Jack Ketch

Last updated

Jack Ketch
Monmouth's Execution.gif
James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth's execution, on Tower Hill, by Jack Ketch, on 15 July 1685, on a playing card.
Born
John Ketch
DiedNovember 1686
Years activec.16631686

John Ketch (died November 1686), generally known as Jack Ketch, [1] was an infamous English executioner employed by King Charles II. [2] He became famous through the way he performed his duties during the tumults of the 1680s, when he was often mentioned in broadsheet accounts that circulated throughout the Kingdom of England. He is thought to have been appointed in 1663.

Contents

He executed the death sentences against William Russell, Lord Russell, in Lincoln's Inn Fields on 21 July 1683, and James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, on 15 July 1685, after the Monmouth Rebellion. Ketch's notoriety stems from "barbarity at the execution of Lord Russell, the Duke of Monmouth, and other political offenders". [3]

Because of his botched executions, the name "Jack Ketch" is used as a proverbial name for death, Satan and executioners. [2] [4] [5]

Appointment

Ketch took office in 1663, succeeding the late Edward Dun, to whom he had been apprenticed. He is first mentioned in the Proceedings of the Old Bailey for 14 January 1676, [6] although no printed notice of the new hangman occurred until 2 December 1678, when a broadside appeared called The Plotters Ballad, being Jack Ketch's incomparable Receipt for the Cure of Traytorous Recusants and Wholesome Physick for a Popish Contagion. [Note 1]

In 1679, there appears from another pamphlet purporting to be written by Ketch himself, and entitled The Man of Destiny's Hard Fortune, that the hangman was confined for a time in the Marshalsea prison, "whereby his hopeful harvest was like to have been blasted." [7]

A short entry in the autobiography of Anthony à Wood for 31 August 1681 describes how Stephen College was hanged in the Castle Yard, Oxford, "and when he had hanged about half an hour, was cut down by Catch or Ketch, and quartered under the gallows, his entrails were burnt in a fire made by the gallows". [7] [Note 2]

Lord Russell's execution

On that occasion, Ketch wielded the instrument of death either with such sadistically nuanced skill or with such lack of simple dexterity nobody could tell which that the victim suffered horrifically under blow after blow, each excruciating but not in itself lethal. Even among the bloodthirsty throngs that habitually attended English beheadings, the gory and agonizing display had created such outrage that Ketch felt moved to write and publish a pamphlet titled Apologie, in which he excused his performance with the claim that Lord Russell had failed to "dispose himself as was most suitable" and that he was therefore distracted while taking aim on his neck. [9]

Ketch was paid by Russell beforehand, as it was customary for those sentenced to death by beheading (which in those days was "reserved for [...] aristocrats") [10] "to tip the public executioner in advance. It was hoped this would encourage him to do a swift and efficient job, hopefully despatching the victim in one clean blow." [11] In spite of this, Ketch allegedly "did such a bad job that, after the axe hit the side of Russell's head, Russell looked up at him and said, 'You dog, did I give you ten guineas to use me so inhumanely?'" [11] However, in the pamphlet allegedly authored by him, Ketch "repudiated the charge" [12] that Russell had paid him twenty guineas the night before the execution (although he stated it was "true I receav'd 10. Guenies" [13] from him on the scaffold), that Russell had insulted him, or that he had struck Russell's shoulder rather than his head. Although biographer Sidney Lee believed that the pamphlet was "probably written by Ketch himself", [12] author Stephen Wade describes the provenance of The Apology of John Ketch Esq. as "questionable", [14] since we have "no accurate notion of who wrote" [14] it. He argues that "it may well have been what we would now call a 'ghost writer' out to make a few groats by fabricating a biography of a notorious public figure." [14]

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth's execution

He [the duke] would not make use of a cap or other circumstance, but lying down, bid the fellow to do his office better than to the late Lord Russell, and gave him gold; but the wretch made five chops before he had his head off; which so incensed the people, that had he not been guarded and got away, they would have torn him to pieces. [15]

Later life and death

In January 1686, Ketch was committed to Bridewell Prison for "affronting" a sheriff. His assistant, Paskah Rose, formerly a butcher, took his place. However, on 28 May, following his conviction for robbery, Rose himself was hanged at Tyburn, and Ketch was reinstated. Ketch died in November 1686. [7] Ketch's "wife is reported to have said, “That any bungler might put a man to death, but that her husband only knew how to make a Gentleman die sweetly.”" [16]

Fiction

In 1836, a fictitious autobiography of Ketch, with illustrations from designs by Meadows entitled The autobiography of Jack Ketch, was published. [7] [17] Another book entitled Life of Jack Ketch with Cuts of his own Execution was furnished by Tom Hood for the Duke of Devonshire's library at Chatsworth. [7]

Jack Ketch is one of the characters in Giovanni Piccini (d. 1835) The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy as dictated to John Payne Collier, in 1828. [18] He is mentioned in the Charles Dickens novels Oliver Twist , Dombey and Son , The Pickwick Papers [19] and David Copperfield and in the C. M. Kornbluth science fiction story "The Marching Morons" (1951). More recently, Jack Ketch plays a role in Neal Stephenson's 2003 and 2004 volumes Quicksilver and The System of the World , the first and last volumes, respectively, in his The Baroque Cycle series (though the last volume is set in 1714, well after the death of the historical Jack Ketch.) Ketch makes a brief appearance in issue #10 of Bill Willingham's comic book series Fables and in the first book of Ben Aaronovitch Rivers of London series.

He is mentioned briefly in the 1951 movie of A Christmas Carol with Alistair Sim, when Mr. Jorkin warns the directors of the Amalgamated Mercantile Society to watch out for Scrooge and Marley, as "They'd skin Jack Ketch alive and he'd never know they'd done it."

The long-running radio program Suspense aired an episode titled "Jack Ketch" starring British actor Charles Laughton on September 22, 1952.

Notes

Footnotes

  1. "On the top of the sheet is a woodcut, in which is represented Edward Coleman [q. v.] drawn in a sledge to the place of execution, exclaiming, 'I am sick of a traytorous disease,' while Jack Ketch, with a hatchet in one hand and a rope in the other, is saying, 'Here's your cure, sir.' " [7]
  2. "[Aug.] 31. Wednesday at 11. Stephen College, born at Watford in Hertfordshire, nephew to Edmund College of St. Peter's in the Bayly, suffered death by hanging in the castle yard Oxon, and when he had hanged about half an hour was cut down by Catch or Ketch, and quartered, under the gallows, his entrails were burnt in a fire made by the gallows. He spoke and prayed more than half an hour, his body was, after quartering, put into a coffin, and the same day was conveyed to London, and buried privately the Thursday following at night in St. Gregory's church near St. Paul's." [8]

Citations

  1. "Jack Ketch (English executioner)". Britannica.com Inc. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  2. 1 2 Kronenwetter, Michael (2001). Capital punishment: a reference handbook. ABC-CLIO. p. 172. ISBN   978-1-57607-432-9.
  3. Green, Jonathon (2005). Cassell's dictionary of slang. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. p. 782. ISBN   978-0-304-36636-1.
  4. Halperin, Rick (12 February 2006). "[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----worldwide". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  5. Grose, Captain (September 2008). 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. BiblioBazaar, LLC. p. 178. ISBN   978-0-559-13810-2 . Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  6. "Killing > murder, 14th January 1676 (t16760114-7)". Old Bailey Proceedings Online. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lee, Sidney, ed. (1892). "Ketch, John"  . Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 31. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 71–2.
  8. Wood, Anthony à (1813). Athenae Oxonienses: An exact history of all the writers and bishops who have had their education in the University of Oxford. To which are added the Fasti, or Annals of the said University. Rivington. p.  92 . Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  9. Fiorillo, Juré (1 January 2010). Great Bastards of History: True and Riveting Accounts of the Most Famous Illegitimate Children Who Went on to Achieve Greatness. Fair Winds. p. 82. ISBN   978-1-59233-401-8 . Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  10. Misra, Amalendu (2022). On Beheading. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. p. 144. ISBN   978-3-030-96142-8.
  11. 1 2 Lord, Monty (2023). Bizarre Laws & Curious Customs of the UK: Vol. I. Preston, Lancashire: Young Legal Eagles. p. 92. ISBN   978-1-7397488-3-8.
  12. 1 2 Lee, Sidney (1892). Dictionary of National Biography: Vol. XXXI. London: Smith, Elder, & Co. p. 71.
  13. Ketch, John. "The apologie of John Ketch, Esq., the executioner of London, in vindication of himself as to the execution of the late Lord Russel, on July 21, 1683". University of Michigan Library. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 Wade, Stephen (2009). Britain's Most Notorious Hangmen. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books. p. 27. ISBN   978-1-84563-082-9.
  15. Evelyn, John; Bray, William (1889). The diary of John Evelyn, Esq., F. R. S.: from 1641 to 1705-6 : with memoir. F. Warne. p. 481.
  16. Woodfall Ebsworth, Joseph (1883). The Roxburghe Ballads: Volume IV. Hertford: The Ballad Society. p. 86.
  17. Whitehead, Charles (1835). The autobiography of Jack Ketch. Carey, Lea & Blanchard. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  18. Banham 1995, p. 888.
  19. Dickens, Charles (1837). The Pickwick Papers. Premier Classics. p. 119. ISBN   978-0-307-29175-2.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyburn</span> Former manor in Middlesex, England

Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, England, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. Tyburn took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne. The name Tyburn, from Teo Bourne, means 'boundary stream'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breaking wheel</span> Torture device used for capital punishment

The breaking wheel, also known as the execution wheel, the Wheel of Catherine or the (Saint) Catherine('s) Wheel, was a torture method used for public execution primarily in Europe from antiquity through the Middle Ages up to the 19th century by breaking the bones of a criminal or bludgeoning them to death. The practice was abolished in Bavaria in 1813 and in the Electorate of Hesse in 1836: the last known execution by the "Wheel" took place in Prussia in 1841. In the Holy Roman Empire it was a "mirror punishment" for highwaymen and street thieves, and was set out in the Sachsenspiegel for murder, and arson that resulted in fatalities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanging</span> Death by suspension around the neck

Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature. Hanging has been a common method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and is the primary execution method in numerous countries and regions. The first known account of execution by hanging is in Homer's Odyssey. Hanging is also a method of suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth</span> English nobleman and soldier (1649–1685)

James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch, was an English nobleman and military officer. Originally called James Crofts or James Fitzroy, he was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II of England with his mistress Lucy Walter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Pierrepoint</span> English executioner (1905–1992)

Albert Pierrepoint was an English hangman who executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that ended in 1956. His father Henry and uncle Thomas were official hangmen before him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in the United Kingdom</span> History of the death penalty in the UK

Capital punishment in the United Kingdom predates the formation of the UK, having been used within the British Isles from ancient times until the second half of the 20th century. The last executions in the United Kingdom were by hanging, and took place in 1964; capital punishment for murder was suspended in 1965 and finally abolished in 1969. Although unused, the death penalty remained a legally defined punishment for certain offences such as treason until it was completely abolished in 1998; the last execution for treason took place in 1946. In 2004, Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights became binding on the United Kingdom; it prohibits the restoration of the death penalty as long as the UK is a party to the convention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Marwood</span> British state hangman (1818-1883)

William Marwood was a British state hangman. He developed the technique of hanging known as the "long drop".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Brandon</span> Common executioner of London (1639–1649)

Richard Brandon was the common executioner of London from 1639 to 1649, who inherited that role from his father Gregory Brandon and was sometimes known as Young Gregory. Richard Brandon is often named as the executioner of Charles I, though the executioner's identity is not definitively known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Russell, Lord Russell</span> English politician and nobleman(1639–1683)

William Russell, Lord Russell was an English Country Party politician and nobleman. He was a leading member of the Country Party, forerunners of the Whigs, who during the reign of Charles II of England laid the groundwork for opposition in the English House of Commons to the accession of an openly Catholic monarch in Charles's brother James. This ultimately resulted in Russell's execution for treason, almost two years before Charles died and James acceded to the throne.

James Berry was an English executioner from 1884 until 1891. Berry was born in Heckmondwike in the West Riding of Yorkshire, where his father worked as a wool-stapler. His most important contribution to the science of hanging was his refinement of the long drop method developed by William Marwood, whom Berry knew quite well. His improvements were intended to diminish mental and physical suffering and some of them remained standard practice until the abolition of capital punishment for murder.

Paskah Rose, also known as Pascha Rose, was an English executioner briefly during 1686, successor to Jack Ketch.

William Cragh was a medieval Welsh warrior and supporter of Rhys ap Maredudd, lord of the lands of Ystrad Tywi, in his rebellion against King Edward I of England. Captured in 1290 by the son of William de Briouze, the Cambro-Norman Lord of Gower, he was tried and found guilty of having killed thirteen men. Cragh was hanged just outside Swansea within sight of de Briouze's Swansea Castle, twice, as the gallows collapsed during his first hanging. Lady Mary de Briouze interceded on Cragh's behalf and prayed to the deceased Bishop of Hereford, Thomas de Cantilupe, requesting him to ask God to bring Cragh back from the dead. Cragh began to show signs of life the day after his execution and over the subsequent few weeks made a full recovery, living at least another eighteen years.

Events from the year 1683 in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Calcraft</span> English executioner

William Calcraft was a 19th-century English hangman, one of the most prolific of British executioners. It is estimated in his 45-year career he carried out 450 executions. A cobbler by trade, Calcraft was initially recruited to flog juvenile offenders held in Newgate Prison. While selling meat pies on streets around the prison, Calcraft met the City of London's hangman, John Foxton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defoe (character)</span> Comics character

Titus Defoe is a comics character in an eponymous story published in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD. He was created by writer Pat Mills and artist Leigh Gallagher and first appeared in prog 1540, cover date 6 June 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanged, drawn and quartered</span> Legal punishment in medieval England, Wales, and Ireland for high treason

To be hanged, drawn and quartered became a statutory penalty for men convicted of high treason in the Kingdom of England from 1352 under King Edward III (1327–1377), although similar rituals are recorded during the reign of King Henry III (1216–1272). The convicted traitor was fastened to a hurdle, or wooden panel, and drawn behind a horse to the place of execution, where he was then hanged, emasculated, disembowelled, beheaded, and quartered. His remains would then often be displayed in prominent places across the country, such as London Bridge, to serve as a warning of the fate of traitors. For reasons of public decency, women convicted of high treason were instead burned at the stake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Billington (executioner)</span> British hangman (1847-1901)

James Billington was a hangman for the British government from 1884 until 1901. He was the patriarch of the Billington family of executioners. Billington died at home from emphysema in the early hours of 13 December 1901, ten days after having executed Patrick McKenna, a man he knew well.

References

Preceded by British office of hangman
1663–1686
Succeeded by