Kirjahaku

For decades the high walls of Durham gaol have contained some of the countrys most infamous criminals. Until hanging was abolished in the 1960s it was also the main centre of execution for convicted killers from all over the north east. The history of execution within the walls of Durham Gaol began with the hanging of two labourers side by side in 1869, by the notorious hangman William Calcraft. Over the next ninety years a total of seventy-seven people took the short walk to the gallows - including poisoner Mary Cotton, who for over a century was the worst mass murderer in Great Britain, Gatesheads copycat Jack the Ripper, William Waddell, army deserter Brian Chandler, nineteen-year-old Edward Anderson, who murdered his blind uncle, a Teeside dock worker hanged on Christmas Eve, Carlisle muderer John Vickers, the first man hanged under the 1957 Homocide Act, and a South African sailor who preferred death to ten years in prison. Infamous executionors also played a part in the gaols history - Calcraft, who preferred slow strangulation, Marwood, the pioneer of the 'long drop', bungling Bartholomew Binns, the Billingtons, the Pierrepoint family, and Doncaster hangman Stephen Wade. Steve Fielding's highly readable new book features each of the seventy-five cases in one volume for the first time and is fully illustrated with photographs, news cuttings and engravings. It is bound to appeal to anyone interested in the darker side of County Durhams history.

Over the years the high walls of Liverpool's Walton Gaol have contained some of the most infamous criminals from the north of England. Taking over from the fearsome Kirkdale House of Correction as the main centre of execution for Liverpool and other parts of Lancashire and neighbouring counties, a total of sixty-two murderers paid the ultimate penalty here. The history of execution at Walton began with the hanging of an Oldham nurse in 1887, and over the next seventy years many infamous criminals took the short walk to the gallows here. They include Blackburn child killer Peter Griffiths, whose guilt was secured following a massive fingerprint operation; Liverpool's Sack Murderer George Ball; George Kelly, since cleared of the Cameo Cinema murders, as well as scores of forgotten criminals: soldiers, gangsters, cut-throat killers and many more.Steve Fielding has fully researched all these cases, and they are collected here in one volume for the first time. Infamous executioners also played a part in the gaol's history. James Berry of Bradford was the first to officiate here, followed in due course by the Billington family of Bolton, Rochdale barber John Ellis and three members of the well-known Pierrepoint family, whose names appeared on the official Home Office list for over half a century. In 1964 one of the last two executions in the county took place at Liverpool. Fully illustrated with photographs, new cuttings and engravings, Hanged at Liverpool is bound to appeal to anyone interested in the darker side of both Liverpool and the north of England's history.

The history of execution at Pentonville began with the hanging of a Scottish hawker in 1902. Over the next sixty years the names of those who made the short walk to the gallows reads like a who's who of twentieth-century murder. They include the notorious Dr Crippen, Neville Heath, mass murderer John Christie of Rillington Place, as well as scores of forgotten criminals: German spies, Italian gangsters, teenage tearaways, cut-throat killers and many more.Infamous executioners also played a part in the gaol's history: the Billington family of Bolton, Rochdale barber John Ellis and Robert Baxter of Hertford who, for over a decade, was the sole executioner at Pentonville. For many years the prison was used to train the country's hangmen, including members of the well-known Pierrepoint family, Harry Allen and Robert Leslie Stewart, the country's last executioners. Fully illustrated with photographs, news-cuttings and engravings, Hanged at Pentonville is bound to appeal to anyone interested in the darker side of London's history.

For decades the high walls of Manchester's Strangeways Prison have contained some of England's most infamous criminals. Until hanging was abolished in the 1960s it was also the main centre of execution for convicted murderers from all parts of the north west. The history of execution at Manchester began with the hanging of a young Salford man, convicted of murdering a barman on Boxing Day 1868: he was the first of 100 murderers to pay the ultimate penalty here.Over the next ninety-five years many infamous criminals took the short walk to the gallows. They included Dr Buck Ruxton, who butchered his wife and maid; John Jackson, who escaped from Strangeways after murdering a prison warder; Walter Rowland, hanged for the murder of a prostitute and the only man to occupy the condemned cell at Strangeways twice; Chung Yi Miao, who strangled his wife on their honeymoon; and Oldham teenager Ernie Kelly, whose execution almost caused a riot outside the prison. Also included are the stories behind scores of lesser-known criminals: poisoners, spurned lovers, cut-throat killers, and many more.Steve Fielding has fully researched all these cases, and they are collected together here in one volume for the first time. Infamous executioners also played their part in the gaol's history: Calcraft, Marwood, Binns and Berry all officiated here, as did many local men: Bolton hangman James Billington and his sons, Rochdale barber John Ellis, and Manchester publicans Albert Pierrepoint and Harry Allen. Fully illustrated with rare photographs, documents and news-cuttings, Hanged at Manchester is bound to appeal to anyone interested in the darker side of the north west of England's history.

For decades the high walls of Leeds's Armley Gaol have contained many infamous criminals. Until hanging was abolished in the 1960s Armley was also the main centre of execution for convicted killers from all parts of Yorkshire and the east coast. The history of execution at Leeds began in September 1864 when two men were hanged side by side outside the front gates. Over the next hundred years a further ninety-one men and women paid the ultimate penalty here. They include notorious cat burglar and killer Charles Peace; Emily Swann and her lover John Gallagher, hanged together for the murder of her husband; two young army deserters executed for the brutal slaying of a Pontefract shopkeeper; along with gangland thugs from Sheffield, spurned lovers, cut-throat murderers and many more. Steve Fielding has fully researched all these cases, and they are collected here in one volume for the first time. Fully illustrated with photographs, drawings, news cuttings and rare documents, Hanged at Leeds is bound to appeal to anyone interested in the shadier side of Yorkshire's history.

For decades the high walls of Birmingham's Winson Green Gaol have contained some of the country's most infamous criminals. Until hanging was abolished in the 1960s it was also the main centre of execution for convicted killers from all parts of the Midlands. The history of execution at Winson Green Gaol began in 1885 with the execution of Henry Kimberley, who had shot dead a woman in a Birmingham public house. Over the next seventy-five years many notorious killers took the short walk to the gallows here. They include the poisoner 'nurse' Dorothea Waddingham, IRA terrorists Peter Barnes and James Richards, and child-killer Horace Carter.Winson Green also saw the execution of Stanley Hobday, the West Bromwich murderer apprehended following a pioneering nationwide appeal on the BBC wireless; former police officer James Power, who committed a brutal murder in the shadow of the prison walls; ruthless Staffordshire killer Leslie Green, who battered to death his former employer, and Ernie Harding, who, in 1955, became the last man hanged for child murder. Steve Fielding's highly readable new book features each of the forty cases in one volume for the first time and is fully illustrated with rare photographs, documents, news cuttings and engravings.

For decades the high walls of Winchester Prison have contained some of the country’s most infamous criminals. Until hanging was abolished in the 1960s it was also the main centre of execution for those convicted in Hampshire. Among the executions carried out here was the hanging of soldier Abraham Goldenberg for the murder of a bank clerk; William Podmore, hanged in 1930 after killing a garage owner in Southampton; and two Polish refugees who murdered a have-a-go hero during a bungled bank robbery. Winchester was also the site of the last triple execution in Britain, when a Teignmouth coachman, a Southampton labourer and an eighteen-year-old rifleman based at Aldershot were hanged together for three unrelated crimes. Fully illustrated with photographs news cuttings and engravings, Hanged at Winchester features each of the cases in one volume for the first time and is sure to appeal to everyone interested in the shadier side of Hampshire’s history.

Between them, the three men in the fearsome Pierrepoint dynasty executed over 800 people during a career spanning more than half a century. Henry, his brother Thomas, and his son Albert, dispatched some of the most infamous criminals of the 20th century, and in the process earned a public notoriety that followed them throughout their eventful lives.For years, the three men were faced with the task - prestigious to some, horrific to many others - of being the last point of contact for the guilty and condemned. The Pierrepoints executed criminals the nation over before travelling to many countries including Egypt and postwar Germany, where they hanged Nazi war criminals, and gained a reputation as the world's most deadly practitioners of the art of hanging."Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners" recounts the intriguing stories of the three men and the effect that their macabre occupation had on their personal lives. This definitive guide is filled with shocking inside tales from the official records and diaries kept by the Pierrepoint family. With revealing insights into the intense rivalry between fellow executioners, new light is shed on the menacing world of years gone by.

"The Executioner's Bible" tells the story of these working-class men who carried out this gruesome profession until its abolition in the late 1960's. Despite often being unassuming and quiet professionals, men like Albert Pierrepoint, William Billington and many other Chief and Assistant executioners made a name for themselves in a world hungry for salacious and gruesome news. Read about the bungling hangmen sacked for incompetence; drunken executioners dismissed for brawling; one hangman driven to suicide and another who 'got out just in time', to the last men to pull the lever at the height of the swinging sixties. They were the last of their kind: the hangmen of the 20th Century. And this is their fascinating sometimes repugnant, always enthralling story. The secrets of over six controversial decades of capital punishment are finally revealed.

A look at the dark side of life in Bolton, this book provides the reader with a collection of true stories based on real murders. Each tale provides a macabre account of these infamous crimes and the events leading up to them. The reader will learn about the case of the despicable Betty Eccles who slowly poisoned her children to death by putting arsenic in their puddings, or ponder upon the mysterious death of James Booth a local business man who suffered a violent death after eating at the local inn. A must read for anyone interested in true crime and local murders!

More Murderous Bolton is a gripping collection of fascinating and true tales of the one crime that still fills people with horror. From the author of Murderous Bolton, this second comprehensive volume continues with further accounts of murder committed through jealousy, greed, revenge, robbery and pure evil in and around the Bolton area. In this thrilling chronicle of spine chilling murders, Steve Fielding takes us through the decades of the twentieth century, recalling stories such as: the Darcy Lever canal murder; the one legged night-watchman; murder on the East Lancs Road; the brutal Farnworth child killer; the fairground strangler and other crimes - some never solved - that made the headlines over the years. Also included are the horrific tales of the death sentences passed on a mother and grandma during the dark days of World War Two, murder in the black-out on Bradshawgate, the disappearance of a young girl at New Bury, and, bringing us up to date, the cruel slaying of a young police officer. Despite its often disturbing details, murder is still a constant source of fascination. Illustrated with rare photographs, documents and maps this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the darker side of the town's history. Judge for yourself the horror of these crimes, and remember, all the stories in More Murderous Bolton are true!