Stanley William Cross was an English
executioner
An executioner, also known as a hangman or headsman, is an official who effects a sentence of capital punishment on a condemned person.
Scope and job
The executioner was usually presented with a warrant authorizing or ordering him to ...
from
Wormwood Scrubs
Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough ...
. His career lasted from 1932 to 1941, during which he carried out four
hanging
Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...
s as a chief executioner and assisted at 20 others.
["The English hangmen 1850 - 1964"](_blank)
''capitalpunishmentuk.org''. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
Cross, an ex-serviceman, received training at
Pentonville Prison
HM Prison Pentonville (informally "The Ville") is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury ar ...
in 1932. He assisted in his first hanging on 8 June 1933. Over the next few years, he usually worked as an assistant to
Thomas Pierrepoint
Thomas William Pierrepoint (6 October 1870 – 11 February 1954) was an English executioner from 1906 until 1946. He was the brother of Henry Pierrepoint and uncle of Albert Pierrepoint.
Personal life
Pierrepoint was born in Sutton Boningto ...
. He was finally promoted in 1940 and carried out his first commission as chief executioner on 31 July 1940. He also executed two German
spies
Spies most commonly refers to people who engage in spying, espionage or clandestine operations.
Spies or The Spies may also refer to:
Arts and media Films
* ''Spies'' (1928 film), English title for ''Spione'', a 1928 German film by Fritz Lan ...
, Jose Waldeburg and Carl Meier, in December.
However, Cross apparently miscalculated his prisoners' drop lengths.
[Fielding, Steve, p. 182.]
He last appeared at an execution on 19 September 1941.
See also
*
List of executioners
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Stanley
1892 births
Year of death unknown
English executioners
People from Southampton