William Frederick Horry, also known as Fred Horry (December, 1843 in Boston, England - 1 April 1872 in Lincoln, England) was the first person to be hanged by Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 hangman

Executioner

A judicial executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence ordered by the state or other legal authority, which was known in feudal terminology as high justice.-Scope and job:...

 William Marwood

William Marwood

William Marwood was a hangman for the British government. He developed the technique of hanging known as the "long drop".-Early life:Marwood was originally a cobbler, of Church Lane, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England.-Executioner:...

, and the first to fall using the long drop

Hanging

Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...

 method. He was hanged at Lincoln Castle

Lincoln Castle

Lincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is only one of two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in Sussex...

, Lincoln

Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....

, England on 1 April 1872, aged 28, for the murder of his wife, Jane Horry. Related to Grace Horry.

Biography and crime

Horry was born in December 1843, in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. He married Jane in 1866 and they took over the George Hotel together in Burslem

Burslem

The town of Burslem, known as the Mother Town, is one of the six towns that amalgamated to form the current city of Stoke-on-Trent, in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, in the Midlands of England.-Topography:...

, Staffordshire, England. By September 1871, the two were estranged due to Horry's alcoholism

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...

 and accusations of Jane's infidelity

Infidelity

In many intimate relationships in many cultures there is usually an express or implied expectation of exclusivity, especially in sexual matters. Infidelity most commonly refers to a breach of the expectation of sexual exclusivity.Infidelity can occur in relation to physical intimacy and/or...

 with customers. Jane went to live with Horry's father in Boston with their children whilst William stayed at the hotel.

William made attempts to visit his family but due to his abusive behaviour, he was barred from further visits. Unable to maintain the business on his own, he sold the hotel and moved to Nottingham. In 1872, William pleaded with his wife a final time to return with him with their children. After being unsuccessful, he travelled to Nottingham, purchased a shotgun

Shotgun

A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...

 before returning again to Boston to murder his wife.

Trial and execution

At his trial on 31 March 1872, he pleaded insanity but the prosecution successfully argued that the crime was premeditated. He was sentenced to death by hanging the following day.

William refused all appeals and was executed by William Marwood on 1 April. William Marwood had never hung anyone before but persuaded the authorities in Lincoln to allow him to try a new "long drop" method. The long drop method is designed to snap the condemned persons neck instantly, causing unconsciousness and eventually asphyxia

Asphyxia

Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from being unable to breathe normally. An example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which primarily affects the tissues and organs...

tion, it was considered a more humane method than the existing short drop method that had been used for centuries. The execution went without any complications and Marwood went on to hang 176 people.

A memorial to William Frederick Horry exists in Burslem, Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

 consisting of a granite obelisk

Obelisk

An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...

. William is buried in a simple grave in the Lucy Tower of Lincoln Castle

Lincoln Castle

Lincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is only one of two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in Sussex...

. The grave (featuring only the initials of the condemned and the date of death) is well preserved and is still visible, along with many other criminals' graves.

The name Horry is still common in the Lincolnshire area, but William's particular line has apparently died out following the First World War.

Media coverage

Execution broadsides were often sold amongst the crowd that usually gathered for hangings and often gave gory details of the crime the condemned was accused of.

See also

• Official Table of Drops
  Official Table of Drops
  The Official Table of Drops, published by the British Home Office, is a manual which was used to calculate the appropriate length of rope for long drop hangings....
  
  - The long drop method evolved into this standardised method which was used for British hangings until 1964. It is still used in many countries around the world.