The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-03 00:00:00

EXECUTION AT WORCESTER,

Yesterday the last sentence of the law was exe-
cuted upon William Ockold, in front of Worcester
county gaol, in the presence of a large concourse of
spectators. _ _ _

- The wretched criminal was tried at Worcester,
on the 13th ult., before Mr. Justice Mellor, for the
murder of his wife at Oldbury, near Birmingham.
The persons were both far advanced in life, the con-
vict being in his 70th year, and his wife 74 or 75
years old. The couple had been married half a cen-
tury, within a few weeks, but had had many wran-
gles together, and they frequently fought, the old
woman being as often the assailant as her husband.
Before her death the deceased had suffered
from a chronic affection of the kidneys,which caused
her much pain at night, and in consequence the old
man's rest was frequently disturbed. This seems to
have irritated him greatly, and he was constantly
grumbling about it. The last that was seen of the
old woman alive was on Friday evening, Nov. 9,
when a neighbour, going into the cottage of Ock-
old, found the deceased sitting on the floor groan-
ing, and her husband at work in his shop. He was
a tailor by trade. The daughter-in-law and son cf
the old people afterwards came in and gave the de-
ceased some tea, the son subsequently carrying her
upstairs to bed. In the course of the same evening
the prisoner had been heard to say that his wife
only wanted to go to bed to keep him awake all
night, but that she should not keep him awake again
that night. Nothing more was heard at the house
until about 4 o'clock next morning, when a police-
man and a man who was grooming some horses in
an adjacent stable heard blows as of some man beat-
ing a woman in the house of the Ockolds, upstairs.
The man was heard to curse and swear, and threaten
the woman, who answered, " Oh, Bill, don't kill
me !" or, " Oh, Bill, thou'lt kill me." Next morning,
at 8 o'clock, the prisoner was found at work on his
shop-board, and, being asked about his wife, an-
swered that he knew nothing about her. The neigh-
bours proceeded upstairs and found her lying dead
on the floor, death having apparently been caused
by violent blows inflicted by a broken mopstick.
There was a good deal of blood in the room and on
the stairs, which had flowed from the deceased's
nose and face. The right cheekbone was broken,
and there were many bruises about the body. Death
was caused by pressure on the brain occasioned by
these injuries.
The circumstances of the previous life of Ockold
and his wife and the advanced age of the criminal
led to a general belief that the capital sentence would
not be carried out, and it was not, therefore, until a
few days ago that any representation was made by
memorials to the Home-office on the subject. Three
memorials, however, were then presented—one from
the magistrates of the county of Worcester, one
from the magistrates of the city, and one from the
inhabitants of the district where the murder was
committed. The high sheriff (Sir E. A. Lechmere)
also had a personal interview with Sir G. Grey, in
London ; but the Home Secretary returned the same
answer to all the representations made to him—
viz., that he saw nothing in the case calling for the
exercise of the Royal prerogative of mercy. When
this result was communicated to the condemned
criminal he appeared to treat it with in-
difference, and altogether his conduct in prison
was not that of a criminal conscious that his hours
were numbered. He listened to the ministrations
of the Rev. J. Adlington, the chaplain of the gaol,
who was most assiduous in his
_attention to the
condemned man, but frequently conversed upon
other and indifferent subjects. His son visited him
on Thursday to take his leave, and was met by his
father with a salutation that it was well he came to
see him then, for " if he bad come next day he
would have been too late." He retired to rest on
Thursday night about nine o'clock, and in spite of
a storm of wind and rain which raged during the
greater part of the night slept soundly until visited
by the rev. chaplain at an ,early hour yesterday
morning.
evinced the greatest
subsequentlyfirmness
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wb
ar
taekdf anspt ,0
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hn
yd
the prison officers to perform the last ceremonies.
He persisted to the last that he did not kill his
wife, and declared he only struck her in the mouth,
which had caused the flow of blood.
At eight o'clock the prison bell tolled out a fune-
ral knell, In a few minutes the procession appeared
on the scaffold. Ockold, whose appearance, with his
blanched face and white hair flying in the breeze,
was pitiable in the eyes of the crowd, walked with
a steady step and took his place under the fatal
beam. The preliminary arrangements were soon
completed. Calcraft adjusted the noose and shook
hands with the culprit, who uttered a few long
ejaculations for mercy, and the next moment he
was dangling a lifeless corpse.