Publicly hanged at Tyburn (last) for violent theft: highway robbery.
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Highwayman (he may have been a Footpad, a highwayman on foot), John Austin, was the last person to be hanged from the gallows at Tyburn. The Tyburn Tree, as it is historically known, was dismantled after his execution.
Following his execution, public hangings that would normally have taken place at Tyburn, were performed in front of Newgate Prison, the condemned prisoners being escorted to their final destination via the Debtors' Door. This became standard procedure until the year 1868, when public executions were abolished and were then conducted privately inside the prison.
John Austin was hanged for the violent theft from a man named John Spicer, the robbery taking place in a field near Bethnal Green on the 23rd October 1783.
Although he came very close to being one, Austin was not a convicted murderer as described on Wikipedia and other accounts. A week after the robbery took place, and even though badly injured, John Spicer was alive and able to give evidence against Austin at his trial that commenced on the 29th October 1783 at the Old Bailey.
Under the Murder Act 1751, convicted murderers who were sentenced to death were not allowed to be buried after their execution. Instead, their bodies were generally, but not always, delivered to the Surgeon's Hall to be dissected and anatomised.
As Austin wasn't an actual murderer, it is unlikely that his corpse was delivered to the Surgeon's Hall as described on Wikipedia. There is no stipulation in his sentencing for it to happen, the Recorder only proclaiming that, ".....it is my duty to pronounce upon you the dreadful sentence of the law, which is, that you be carried from hence to the place from whence you came and from thence to the place of execution, there to be hanged by the neck until you are dead, and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul." There is no mention of his dissection on pages 266 - 268 of the publication 'Tyburn Tree: Its History and Annals' as referenced by Wikipedia and no mention of it in any of the (available) press reports of his trial and execution at the time.
Therefore, given the date of his burial (the day after his execution), the location of his burial (one of the main burial sites used for executed criminals at the time) and the reference to Newgate (Prison) as his origin/abode, it is very likely that the attached burial record belongs to him and he escaped a fate, possibly worse than death itself.
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Trial account:
https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t17831029-4
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Austin_(highwayman)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Bailey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyburn
--------------------
Born: c.1750
Burial: 8 Nov 1783
Publicly hanged at Tyburn (last) for violent theft: highway robbery.
--------------------
Highwayman (he may have been a Footpad, a highwayman on foot), John Austin, was the last person to be hanged from the gallows at Tyburn. The Tyburn Tree, as it is historically known, was dismantled after his execution.
Following his execution, public hangings that would normally have taken place at Tyburn, were performed in front of Newgate Prison, the condemned prisoners being escorted to their final destination via the Debtors' Door. This became standard procedure until the year 1868, when public executions were abolished and were then conducted privately inside the prison.
John Austin was hanged for the violent theft from a man named John Spicer, the robbery taking place in a field near Bethnal Green on the 23rd October 1783.
Although he came very close to being one, Austin was not a convicted murderer as described on Wikipedia and other accounts. A week after the robbery took place, and even though badly injured, John Spicer was alive and able to give evidence against Austin at his trial that commenced on the 29th October 1783 at the Old Bailey.
Under the Murder Act 1751, convicted murderers who were sentenced to death were not allowed to be buried after their execution. Instead, their bodies were generally, but not always, delivered to the Surgeon's Hall to be dissected and anatomised.
As Austin wasn't an actual murderer, it is unlikely that his corpse was delivered to the Surgeon's Hall as described on Wikipedia. There is no stipulation in his sentencing for it to happen, the Recorder only proclaiming that, ".....it is my duty to pronounce upon you the dreadful sentence of the law, which is, that you be carried from hence to the place from whence you came and from thence to the place of execution, there to be hanged by the neck until you are dead, and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul." There is no mention of his dissection on pages 266 - 268 of the publication 'Tyburn Tree: Its History and Annals' as referenced by Wikipedia and no mention of it in any of the (available) press reports of his trial and execution at the time.
Therefore, given the date of his burial (the day after his execution), the location of his burial (one of the main burial sites used for executed criminals at the time) and the reference to Newgate (Prison) as his origin/abode, it is very likely that the attached burial record belongs to him and he escaped a fate, possibly worse than death itself.
--------------------
Trial account:
https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/record/t17831029-4
--------------------
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Austin_(highwayman)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Bailey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyburn
--------------------
Born: c.1750
Burial: 8 Nov 1783
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