Shropshire Routes to Roots

5. The sentence

The sentence

The judge donned a black cap, and pronounced the following sentence:

"The court doth order you to be taken from hence to the place from whence you came, and thence to the place of execution, and that you be hanged by the neck until you are dead, and that your body be afterward buried within the precincts of the prison in which you shall be confined after your conviction. And may the Lord have mercy upon your soul!"

There were several different types of punishment in Victorian Britain. You can read about these in Crime and detection: Forms of punishment on this website (Opens in a new browser window).

The standard sentence for a murderer was death by hanging. As the Chronicle reported, this is what happened to John Mapp on 22nd March, 1868:

Headline from the Shrewsbury Chronicle, 23rd March 1868 [Shropshire Archive reference: C34.5 v.f.]

You can read a full transcription of the Chronicle's article about John Mapp's trial and execution in the Longden Murder Tours theme (Opens in a new browser window).

Public executions

In Victorian times, public hangings were very popular. In Shrewsbury, criminals were usually hanged in front of the gaol. People would come from miles around to watch. Public executions were like the football matches of their day. Sometimes they even had to put on special trains. The Shropshire poet, A.E. Housman wrote:

They hang us now in Shrewsbury gaol,
The whistles blow forlorn,
And trains all night groan on the rail
To men who die at dawn.

The idea behind hanging people in public was that they would set an example to others. But public hangings became very rowdy. The crowds who watched came more to be entertained than to be warned against committing similar crimes. In May 1868, the Victorians ended hanging in public.

John Mapp's execution

John Mapp was the last person to be hanged in public in Shropshire. His execution happened just one month before public hanging was stopped for good. For the hanging of John Mapp, several thousand people came to watch.

The picture below is of a 'broadsheet' produced to commemorate John Mapp's trial and execution. Hangings took place in the morning, and papers like this were printed in the afternoon. People bought these as souvenirs.

You can look at the following parts of the broad sheet in greater detail. All images load in a new browser window: The hanging [16kb] The gaol [18kb] Catherine Lewis [7kb] John Mapp [5kb] The poem [50kb] The whole picture [48kb]

Broadsheet of the execution of John Mapp Larger image, in a new window [48kb] [Shropshire Archive reference: MI 2202/1]

The trial and execution of John Mapp is now over.
You are discharged from jury service. Well Done!

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For a more in-depth look at the Longden murder, including a full transcription of the Chronicle articles, visit the Longden Murder Tour theme: Longden Murder Tour

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