Richard Smith – the last man to hang for rape.

45 year old Richard Smith came to trial before Mr. Justice John Bosanquet at the Town Hall in Nottingham on the 14th of March 1835, charged with the rape of Mary Green in the Parish of St. Peter on the 24th of July 1835.

13 year old Mary was a servant to Smith who ran a drapery business in Carrington Street in Nottingham. On the night of the 23rd of July, Smith sent Mary out to fetch some beer. When she returned with it, he gave her a glass of it. He also gave her some brandy and water and Mary was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol. She went to her room feeling ill and soon fell asleep, only to be woken by Smith getting into bed with her.

She alleged that intercourse had taken place. She begged to be allowed to go home which was refused but Smith did allow her to go for a walk and she managed to get back to her parent’s house in Paradise Street. Later in the day of the 24th her parents had her examined by surgeon, Mr. John Thompson, who would later testify at the trial that intercourse had indeed happened and that he found two bruises on her body, but he could not say whether the sex act was or was not consensual.

Smith maintained his complete innocence of the crime. The jury deliberated for 20 minutes before returning with a guilty verdict. Smith was then returned to the town jail.

Not everyone was convinced of Smith’s guilt and there were considerable efforts to obtain a reprieve for him, but to no avail. Mary’s parents supported the calls for a reprieve and wrote to the judge. In the condemned cell Smith wrote a document entitled “Particulars relating to my conviction for a rape on Mary Green” in which he claimed that Mary had consented to sex.

He had coffee and toast for his last breakfast and then took Holy Communion. On the morning of the 30th of March he was conveyed to the Nottingham House of Correction where the gallows had been erected on the steps leading up to the building. He was hanged at there at 10.15 a.m. on Wednesday the 30th of March 1836 by Samuel Haywood. Originally the execution had been scheduled for 10.00 a.m. but the Sheriff delayed it for 15 minutes to allow the post to arrive, in case there was a reprieve.

Smith had chosen a blue coat, black waistcoat and black trousers. The rope was placed around his neck and the hood on his head. Unusually for the period his hands were handcuffed behind him. He then ascended to the platform where the rope was thrown over the beam and tied back on itself, leaving very little drop.

He then addressed the crowd, saying, “Gentlemen, fellow countrymen, I die innocent, I die innocent, I die through perjury, may God have mercy on my soul”. Many in the crowd responded “Amen”. The drop fell at around 10.30 a.m. and Smith was reportedly “greatly convulsed” for several minutes.

Despite the rain, some 8,000 people witnessed this execution. After hanging for the usual hour his body was taken down and conveyed to the home of his wife in Chesterfield Street. He was buried in St. Nicholas Church.

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