James Burton - William Marwood’s last execution

James Burton - William Marwood’s last execution.

William Marwood travelled to Durham for the execution of murderer and bigamist 33 year old James Burton on the 6th of August 1883.  He had met 18 year old Elizabeth Ann Sharpe the previous summer, while both were patients in Sunderland Infirmary.  They married at Sunderland Register Office and set up home in North Durham Street in Sunderland.  However Burton was already married.

Elizabeth left him because of his foul temper and use of the drug laudanum, an opiate. Burton could not come to terms with her rejection and stalked her.  Finally he battered Elizabeth to death out of jealousy on the 8th of May 1883.  Her body was found beside the railway track at Tunstall, near Sunderland.  Her head had been smashed with a rock and three large rocks placed on top of her body.

Burton was arrested the next day and his clothes were found to be blood stained.  He denied all knowledge of the murder and maintained that Elizabeth had been killed by a rock fall.

He tried at the Durham Summer Assizes before Mr. Justice Hawkins and convicted after the jury had deliberated for just 23 minutes.  In the condemned cell, he made a full confession to the crime.

The gallows had been erected in the prison yard.  A drop of 7 feet 8 inches had been worked out by Marwood and just before 8 o’clock Burton was led out to receive it.  He was pinioned and hooded in the normal way and the free rope allowed to loop down behind his back.  Just as Marwood was operating the trap Burton fainted and began to fall sideways causing the loop of rope to catch on his elbow and preventing him falling straight.

The press were allowed to witness the hanging and it was described as follows:

"The culprit walked firmly to the scaffold but on being placed in position looked up at the cross beam and on those assembled around the scaffold. Marwood the executioner at once placed the white cap over the culprit's face, fastened his legs and fixed the rope. Immediately the bolt was drawn it was obvious something had gone wrong, the body was swinging violently to and fro in the pit. Marwood seized hold of the rope and assisted by two warders, dragged the still living man out of the pit. When drawn up Burton presented a shocking appearance." 

As Marwood went to pull the lever, Burton fainted and began to fall sideways, his pinioned arms catching in the loop of the rope hanging down his back, thus prevented him dropping properly. The noose had also slipped up over Burton's chin. Marwood and the warders now had to get the poor man back onto the platform to disentangle him and having done so, Marwood pushed him off the side of the trap. He swayed back and forth, struggling for a couple of minutes before unconsciousness supervened. His face was badly contorted and his neck very swollen when his body was viewed by the coroner's jury at the formal inquest at 9.30 am, before Coroner Graham, and it was clear that he had strangled to death.  Marwood was questioned at some length during these proceedings.

Hansard records that questions were asked in the House of Commons on the 9th of August as to whether the Secretary of State, Sir William Harcourt had ordered an enquiry into this bungled execution.  He assured the House that he had.  There were further questions regarding Marwood’s continuing competence.  It is interesting to see how in just eight years the official attitude to executions had changed.  When Calcraft was in charge many of his victims strangled but by the late 1880’s this was no longer acceptable.  However it all rapidly became irrelevant as this was to be William Marwood’s last hanging.  On the 4th of September 1883 he too was dead.