Two Killers, One Scaffold: The December Double Hanging of 1911

Two Killers, One Scaffold: The December Double Hanging of 1911
News of the Times | Episode 589 | 1911

On a cold December morning in 1911, the bell at Strangeways Gaol tolled across Manchester.
Inside, two very different men walked the same final corridor — strangers in life, now bound together by the narrow platform of a double scaffold. One was a jealous, violent husband; the other a quiet young labourer who claimed he never meant to kill. Their crimes were months apart, their tempers and histories worlds away — yet both met the same fate on a winter morning the city never forgot. 

In today’s episode, we trace the paths that brought them there. From the cramped terraces of Royton and the busy mills of Manchester, to the quiet footpaths of Plumpton Wood, we follow the investigations, witness accounts, court proceedings, and newspaper reports that shaped two capital convictions. This is the story of Two Killers, One Scaffold: The December Double Hanging of 1911. 

Manchester in 1911 was a city of contrasts — electric trams, cinemas and industry, but also long shifts, low pay, overcrowded homes and tempers stretched thin. Through these two tragedies we glimpse Edwardian life as it was lived by ordinary families: relentless labour, domestic pressures, and communities shocked by sudden violence. 

And in today’s Further Particulars: a festive tale from New York in 1921, where the Christmas shopping rush produced not just queues but an entire court-room of shoplifters — ages sixteen to eighty-two — all caught in the season’s light-fingered spirit. .  

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