The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-08-11 00:00:00

EXECUTION OF DOVE

The culprit, being a Wesleyan, the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper was administered to him on Friday night,
after which he engaged almost continuously in prayer
until one o'clock on Saturday morning, when he laid down
and had apparently sound and tranquil sleep for about an
hour and a half. Besides the prison officials, the Rev. J.
Hartley, Wesleyan Minister, York, and Mr. Wright, of
Manchester, the prison philanthropist, sat up with the
unhappy man during Friday night—the former till four
o'clock on Saturday morning, when Mr. Wright took up
the further administration of spiritual consolation to the
criminal, who appeared quite resigned to his fate,
thoroughly conscious that he must die penitent, and
exceedingly prayerful. The workmen usually engaged for
the purpose commenced the operation of erecting the
gallows soon after daybreak, and at a quarter to six
1 o'clock the culprit was removed from the condemned cell
to a room in close contiguity to the scene of his last
sufferings upon earth. He was accompanied by Mr.
Noble, the governor of the castle, and Mr. Wright, and
walked across the castle yard with a firm and ready step.
He was calm and collected, and his general demeanour
much resembled what was noticed of him during his four-
days' trial. Soon after Dove had quitted the condemned
cell, which looks into the plot of ground where murderers
executed at York Castle are interred, the gravedigger
arrived, and at once proceeded to execute his office.
As early as seven o'clock on Saturday morning a group of
from 50 to 100 people had taken up a position on the iron
railing at St. George's-field, and immediately in front of
the drop, where they remained for five hours, to witness
the execution. As the morning advanced the crowd con-
tinued to augment, and by about half-past eleven it had
become very dense. At this time the weather, which had
been previously fine, though rather cloudy and threaten.
ing, changed for rain, which came down heavily during
the execution and the remainder of the day. The rain
did not at all stop the influx of spectators, some hundreds
of whom had provided themselves with umbrellas, which,
when opened out, presented a very striking and singular
appearance. At twenty minutes .to twelve o'clock, the
under-sheriff, W. Gray, Esq., arrived at the castle, and
made the usual demand for the body of the condemned
man for execution. At this time there could not be less
than from 15,000 to 20,000 people assembled in front of the
gallows. The hich road, which runs close by, and a
large portion of St. George's-field (a large open piece
of corporation land) were crowded with spectators, and
on the New Walk, and even on the opposite side of the
River Ouse, there were some hundreds of persons con-
gregated together to witness the exit from this world of
this desperate murderer. The Rev. T. Sutton (the chaplain
of the prison), the Rev. J. Hartley, and Mr. Wright,
were with the convict some time before the hour of noon.
At a few minutes before twelve o'clock, the hour of execu-
tion at York, Dove was removed from the room in which
he had passed the forenoon to another room nearer the
drop, where he was pinioned. He appeared composed
while this operation was being proceeded with—not the
slightest quiver or motion of the body was perceptible.
Mr. Barret, his solicitor, was with him up to this time,
and Dove, while being pinioned, held him by the hand.
At this juncture Mr. Barret availed himself of an oppor-
tunity of asking Dove if there was anything in the state..
meat he had made on. Thursday which he wished to alter
or correct ? Dove replied with great earnestness and
expression of sincerity,—" Not a word ; it is strictly true."
Dove subsequently turned to Mr. Barret•and said,—" Mr.
Barret, tell my poor mother I die happy." These were
the last words he uttered; except in prayer. In a minute
or two afterwards the castle clock tolled forth the fatal
hour, and the usual procession was formed, and proceeded
through the grand jury room, and thence along a dreary-
looking passage leading to the door through which the
wretched criminal makes his exit on to the drop. In
addition to the halberdiers, the executioner, and other
officials, the Under-sheriff, the Rev. J. Hartley, Mr.
Wright, and Mr. Noble, appeared on the scaffold with the
culprit. As the procession moved forward from the
"press-room," the Rev. J. Hartley read portions of the
burial service of the Church of England, which he
followed up with an extemporaneous prayer, in which
Dove joined with apparent devotion and earnestness.
The convict having been placed under the fatal beam,
from which the rope dangled in the air close by him, the
executioner (an insolvent debtor, now in confinement in
York Castle, but whose name, occupation;and residence
have been studiously and positively withheld to the very
last), proceeded to perform his office. He first adjusted
the rope 'around -the neck of the convict—an operation
which he went through with the coolest nicety we ever
witnessed. Having done this, he next covered Dove's face
with a white cap, and";then fastened his legs with a cord.
These operations appeared to occupy. more time than
usual, but the executioner went through his work with a
precision of skill that would have been creditable to a
Calcraft, or some such more experienced hand. He was,
in the strictest sense of the expression, "slow, but sure."
Having assured himself of no. mistake, he passed quickly
to the steps, the bolt .was drawn, and the drop fell, and in
a moment the wretched criminal ceased to exist. He
suffered slightly, death being almost instantaneous. Be-
fore Dove was finally handed over to the executioner he
shook hands with 'the reverend - ministers and others
around him, and bade them farevvell.. On the whole, the
crowd maintained very orderly and - decorous conduct
throughout the painful scene. The body of the convict
remained suspended for an hour, when it was cut down
and placed in a shell for interment in ' the eveninkwithin
the precincts of the prison, in accordance with the terms
of the sentence of the law passed upon the criminal