Alfred Allen (c. 1888 – c. 1938) was an English
executioner
An executioner, also known as a hangman or headsman, is an official who executes a sentence of capital punishment on a legally condemned person.
Scope and job
The executioner was usually presented with a warrant authorising or orderin ...
from
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 United ...
. His career lasted from 1928 to 1937, during which he carried out 3
hanging
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary' ...
s as a chief executioner and assisted at 14 others.
Allen participated in his first hanging on 11 December 1928, when he assisted
Robert Baxter Robert or Bobby Baxter may refer to:
* Robert Baxter (MP), member of parliament for Norwich
* Robert Baxter (critic) (1940–2010), American performing-arts critic
* Robert Baxter (executioner) (1878–1961), English hangman
* Bobby Baxter (footbal ...
. It did not go well for Allen. He failed to move clear of the trapdoor after securing the prisoner's legs and then fell into the pit when Baxter pulled the lever. Allen was not injured.
Over the next few years, Allen did not receive many jobs. When he did, it was as an assistant to
Thomas Pierrepoint. His first action as chief executioner came on 23 November 1932. He was reunited with Baxter one more time, in 1934; although there was no incident such as the one that had occurred during their first partnership, Baxter did state later that he found Allen "an unpleasant person to share sleeping quarters with." Allen carried out his last hanging on 17 August 1937.
[Fielding, Steve, p. 174.]
He was struck off the list of executioners when, after having failed to rupture the prisoner's spinal cord in an execution in 1936, he again put on the noose in the wrong way at the next execution in 1937.
See also
*
List of executioners
This is a list of people who have acted as official executioners.
Algeria
Alger
Monsieur d'Alger: The Executioners of the French Republic
In 1870 the Republic of France abolished all local executioners and named the executioner of Algiers, ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Alfred
English executioners
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
1880s births
1930s deaths