Last Public Hanging
A Memory of Godalming.
I think it took place in 1818 opposite the church and what is now the Phillips Memorial, on the other side of the river . ( Llamas Lands?) The depression made in a horse shoe shape was where the crowd stood to watch the event! Each year, the Horseshoe, as we called it, flooded and froze and we all gathered to scate and slide on it. Was the Boarden bridge the only one there at that time? Still a ford, I think.
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The last public execution was for the (locally) famous Chennell/Chalcraft murders which according to the Godalming Museum were in 1818 (http://www.godalmingmuseum.org.uk/index.php?page=chennell-and-chalcraft).
The last public execution in the UK was:
29 April 1862: Mary Timney's hanging was the last public execution of a woman in Scotland.
The last public hanging in England was:
26 May 1868: Fenian Michael Barrett was executed at Newgate Prison for mass murder. He had participated in the Clerkenwell explosion, which had killed 12 people. His execution was the last public hanging in the UK.
As an interesting factoid, the last execution by guillotine in France occurred in Sept 1977, 4 months after Star Wars was released.
Godalming can boast many famous residents and a number of unique events, I am rather pleased that we are better known for a myriad other reasons of which I have always been proud that we lead the entire world in providing the first ever public electricity supply.