EXECUTION OF WAINWRIGHT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 58, 1 March 1876, Page 2

EXECUTION OF WAINWRIGHT.

London, Dec. 24. . Henry "Wainwright, convicted ot the murder of Harriet Lane, was executed on 21st December within the walls of the gaol of Newgate, pursuant to the sentence of the law. For some time the prisoner appeared to have entertained a, hope that his brother Thomas would make some statement that would benefit him, but when it was shown that, under the circumstances, no statement made by Thomas was likely to have any effect in averting his doom he became resigned. "With regard to the statements that have appeared as to the prisoner having made a confession, it may be stated that the Home Secretary has in bis charge a document, wherein the culprit accuses his brother Thomas of the murder. But it may ibe further , added that Thomas Wainwright denies ' the accusation, and declares that it was Henry ■ who committed the crime. I Whether the document, which is very j lengthy, will ever ■ be made publio yests

,yiith; : ihe\ Home Secretary, whose bri the [subject .has riot yet been |nnal^j|giveh^ Just b'ef6re;his execution phe to the, Governor of gj&ew^ate ahqthfr^sta^ which Mr '"Aldeftnau arid ; 'She>iff knight and "Mr ; BreHit deemed advisable to curtail to Home extent, and which was transcribed and supplied to the reporters in the following form: — He commenced by ! a hope that, through the "loving kindness of the Almighty, his sins would be blotted out, for the sake of -that beloved. Saviour whom he had so long neglected. The prisoner then •acknowledged the justice of his sentence, and said that he deserved his fate, although he did not admit to the fullest extent that he was guilty of the murder. ; The prisoner then expressed his thanks to the governor and all the officers of -the gaol for the kindness he had received from them during his confinement. He also expressed his thanks to his many friends, known and unknown, for the kind and Christian sympathy they had . exhibited towards him and his family, and added that he hoped and believed their prayers for his eternal happiness and peace had beeu answered by the Almighty. The stateintent concluded with the prisoner eoinmjeadjng.- his, ,wife .and family to the care of that Almighty Father who was the protector -of the widow and fatherless. •*■#'#■#•## The gallows had been erected within the gaol-yard, and was peculiar in construction and appearance, it being roofed over, lighted with lamps at each end, and having a deep pit, over which a chain anil noose were suspended. In front of the scaffold, but well away from it, the spectators, comparatively few in number, were placed, and a picked body of -the London police was in attendance to maintain order if necessary; As the clock of the neighboring Church of St Sepulchre chimed the hour of eight, a procession, which had' been formed within the prisou, emerged into the open space leading to the scaffold. First came the governor of Newgate, then the sheriffs and under-sheriffs in their official robes, and carrying their wands of office; next ;carhe the convict, with the executioneer "Marwood by his side ; and lastly, the rev. the ordinary, reading as he went •the opening seriteuces of tbe burial service. The prisoner, who was dressed with scrupulous care, bore "himself at • the awful crisis with conspicuous fortitude, aud as he stepped upon the drop fronting the spectators his features assumed an expression of resignation unmixed with anything,, approaching bravado. The , necessary preparations were speedily made by the' executioner, and all things being in readiness, the drop fell with an awful shock, echoing ' for a moment or two all over the yard. After the body had hung for the accustomed period, it was token down, and Mr Rowland Gibson, the prison qurgeon, having certified that life was then extinct, it wos pliced in a coflin and subjected later in the day to a coroner's inquest. Towards evening*, in .accordance witli long usage, tho remains were buried within the precincts of the gaol, that being an integral part of tbe sentence. After f,h« convict had ceased to live a black flag was hoisted from the roof of the prison to indicate to tbe outside world thac the sentence of the law had been carried into effect.. Immediately after the verdict waa' declared the body of the wretched man was divested of the whole of its clothing, in the presence of Mr Mappera n, the principal warder, and the governor, and the shell was filled lip with quicklime, in which the body was completely enveloped The lid was then, screwed down. It was buried in the course of the afternoon in one of the gloomy passages of the gaol, by the side - bf the last- convicted murderer, and ih a row with the Flowery Land pirates and a number of other 'criminals. The effect of the quicklime upon the corpse, it is stated, would be to entirely destroy it in the course of a very ahort space of time, and if the prisoner had used the same material at the time he buried tho corpse of the unhappy girl, Harriet Louisa Lane, instead of chloride of lime, the effect would probably bave been that this crime might uever have been discovered.