Who Was The Last Criminal To Be Hanged In Sheffield?

[Guest purplejumper]

On his live album "The Simmer Dim", John Martyn introduces the folk song "Spencer The Rover" by stating that he was a criminal who was the last person to be hanged in Sheffield.

If I was clever I could link the page on the Sheffield History site that gives the lyrics to the song. Obscurely it seems to ba page about a canal bridge.

or

Anyway, the song says nothing about him being a criminal or about him being hanged.

So is John Martyn's statement correct?

[Guest purplejumper]

I guess he might have him confused with Spence Broughton???

[DaveH]

I guess he might have him confused with Spence Broughton???

Was Spence Broughton hung or gibbetted?

[DaveH]

On his live album "The Simmer Dim", John Martyn introduces the folk song "Spencer The Rover" by stating that he was a criminal who was the last person to be hanged in Sheffield.

If I was clever I could link the page on the Sheffield History site that gives the lyrics to the song. Obscurely it seems to ba page about a canal bridge.

http://www.sheffield...h__1#entry21991 or Link

Anyway, the song says nothing about him being a criminal or about him being hanged.

So is John Martyn's statement correct?

An interesting question.

According to David Bentley's book "The Sheffield Hanged 1750-1868" he indicates that many Sheffield criminals, after being convicted and sentenced, were not hung in Sheffield but taken elsewhere, often Pontefract, Leeds or York, for the execution to be carried out.

So, as you ask who was the last to actually be hung in Sheffield the answer may not be that obvious.

The significance of the 1868 date is that after that date all executions were carried out inside prisons and were no longer a public spectacle. In the 1750 -1868 period they were either very public or public outside the prison gates (hence the use of Pontefract, Leeds and York, which had prisons, but not Sheffield which did not have a prison). In Bentley's follow on book "The Sheffield Murders 1969 - 1965" all the executions take place at prisons and not therefore in Sheffield. The 1965 final date is when hanging was abolished in British Law.

[RichardB]

The jury found Broughton guilty and the judge, Mr. Justice Buller, sentenced him to death by hanging "and afterwards to be hung in chains on the Common, within three miles of Sheffield, where the robbery was committed.

Wiki

Was Spence Broughton hung or gibbetted?

[DaveH]

The jury found Broughton guilty and the judge, Mr. Justice Buller, sentenced him to death by hanging "and afterwards to be hung in chains on the Common, within three miles of Sheffield, where the robbery was committed.

Wiki

So where was he hung?

The wording suggests he was taken away to be hung and then brought back to a specific location to be gibbetted on public show at a site where he had committed his crimes.

[RichardB]

Round the neck region ! or, seven words further on in the Wiki article Tyburn, near York.

So where was he hung?

The wording suggests he was taken away to be hung and then brought back to a specific location to be gibbetted on public show at a site where he had committed his crimes.

[syrup]

Was Spence Broughton hung or gibbetted?

Both..

The Illustrated Police News etc (London, England), Saturday, April 5, 1890.

[RichardB]

1795 ?

Both..

The Illustrated Police News etc (London, England), Saturday, April 5, 1890.

[DaveH]

Round the neck region ! or, seven words further on in the Wiki article Tyburn, near York.

Thanks Richard, just what I wanted to know.

He was hung at Tyburn, which was the prison at York and then brought back to Sheffield for public gibbetting at the scene of his crimes as a warning to others with similar criminal ideas.

So, to answer purplejumpers other question "Was Broughton the last man to be hung in Sheffield?" the answer is no, he was hung in York.

Still doesn't answer the question who was the last man to be hung in Sheffield?

Or, has anyone ever been "officially" hung in Sheffield?

By that I mean hung after being convicted and sentenced under British Law, not hung by vigilanties, lynched, suicide, murdered, accidentally killed by ligature etc.

[RichardS]

I think I remember reading that someone was hung up Loxley way, many, many moons ago.

It may have been in 'The Sheffield Hanged'.

[Bayleaf]

I think I remember reading that someone was hung up Loxley way, many, many moons ago.

It may have been in 'The Sheffield Hanged'.

That would be the gibbeting on Loxley Common, but he wasn't hanged there. As far as I can discover there have never been judicial hangings in Sheffield. Those convicted were sent to York, Nottingham or Wakefield. Gibbeting meant the body was reurned to the site of the crime and hung there in chains.

I came across a bit more gruesome detail recently.

An Act of Parliament in 1752 empowered judges to direct that the dead body of a murderer should either be hung in chains, or handed over to the surgeons for dissection.

Instead of chains, gibbet irons, a framework to hold the limbs together, were used.

In the case of chains, a chain was suspended from the gibbet arm in the form of a loop which passed between the legs of the corpse, where a curved piece of iron helped support the body, whilst a collar, fastened to the chain, was riveted round the neck. thus the body literally hung in chains with the arms and legs dangling.

In many cases the body was covered with pitch. To prevent interference with the gibbet and prevent it being climbed, it was sometimes fitted with overlapping iron bands, and sometimes studded with numerous nails.

Justice could be swift. Frank Fearn, gibbeted at Loxley, was executed only a fortnight after the murder. The judge originally directed he be sent for dissection, but changed his mind because the crime was 'so heinous' and he ordered the gibbeting.

Although Spence Broughton evaded capture for some time, his eventual trial lasted less than an hour and a half, and although his crime was robbery not murder he had robbed His Majesty's Mail, and he was hung in chains the morning following his execution at York on the 14th April 1792.

Syrup's clip from the Police News is ambiguous for want of a comma; " ... who was hung and gibbeted on Attercliffe Common..." suggests both took place there. With a comma it reads correctly "...who was hung, and gibbeted on Attercliffe Common..."

(There's also a discrepancy in the date. Was it 1795 as in the clip or 1792 as in my source (A Sheaf of Essays by Charles Drury.))

(I'll get me pedant's hat and coat...)

[dunsbyowl1867]

Spencer the Rover is a traditional ballad. It was recorded by the Copper family way back in 1955 - but goes back much further and was popular on 19th Century broadsides and the earliest appearance of the lyrics date from the 1830s.

The canal bridge reference was a scan from a canal walk brochure if you look it also claims that Spencer the Rover was writtenabout Spence Broughton - maybe that's where John Martyn got it from .

Peter Harvey in "Street Names of Sheffield" is also of the view that Broughton Lane was NOT named after Spence Broughton and was a family name of the Duke of Norfolk (Lord Howard of Effingham was marries to Katherine Broughton.

[dunsbyowl1867]

I came across the same discussion on a folk music site!

"Subject: Spencer the Rover- gibbeted highwayman?

From: GUEST,Paul Burke

Date: 30 May 11 - 11:35 AM

The bucolic tale of the prodigal's repentance has been done almost to death in other threads, but a booklet I picked up today adds a new (to me) twist. The Sheffield East End History Trail guide to the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal (Hallamshire Press 1997) takes us to near the Don Valley stadium, then continues:

To the left is Broughton Lane,surely the only street in Sheffield named after a convicted criminal. He was the highwayman Spence Broughton who, with an accomplice, robbed a postboy on lonely Attercliffe Common in 1795. The next year he was caught, tried and hanged at York. His body was returned to the scene of his crimes and 'hung in chains' from a gibbet, where it reputedly remained for many years. Broughton was apparently the last man in England to be punished in this gruesome fashion. As well as Broughton Lane his name is remembered in the famous folk song 'Spencer the Rover'. His chains are now in Weston Park Museum.

Leaving aside the fact that gibbetting persisted in England until the 1830s (see Dickens' Great Expectations), is there anything other than the similarity of forename and the location (the gibbet was between Sheffield and Rotherham) to connect this unfortunate rake with the much reduced but harmless rambler? Are there darker versions of the ballad which have hitherto passed unnoticed?"

[syrup]

That would be the gibbeting on Loxley Common, but he wasn't hanged there. As far as I can discover there have never been judicial hangings in Sheffield. Those convicted were sent to York, Nottingham or Wakefield. Gibbeting meant the body was reurned to the site of the crime and hung there in chains. I came across a bit more gruesome detail recently. An Act of Parliament in 1752 empowered judges to direct that the dead body of a murderer should either be hung in chains, or handed over to the surgeons for dissection. Instead of chains, gibbet irons, a framework to hold the limbs together, were used. In the case of chains, a chain was suspended from the gibbet arm in the form of a loop which passed between the legs of the corpse, where a curved piece of iron helped support the body, whilst a collar, fastened to the chain, was riveted round the neck. thus the body literally hung in chains with the arms and legs dangling. In many cases the body was covered with pitch. To prevent interference with the gibbet and prevent it being climbed, it was sometimes fitted with overlapping iron bands, and sometimes studded with numerous nails. Justice could be swift. Frank Fearn, gibbeted at Loxley, was executed only a fortnight after the murder. The judge originally directed he be sent for dissection, but changed his mind because the crime was 'so heinous' and he ordered the gibbeting. Although Spence Broughton evaded capture for some time, his eventual trial lasted less than an hour and a half, and although his crime was robbery not murder he had robbed His Majesty's Mail, and he was hung in chains the morning following his execution at York on the 14th April 1792. Syrup's clip from the Police News is ambiguous for want of a comma; " ... who was hung and gibbeted on Attercliffe Common..." suggests both took place there. With a comma it reads correctly "...who was hung, and gibbeted on Attercliffe Common..." (There's also a discrepancy in the date. Was it 1795 as in the clip or 1792 as in my source (A Sheaf of Essays by Charles Drury.)) (I'll get me pedant's hat and coat...)

Just had a look on Google Earth at the Noose and Gbbet.( Strange spelling ? ) And he's still there but minus his Head ?.

[RichardB]

Well spotted, gbbet, brilliant.

Just had a look on Google Earth at the Noose and Gbbet.( Strange spelling ? ) And he's still there but minus his Head ?.

[Bayleaf]

Just had a look on Google Earth at the Noose and Gbbet.( Strange spelling ? ) And he's still there but minus his Head ?.

Love the 'Book your free wedding reception here'. !

[RichardB]

What does it say underneath please - anyone ?

Love the 'Book your free wedding reception here'. !

[syrup]

What does it say underneath please - anyone ?

Here you go..

[Bayleaf]

That would be the gibbeting on Loxley Common, but he wasn't hanged there. As far as I can discover there have never been judicial hangings in Sheffield. Those convicted were sent to York, Nottingham or Wakefield. Gibbeting meant the body was reurned to the site of the crime and hung there in chains.

I came across this today.

Thomas Baron Furnival was asked by the king (Edward I ) by what right he claimed to have gallows and free warren in his Manor of Sheffield.

He replied "By the same warrant by which he and all his ancestors from the Conquest of England had possessed them."

(Descent of the Manor of Sheffield, Tucker, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Sept 1874, p240)

So assuming it isn't a term for something else, it would appear that if you go back far enough there was indeed a gallows in Sheffield.

[RichardB]

Hatters Club ???

Any more details ? Has this been covered on here ? Or, is it blarney ?

Here you go..

[DaveH]

So assuming it isn't a term for something else, it would appear that if you go back far enough there was indeed a gallows in Sheffield.

So we just need to know when and who was hung at the Sheffield gallows to establish who the last person to be hung here was.