Hanged at Winchester Book

For decades the high walls of Winchester Prison have contained some of the country's most infamous criminals. Until hanging was abolished in the 1960s it was also the main centre of execution for those convicted of murder both in Hampshire and its neighbouring counties. Amongst the executions carried out here was that of soldier Abraham Goldenberg, hanged for the murder of a bank clerk; William Podmore, convicted in 1930 of killing a garage owner in Southampton; and two Polish refugees who murdered a have-a-go hero during a bungled bank robbery. In 1896 Winchester had been the site of the last triple execution in Britain, when a Teignmouth coachman, a Southampton labourer and an eighteen-year-old rifleman based at Aldershot were hanged together for three unrelated crimes. Infamous executioners also played a part in the gaol's history: William Marwood, the pioneer of the 'long drop'; James and William Billington; Thomas and Albert Pierrepoint; and John Ellis, whose botched executions of Leo O'Donnell and Thomas Allaway led to a Home Office enquiry. Steve Fielding's highly readable new book features each of the twenty-nine cases in one volume for the first time and is fully illustrated with photographs, news cuttings, rare documents and drawings. Hanged at Winchester is sure to appeal to everyone interested in the shadier side of Hampshire's history.