General Chat

I think we all have at one time or another.

That's a bit extreme!

In a past life I was an old hag who watched the hanging doing my hags knitting lol E x

Thanks for the explanation about uttering Christina. I thought maybe it was uttering something which people thought might be a spell, but of course they burned witches, didn't they? I'm glad my murderous relative lived in the comparatively enlightened 1860s, when the villagers he lived with realised he wasn't responsible for his actions and paid for his defence. He was acquited on the grounds of insanity and was one of the first men to go to the newly-built Broadmoor. As Daniel carefully pointed out that his relative was only "by marriage" I feel I must also point out that my ancestor was not a direct relative. I do find it intriguing that although the entire village knew all about it, and the descendant of the village policeman/blacksmith/my ancestor's godfather was the blacksmith that apprenticed my grandfather and yet I had never heard a word about it! nell

ooooer Ive been reading some of the methods of punishment on one of the sites Shouldnt have read the beheading bit.... feel just a tad upset now.....(ken Bigley rip) E x

Bless those that had to murder their fatherless children back in those days.... they weren't kind with their choice of words were they!!! "Murder of bastard child"

hi grampa jim i have norris in my tree but a hatch got deported for sheep rustling. karen

I have just looked at the site and the only name which coincides with my ancestry is Ann Norris age 21 hanged 1821 for Robbing a Brothel!!!?! What did she do? Kidnap the Ladies? Or just take the money. Fortunately the only Ann Norris I have was born in 1824.

Just looked at the website - amazing how ladies were hanged/burned for 'crimes' we would only give a prison sentence for today, perhaps they didn't have enough prisons to house them! What does give me the shivers is that crowds gathered round to watch executions, ugh!

Thanks I have found it now :-)

put her name in google & found these sites with referance to her (no spaces ) http://www. glosgen. co. uk/crime. htm http://www. richard. clark32. btinternet. co. uk/fempublic. html Had her down as a burgler on one ! Elaine x

Gaynor Ann Try www*.richard*.clark32*.btinternet.*co.uk Dawn :-)

Hi Helen I have just tried to visit your website www*.richard*.clark32*.btinternet* for people who were hanged but unfortunatley the site wasn't recognised - I did remove the * first. Any ideas? Gaynor Ann :-)

What a fascinating story Daniel - poor old lady! Rose, you're right, I always read Nell's contributions with great interest. THANK YOU NELL! Mandy :)

This -remove * first www*.richard*.clark32*.btinternet*.co*.uk/fempublic*.html - is a list of women hanged at the beginning of the 19th C., including your Dinah. The crimes included theft, burglary, "uttering" (!), cutting and maiming, forgery, and murder. There are several child murders. Without knowing the details, I imagine some of these might be post-natal. I believe that later a law was passed saying that you could not be guilty of murdering your child in the first year of its life, as the birth could affect you psychologically. nell

Helen,You are a fund of knowledge. That was fascinating and one reason why I like these pages,i learn such a lot from submitters. Rose

Hi Nell, A Riddiford cousin told another cousin about it and now I have been told. I know that her son helped in the theft but he was only transported. Wonder why they thought it was nessecery to kill her?

Daniel Found this by googling: Between 1800 and 1964, at least 5,508 people (including 246 women) suffered death on the gallows in Britain (including Southern Ireland, prior to independence). So it was far less common for women. Perhaps your relative stole from a Very Important Person? nell

Danel I know that more people were hanged at the beginning of the 19th century than the end. There are stories of 12-year-olds being hanged for stealing, so its possible old ladies were too. Did you get this info from Gloucester Records Office? In case anyone else has Gloucestershire relatives, the office has a searchable genealogical database which checks indexes for the gaol register 1815-1879, as well as non-conformist registers and Wills. nell

Found out that in 1816, a relative through marriage, Dinah Riddiford was publically hanged at Gloucester. Her crime- stealing bacon, butter and other edibles. 69 years old!