Double Booking Postpones Execution

A sixty year old man that killed his lover who was only half his age was hanged at Kirkdale, but faced the agony of his execution being postponed at the last minute due to the Hangman's services being required elsewhere.

Richard Spencer was born in 1812 and from the age of five was brought up by his grandparents, his mother and father having emigrated to Australia. They wished for him to join them and sent funds over to England, but he chose not to go there. At the age of sixteen he married in Manchester, and remained with his wife for nearly 25 years before separating, both accusing the other of too much drunkenness.

Whilst in his mid forties Spencer got involved with Elizabeth Wharton, who lived in Liscard but travelled to Liverpool every day to hawk fish and poultry. Spencer ran his own fishmonger business and was quite well off, and he persuaded Wharton, who he described as 'a fine buxom Cheshire lass' to live with him, despite her still being in her teens. For fifteen years they lived happily together in Breck Road, where Spencer's business was a success, but towards the end of the 1860s things weren't so successful. This, coupled with Wharton turning to drink led to Spencer becoming depressed and in ill health, leading to him going to see his sister in Yorkshire in the summer of 1872.

To raise funds when Spencer was away Wharton sold much of the furniture and also some valuable pictures, which was particularly upsetting for him. When he returned they lived in Coniston Street for a brief period and then moved to Gregson Street, where he intended to start up in business again. Spencer was jealous of Wharton's friendships with other men, although there was no hint of what horror would take place early in the morning of 9th August when Spencer shot Wharton before attempting suicide.

The couple went to bed on the previous evening without having had a drink, but about 7am Wharton was awoken by a blow to the head, with Spencer saying he wanted them to die together. She managed to get away to a neighbour, who went to the property and found him with a wound to the forehead and bleeding from the ear. The police were called and on their arrival, he handed the officer a revolver and begged him to put him out of his misery.

Both were taken to the Royal Infirmary, where Wharton was able to give a deposition stating that Spencer was a heavy drinker who had often threatened to kill her, leading to her sleeping with a knife under her pillow. She denied ever being unfaithful and died three days later. Spencer recovered and was handed to the police on 26th September, telling the court as he was committed for trial that Wharton's drunken habits had led to his furniture being sold. At his trial Spencer claimed that he was trying to shoot himself but missed, causing a bullet to hit Wharton instead. However this didn't convince the jury and he was found guilty and sentenced to death.

The execution at Kirkdale was fixed for 6th January but two days beforehand it became apparent that William Calcraft was also required for an execution at Durham on the same day so it was put off for two days. When Spencer was told of this, he was distraught, having thought he was about to be given news of a reprieve and also claiming that he didn't even know it was meant to be taking place on the 6th. On the morning of 8th January Spencer, who was said to have aged twenty years whilst in the condemned cell, had to be helped to the scaffold, with the Liverpool Mercury describing  that 'the unhappy wretch was launched into eternity with scarcely a struggle.'

Mouse Killer Stabs Partner

A 30 year old man whose barbarous tendencies had cost him his job a few years earlier ended up being hanged after he killed his partner when she renewed her acquaintance with an ex lover.

In the 1850s Thomas Edwards worked as a gas fitter in Liverpool, but was dismissed from his employment after he was caught roasting a mouse alive over a burner on his employer's premises. He then joined the army and went to Crimea, although his regiment did not see any action.

On his return to Liverpool he resumed a relationship with Isabella Tonge, who according to the Liverpool Mercury kept a 'disreputable house' in a court off Norman Street on London Road. They had two children who died in infancy and Edwards worked as a jobbing butcher, fetching meat from the abattoir and aking it to shops. He didn't drink and begged Tonge not to make a living from the streets, as he felt he could earn enough to keep the two of them.

In November 1862 a man named Thomas Sullivan, a former lover of Tonge's who had been away doing penal servitude for robbery returned to Liverpool. He went straight to Norman Court and immediately resumed intimate relations with Tonge, who didn't hide the fact from Edwards.

On the evening of 26th November Edwards returned to the house at about 7pm and was told by another lodger that Sullivan and Tonge had been out since noon. Edwards went out for some ale and rum, his first alcohol for four years, which he drank before falling asleep on the sofa. At 2am the couple returned and Sullivan told Edwards it was no business of his where they had been, but the three of them sat up for some time on friendly terms, along with the lodger Jane Wilson.

To avoid any awkward situations Tonge suggested that the two men slept upstairs with the women downstairs. All parties were agreeable to this but Edwards came back down soon afterwards and carried out a frenzied attack on Tonge, stabbing her nineteen times in the neck and breast. As Tonge desperately tried to defend herself with a poker, Wilson tried to intervene and was stabbed in the arm, but her screams of 'murder' were heard by passers by who shouted for the police. Sullivan was awoken by the commotion and came downstairs, to which Edwards reacted by stabbing him in the thigh.

Edwards left the property but inexplicably came back shortly afterwards to change. While he was leaving again a police constable arrived and Edwards invited him in to see his 'work.' The officer was greeted with the sight of Tonge, who was barely alive, lying on the floor. Edwards was taken into custody while Tonge and Sullivan were taken to the Royal Infirmary.

As he being taken to the Bridewell Edwards said he had stabbed Tonge to get revenge and hoped that she was dead. On arrival he told the keeper that if Tonge survived and he was transported as a punishment, then he would return on his release to finish her off. Edwards claimed he gave her all his earnings but she was still unfaithful to him, and he had warned her the day before of his intentions if she continued seeing Sullivan. One of the wounds had punctured Tonge's lung and there was very little chance of survival and she died on 2nd December as a direct result of that injury.

Tonge had been able to make a deposition in which she said that she had been keeping Edwards by prostitution and he threatened to kill her if she didn't give this up. On the night of the murder she claimed he had asked for money and she refused to give any, leading to the stabbing.

Edwards showed little interest in the impending court proceedings, showing a resigned acceptance to his fate. When asked if he had anything to say before sentence of death was passed he said there was little point. There was little doubt about his guilt given he subsequently stated his intention to kill, but the jury did recommend mercy on the grounds of the provocation caused by the relationship between Sullivan and Tonge.

Whilst in prison Edwards remained remarkably calm given what was coming, and chatted happily with the turnkeys. However when the Home Secretary refused to commute the sentence to life imprisonment his mood changed and he spent much more time reading the bible and praying. His mother had her final tearful farewell with him on Friday 2nd January, the day before the execution was due to take place. On the same day he executioner Calcraft hanged a 70 year old man who had killed his wife in Worcester, before heading up to Kirkdale to spend the night at the gaol.

On the morning of the execution the build up was quite low key, with only 500 estimated to be in attendance at 11.30am, half an hour before it was due to take place. Suddenly though, according to the Liverpool Mercury, 'hundreds of wretched looking men and women, and ragged children', were making their way up Scotland Road and Vauxhall Road towards Kirkdale. By noon there were about 10,000 present as Edwards took his place on the scaffold, saying 'Lord Have Mercy Upon Me' three times before the bolt was drawn. His body remained hanging for an hour before being buried within the precints of the prison.

Man Hanged For Killing Wife Who Wouldn't Get Back With Him

A man who came to Liverpool from his Birkenhead lodgings in the hope of winning back his wife's affections stabbed her when she refused to resume normal marital relations, leading to him being hanged after she died two months afterwards.

On the 8th June 1860 Thomas Gallagher, a 40 year old shoemaker, took the ferry to Liverpool and went to Copperas Hill, where his daughter from an earlier marriage lodged with a lady called Mrs Detreks. Whilst visiting her he was told that his wife was likely to call around some time that day and he then went for a drink, calling back on several occasions in between visits to pubs to see if Mary was at the property. The couple had been separated for about a month and having secured accommodation and work in Birkenhead, Gallagher was hopeful she may return there with him.

Finally at about 6pm Mary, who was Gallagher's third wife, was there and the couple went into the parlour. Shortly afterwards Mrs Detreks heard cries of 'murder' and ran in to the room, where Gallagher was in the act of stabbing Mary with a knife that had been on the table. She quickly called for assistance from a neighbour called Mr Shepherd who managed to wrestle the knife from him. Mary was taken to the Infirmary suffering from four wounds, one of which had pierced the bone, while Mr Shepherd kept hold of Gallagher until the police arrived. Before the police got there, Gallagher told Shepherd that he wished he had killed her for all the aggravation that had been caused. On arrival at the Bridewell, Gallagher was told of his charge and replied to the keeper that he was sober and he wished that he had finished her off.

Mary regained consciousness and despite doctors giving her little chance of survival she was able to give a deposition from her hospital bed. She explained that she was living at 45 Summerseat in Vauxhall and that he wanted her to go to Birkenhead with him, promising to mend his previous ways drunkenness. However because she was keen to go back to her property as she had left their younger children alone, Gallagher got the wrong impression and stabbed her without provocation. Despite this, she said she forgave him with all her heart.

Even though she was critically injured, Mary battled on and she was joined in hospital by Gallagher's daughter, who was suffering from consumption and would die a few weeks later. Mary remained alive until 6th August, dying of complications caused by the wound to the shoulder, which had caused a number of abscesses. A post mortem revealed that her internal organs were healthy and concluded that she had died from 'exhaustion consequent upon the injuries she had received.' The following day, the coroner's court brought a verdict of wilful murder and he was committed for trial at the imminent Assizes on a charge of murder rather than attempted murder.

Gallagher was tried on 16th August, with Mrs Detreks and Mr Shepherd giving evidence. Gallagher defended himself and said that he was drunk, and that he had no intention of seeing his wife that day, it was only when his daughter said she would be around that he made sure he met her. The judge's summing up was brief and to the point. Dismissing drunkenness as an excuse, he said that if the evidence was believed, then Gallagher was guilty of murder, as he had picked up the knife and told others he wished he had finished her off. It took just a few minutes for the jury to return a guilty verdict and Gallagher was sentenced to death. He replied to the judge that he only knew what he had done when he was told the next day and that he had never been in gaol before.

Petitions asking for commutation of the sentenced were raised by two of Gallagher's brothers, one of whom lived in his native Dublin and the other in Liverpool. Gallagher's former employer, who lived in Great George Street, gathered hundreds of signatures from that area. The grounds set out for a reprieve were that the crime was committed in the heat of passion and Mary's refusal to go to Birkenhead with him had been an act of provocation. However, the Home Secretary refused to intervene and the execution, which was to take place in public, was set for Saturday 8th September. Gallagher himself had never held out any hope and spent most of his time in jail praying before bidding a tearful farewell to his two youngest children, who were now in the care of the workhouse, the day before the execution.

Spectators began to gather at 7am, entertaining themselves by playing leapfrog and pitch-and-toss. By noon the crowd had risen to 20,000, most of whom were described by the Liverpool Mercury as from the 'lower order of society.' Amongst the gathering were the crew of an Egyptian frigate which was berthed at Sandon Dock. As Calcraft prepared to draw the bolt, Gallagher shouted 'Blessed Jesus, Mary and Joseph, assist me in my last agony.' As soon as the body was lifeless most of the crowd dispersed although a handful remained until it was cut down at 1pm and buried in the precints of the prison.

Russian Sailor Hanged at Kirkdale

In 1884 an out of work Russian seaman lodging in Liverpool was hanged after stabbing a former lover who refused to have any more to do with him.

28 year old Elizabeth Hamblin rented a room in Anson Place, off London Road. She got into a relationship with a 23 year old Russian national named Ernest Ewerstaedt, who was renting a room in St James Place having not been required for further work after arriving on a sailing from Riga. However Ewerstaedt's poor financial situation led to Hamblin ending the affair, leaving him particularly annoyed as she appeared to be seeing other men at the same time.

On the 19th September Ewerstaedt went with John Prange, who he was lodging with, to see Hamblin in Anson Place. Prange went to her room and was told by Hamblin, who was sat talking to two men, that she didn't want to see Ewerstaedt. He reacted angrily to this and said that he would be buying a gun the next night.

Ewerstaedt spent the afternoon of Saturday 20th September drinking with a fellow Russian sailor named William Gillick and then bought a dagger in Park Lane, but didn't say what he wanted it for. He then headed up to Anson Place on his own after Gillick had gone to his lodgings at the Sailors Home in Canning Place. After having a drink with Hamblin and her neighbour in Gildart Street, he showed them the dagger and said he would do a bloody deed with it that night. Both women then returned to Anson Place, followed by Ewerstaedt a few minutes later. After pacing up and down for some time he knocked but there was no answer so he went to the back entry and climbed over the wall, demanding that Hamblin have more drink with him. He was shown into the parlour but before Hamblin could respond Ewerstaedt plunged the dagger into her breast and she fell down dead, with her attacker leaving the property via the back door.

What Ewerstaedt hadn't realised was that the whole incident had been witnessed by a local 10 year old called Henry Titherington who had been intrigued at seeing him walking back and forth outside Hamblin's house. This led to police apprehending Ewerstaedt in the entry, and a search of the house found the body lying face down in the parlour, with the dagger hidden in the water closet.

Thousands of people descended on Anson Place the next day to view the scene of the crime, while further details emerged of Hamblin's private life. Her landlady said that she had been married four years earlier but her husband had since left for Australia. She had no other family, her parents having died while she was a child, leaving her to be brought up by the Kirkdale Industrial Schools.

At the Police Court on 22nd September Ewerstaedt didn't ask for an interpreter, having explained that he understood English perfectly well having been living in Liverpool on and off for a year. After hearing the evidence of Henry Titherington, the Stipendiary Magistrate Mr Raffles remanded the prisoner for three days, at the end of which he was committed for trial at the next Assizes. During this committal hearing, Ewerstaedt claimed that he was drunk on the night of the murder and was fighting with two men who had daggers, but he was not responsible for the killing.

Ewerstaedt was tried on 21st November, the prosecutor describing him as a 'Russian Finn.' With the Russian consul in attendance Ewerstaedt, who was described by the Liverpool Echo as of 'inoffensive appearance' listened to the proceedings with 'not the slightest interest.' Both his fellow sailors gave evidence that helped condemn him, in that Gillick said he was present when the dagger was bought and Prange said Ewerstaedt had threatened to buy a revolver. A shopkeeper confirmed he had sold the dagger, although he couldn't identify Ewerstaedt, while neighbours in Anson Place told how they had seen Ewerstaedt produce it in the pub and another female said that she saw a man shout 'me kill my Lizzie' on the corner of Anson Place and London Road. 10 year old Titherington repeated his evidence from the first court hearing.

The Defence Counsel Mr Segar described how Ewerstaedt had woke on the Sunday morning believing the whole thing was like a dream, but he knew he had been fighting with two men. Segar stated that Titherington's evidence was unreliable due his age and anything else was purely circumstantial, laying the blame for the murder on two men who had not been caught. But there were no witnesses to testify to the presence of these two men meaning Justice Day's summing up was not favourable to Ewerstaedt. After returning a verdict of guilty, he was sentenced to death.

Ewerstaedt spent a lonely three weeks at Kirkdale gaol awaiting execution. He didn't receive a single visitor apart from the Reverend Gerald Krusmann from the Lutheran Church in Renshaw Street, to whom he continued to insist two other men were responsible . He was hanged by James Berry on 8th December in a double execution along with Arthur Shaw, a 31 year old tailor who had killed a woman in Manchester. 

Husband of 25 Years Batters Wife to Death

A shocking killing in Victorian Liverpool saw a 55 year old man batter his alcoholic wife to death and only narrowly avoid being found guilty of murder.

Peter Flynn lived with his wife Margaret in a court off Saltney Street, just south of the Stanley Dock warehouse. On the evening of Saturday 16th February 1895 he returned home about 6pm and gave Margaret £1, which she said wasn't enough to buy what was needed. She then left the house and drank for a few hours, returning about 11pm.

The following morning, Flynn approached a nearby policeman and told him that he had found his wife dead in bed, and explained cuts to her head by the fact she had fallen in the street. Strangely though, blood was found on the furniture but not in the street or steps of the house and a post mortem revealed thirteen broken ribs.

At the trial which took place on 22nd March, the jury heard how Flynn was a hard working man, who was angered by his wife's drinking habits. Neighbours told how they had heard arguing coming from their property and also screams of 'murder', and that Margaret had earlier been found at the bottom of some steps and was helped inside. 

After being found guilty of manslaughter, Flynn was told by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Russell of Killowen, how he had been lucky to avoid a murder conviction, as it was apparent Margaret's injuries were the result of a 'a series of acts of brutality over a considerable period of time.' However after acknowledging that Flynn was of previous good character and there were circumstances which had provoked him, Russell passed a sentence of just six years penal servitude.

The Killer Publican

1875 saw one of the most cold blooded killings seen in Liverpool when a pub licensee shot a man in London Road, paying for the crime with his life after appeals for clemency were dismissed.

35 year old William Baker managed the Rainbow in Williamson Square and was the son of a well known and respected victualler in the town. However in the early hours of Sunday 11th July he got into an altercation with 34 year old Charles Langan, a cab driver and former prize fighter at the corner of London Road and St Vincent Street outside the Swan Inn. He produced a revolver and fired one shot at Langan, who dropped to the ground.

A policeman was on the scene within seconds and on being told Baker had fired the shot and the revovler was in his pocket, quickly disarmed him and took him into custody. On arrival at the Main Bridewell he claimed that he was acting in self defence and only intended to his Langan with the revolver, but it had gone off. Langan was removed to the Royal Infirmary where he was pronounced dead on arrival, the bullet having passed through the base of his skull.

On the Monday at the Coroner's Inquest witnesses, some of whom knew both men, told how they had been walking up London road when Baker called out 'Charley I want you'. They went on to say how Langan replied that he had no business with Baker and refused his challenge to a fight.  No threats were made before the revolver was produced. The most telling evidence though came from 15 year old George English, who was returning home from working in a theatre. He didn't know either party but said he was sure he saw Baker fire the shot and there had been no provocation. A verdict of wilful murder was returned and Baker was committed for trial. The funeral of Langan took place on 13th July.

The trial took place on 17th August, with witnesses giving consistent evidence in relation to the way the shot was fired. Baker claimed that he bought the revolver to defend himself as he had been threatened by Langan previously, but couldn't show that he had been provoked immediately prior to the shooting. In summing up, Mr Justice Archibald said that there was no doubt about whether or not Baker had carried out the shooting, the only question was if he hadn't intended the gun to go off, in which case a verdict of manslaughter could be returned.

After retiring for an hour and a half, a guilty verdict was returned with a recommendation for mercy. Prior to receiving the death sentence, Baker told the court that his counsel had adopted the wrong line of defence and that the jury should have learnt more about Langan's character. As he donned the black cap, Justice Archibald said he had acted in the most wanton manner and he would have been astonished if the jury had reached any other conclusion.

Baker, who was married with a young child, had a lot of friends in Liverpool and with his father being a well known tradesman, there was plenty of sympathy on his part. A petition was presented to the Home Secretary, signed by 11 of the jury and 10 town councillors. This was met with an angry response by Langan's brothers, who objected to claims that he had threatened Baker after being refused service in the Rainbow. On 4th September, three days before the execution date, the Home Secretary confirmed there would be no reprieve, possibly having taken into account his previous arrests for beating a woman and robbery of a betting shop.

On 7th September Baker was hanged by Marwood alongside American seaman Edward Cooper. The Liverpool Mercury reported that he had to be helped up and looked bewildered, haggard and pale, unlike Cooper who went 'nobly to the scaffold.' As a mark of respect, the Rainbow remained closed all day while the blinds in his father's premises next door remained drawn.

Shooting on the High Seas

An American seaman who shot his superior on the high seas was hanged in 1875 after the jury's recommendation for mercy was not upheld.

Edward Cooper was born in New Orleans but went away to sea in his teens, usually working on ships out of Liverpool owned by Messrs Ferguson of South Castle Street. In January 1875 he set sail on he Coldeck set for Valpairaiso in Chile.

On  24th April in the early evening the Coldbeck was near Cape Horn when Edward Jones, the boatswain, went to the forecastle and ordered 33 year old Cooper to help put up one of the sails. Cooper refused, saying he was drinking tea and when Jones told him again, he produced a revolver. Jones told him to put it down and fight like a man on the deck, but Cooper responded by shooting him in the chest in front of another seaman and went to his bunk.

Other sailors raced to the forecastle, where Jones was bleeding heavily and saying' Lord have mercy on my soul, I am done for.' He was carried to his cabin but soon died and Cooper was placed in chains by the captain, responding by saying the shooting was inevitable once Jones was put in charge.

The Coldeck continued its voyage to Valpairaiso where the revolver was placed in a sealed package by the British consul. Cooper was then brought back to Liverpool aboard the Iberian, which arrived in Liverpool on 23rd July. He was handed over to the river police by Captain Brown and appeared in the police court that afternoon, where he was remanded for a week. The following Friday he reappeared at the police court where he was committed to trial at the Assizes.

Cooper stood trial on 14th August, with the Liverpool Mercury describing him as 'of intelligent appearance.' The jury heard how he was of good character and had never caused any of his captains any trouble before. Fellow seamen told of the orders that were given to him and that they had not been done so in an unreasonable manner. As such Cooper's claim that he acted in self defence was not upheld and he was found guilty of murder, but with a recommendation of mercy. He showed no emotion as he was sentenced to death and was then taken to Kirkdale gaol to await his fate.

Whilst in gaol, Cooper received very few visitors, being a single man with no family or friends in Liverpool. One of his visitors was a passenger who was on the Iberian that brought him back to England. Unable to read or write, he had never heard of the Lord's Prayer but turned to Catholicism whilst in the condemned cell, regularly being attended to by Father Bonte.

The Sailor's Home petitioned the Home Secretary for his reprieve, but Cooper didn't hold out much hope and his only wish was that he could be shot instead of hanged. On 4th September confirmation was received from the Home Secretary that his sentence would not be commuted and he was hanged two days later by Marwood (left) alongside William Baker.  Cooper maintained his coolness throughout the process, wishing goodbye to all as the noose was placed around his neck. The following morning Mercury reported that his dead body even had a slight smile on his face. As was normal practice, his corpse was then covered with quicklime and placed in a black coffin then buried in the precints of the prison.