 |
|
|
 | |
The Arrow (later Pheasant) Inn
© Sheffield City Council
|
| |  |
The rotting corpse of Spence Broughton |
 |
It was Broughton’s demeanour and the gruesome nature of his death and display in a gibbet that brought sympathy and fame, creating a popular attraction on the Common and a story to be retold. Broughton is believed by many to be the only Sheffield criminal to have a road named after him, Broughton Lane. However, the validity of this has been disputed by historian Peter Harvey, who believed that the name derives from Broughton Park, created by the Duke of Norfolk.
Murray Collection
© Special Collections, Glasgow University Library |
According to historian Randall McGowen, Charles Dickens and 19th Century reformers, such as Samuel Romilly, condemned the gallows for exciting the wrong kind of emotions. They believed their function as a deterrent could not be fulfilled if the crowd was whipped into frenzied enjoyment. Their views became more widespread as the 19th Century developed. The final public execution in England took place in 1834, after which confinement in the form of prison sentences, became the preferred method of punishment.
The last two cases of gibbeting were both in 1832; where James Cook in Leicestershire and William Jobling in County Durham, were both executed for murder. It was the events surrounding the gibbeting of Jobling’s body that spelt the end for this gruesome form of punishment; the public appetite for gore led to a demand for local boat owners to take sightseers to the gibbeted body. In desperation, Jobling’s family stole his body in order to give him a just burial. The insensitivity of this spectacle provoked public sympathy and resulted in burial for those gibbeted.
1800 Woodcuts, Thomas Bewick and His School
© Special Collections, Glasgow University Library |
The gibbeting of Spence Broughton’s body was intended to act as a deterrent. However, the appetite of the 18th Century public for blood and gore led to his body becoming a popular attraction. The steady of stream visitors to Broughton’s worn and battered body engendered compassion for the highway robber and ensured he found a place in Yorkshire folklore. The gibbeting of Broughton took place on the eve of a major change in the way criminals were punished. The fact that Broughton’s rotting corpse was on public display just six years before the final public execution took place in England, shows just how radical those changes were.
Acknowledgements:
Sheffield Local Studies Library
Your comments
| |
 Print this page |
|
Archive
Look back into the past using the Legacies' archives. Find nearly 200 tales from around the country in our collection.
Read more > |
| | |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
| The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content of external Web sites. |
| | | |
| | |
| |
|
