Inside sickening notebook listing every execution carried out by Britain’s most famous hangman as it goes up for sale
THE macabre notebook listing every execution carried out by Britain’s most famous hangman has sold at auction for £12,400.
Albert Pierrepoint kept the pocket book throughout his 25 year career of executing up to 400 convicted murderers, traitors and Nazi war criminals.
The book includes Nazi collaborator William Joyce and serial killers John Christie and John Haigh, who was known as the ‘Acid Bath Murderer.’
The document includes Ruth Ellis, who was the last woman to be executed in Britain.
He wrote meticulous notes of every unfortunate person who entered his noose.
Across eight columns he noted their name, age, height, weight, date and place of execution and remarks of their neck type, which were either “ordinary, strong or thin”.
He used this information so he could calculate the correct drop height to achieve the quickest and cleanest death for the condemned man or woman.
The pocketbook is believed to have been with Pierrepoint at the time he carried out his grim work and he referred to it when he wrote up his official reports
Years later Peirrepoint, a former green grocer who followed in his father’s footsteps in becoming an executioner, gave the book to his god-daughter who was fascinated by it.
She unearthed it during a recent clear out of her home and has made it available for sale at auction.
The unique item sold to a UK buyer when it went under the hammer at SAS Auctions of Newbury, Berks.
Some of the names listed in the little book include some of Britain’s most notorious criminals before, during and after World War Two.
One of the most infamous names is that of the traitor William Joyce who, as Lord Haw-Haw, broadcast Nazi propaganda during the war.
He was executed by Pierrepoint on January 3, 1946 at Wandsworth Prison in London.
The name of John Haigh, the ‘Acid Bath Murderer’ who was convicted of killing six people between 1944 and 1949, is also in there as is the Rillington Place Strangler John Christie.
One of the most notable names in the book is Ruth Ellis, who was the last woman to be executed in Britain.
She was hanged in Holloway Prison in July 1955 for shooting dead her lover outside a pub in Hampstead, North West London.
The names of Timothy Evans and Derek Bentley also appear. The two men were convicted of separate murders only to be posthumously pardoned.
Their cases played a major part in the death penalty being scrapped in Britain in 1965.
The pocketbook, titled Details of Executions, was sold along with photos of Albert Pierrepoint and his father.
The vendor, who is not being named, knew Pierrepoint as ‘Uncle Albert’ and recalled him being a ‘mildly spoken, kind, calm’ man who was ‘lots of fun’ and ‘always keen to play football in the garden.’
She said: “These items are far too precious and too unique to be left in a drawer. There is already a generation that think hanging in this country happened thousands of years ago, rather than relatively recently.
“After the Queen’s passing, I decided to sell them as I feel strongly that history could be lost if they are not preserved.”
Adam Inglut, a specialist at SAS, said: “It really was a privilege to sell such a unique piece of British history today. The interest it generated was huge and this was reflected in the fantastic price realised.”
He added: “This is an exceptional piece of British history and a real insight into the career of one of Britain’s last executioners.
“The notebook offers us a chance to read and understand the intricacies of this most unusual career.
“Getting the drop height right was a bit of a unique science. The heavier the person, the shorter the drop. If they fell too hard there was a chance their head would come off. If they didn’t fall hard enough they would hang there suffocating to death.
“This notebook would have been with him when he carried out his work in prisons. He wrote up an official ledger later on and no doubt used these very notes.
“It is an extremely rare and unique piece from history which is very unusual to come across.”
Pierrepoint’s father Henry and uncle Thomas were both executioners.
Albert Pierrepoint handed out capital punishment from 1932 to 1956 and was responsible for the death of over 200 Nazi war criminals after WWII.
Once his identity was revealed he was treated like a hero by many.
After he retired Pierrepoint ran a pub with his wife Annie in Southport, Merseyside.
He later published his autobiography in which he admitted that he didn’t believe in capital punishment. He died in 1992, aged 87.