thus:—

Weight of body without head.		Length of drop.
15	stones	2	ft.	5	in.
14	"	2	"	9	"
13	"	3	"	2	"
12	"	3	"	9	"
11	"	4	"	6	"
10	"	5	"	5	"
9	"	6	"	8	"
8	"	8	"	3	"
7	"	11	"	0	"

In allowing, in the case of convict Conway, who weighed 11 stones 2 lbs., 1 stone for the head, I may be allowing too much; it is a mere guess. If his head weighed 9 lbs., the drop ought to have been 4 ft. 10 in.

Yours truly,
X. Y.

P.S.—A mistake of 3 or 4 lbs. in estimating weight of head makes, you will see, a considerable error in calculating the drop.

Weight of body without head.		Length of drop.
15	stones	2	ft.	5	in.
14	"	2	"	9	"
13	"	3	"	2	"
12	"	3	"	9	"
11	"	4	"	6	"
10	"	5	"	5	"
9	"	6	"	8	"
8	"	8	"	3	"
7	"	11	"	0	"

It will be seen that this calculation, which does not include the weight of the head in a man’s hanging weight, works out the drop to a rather greater length than my own table, but the difference is only small, and I have always found my own table give quite sufficient drop.