Number Seven

(KYLIE DAWSON Loses her head: March 02)

We all know that 'every dog has its day', but it seems to me, that places do too. I was at the British Library to see the 'Lie of the Land: the secret life of maps' today. It's a very impressive exhibition. I had been expecting to see some surprises but not the one that befell me concerning Halifax.

In the 'Map of West Riding of York Shire by H Moll, geographer (1724)', there in plane view was an illustration of the Halifax Gibbet. An apparatus which was the fore-runner to the guillotine, as invented by Dr. Guillotin in the French Revolution some 200 years later. This illustration with its victim in place and ready for justice was quite graphic. Even showing where the Bailiff cut the rope for the axe to fall. A simple key was given to explain how it all worked. The Gibbet consisted of a monolithic wooden structure created from two fifteen foot high uprights and locked together by a horizontal beam. At its heart was a sharp iron axe of the weight of seven pounds twelve ounces. This device was mounted on a square platform, which stood a further four foot high. The Halifax Gibbet looked immense and was a visual deterrent to all law breakers.

What brought such a swift method of execution into existence?

Well, it appears that the Halifax Gibbet Law was originally used to protect the town's cloth makers from having their valuable cloth from being stolen. The reward for any thief would be the death penalty by the Gibbet. This law became legal in 1541 and was still enforced until 1650 (Halifax was the last to repeal the law). The Local Gibbet Law dictated that:

"If a felon be taken within the liberty of Halifax...either hand-habend (caught with the stolen goods in his hand or in the act of stealing), back-berand (caught carrying stolen goods on his back), or confessand (having confessed to the crime), to the value of thirteen pence half-penny, he shall after three markets be taken to the Gibbet and there have his head cut off from his body."

The first known decapitation was that of John of Dalton, however proper , detailed records of the victims began in 1541. The official record of the executed Between 1541 and 1650, (Halifax Parish Register, Vols: 37-45, burials) showed that some 53 recorded persons (men and women) were executed by the Halifax Gibbet.

After it fell into disuse and became 'lost', the remains of the gibbet base were re-discovered in June 1839. Today the remains can be seen in Gibbet Street next to a non-working replica, which was built in 1974. This later version includes a facsimile casting of the original blade. The original being kept in the Pre-Industrial Museum. Not surprisingly, it is now a proud part of Halifax's heritage.

Literature has also been responsible for keeping alive (sic) the memory of the Halifax Gibbet. Daniel Defoe gave a lurid account of a decapitation in his work "A Tour through the whole Island of Great Britain" (1724-1727). And later in 1761, John Bentley's work entitled 'Halifax and its Gibbet Law' was published.

There are a few examples of other beheading machines prior to the French Revolution, such as the Scottish Maiden of the mid 16th century, which was based directly on the Halifax Gibbet. One more surprising thing to note is that the Halifax Gibbet may not have been the only Gibbet in Yorkshire, but just one of many. Halifax's notoriety has survived and outlasted others due to it being the last working model, after the custom had been abandoned elsewhere.

If this has wetted your appetite for more blood and gore, why not try History of the Guillotine. As for names, let's re-claim our heritage. 'Gibbet' says what it does 'on the tin' - it's a harsh and sharp sound. Where as 'guillotine' sounds soft and romantic, more like a furtive love affair than an instrument of death.

The next time you're in Halifax, spare a thought for its history.

(Online - March 2002)

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