The Execution of John Duffield

From the time of receiving sentence, not the least hope could be entertained of a reprieve for Duffield, though the Rev. Mr. Lowe, Rector of Darlaston, humanely followed the Judge to Shrewsbury, hoping to obtain a mitigation of punishment. Duffield being assiduously attended by the Rev. Mr. Knight, the Chaplain to the gaol, his mind soon became calm, and he appeared to meet his doom without emotion; his time being mostly employed in imploring mercy from his offended maker.

On the Wednesday before he suffered, his wife paid him a visit, attended by another relative, and the Rev. Mr. Lowe – the scene was truly affecting. Two other friends visited him on Friday. The day and night previous to the execution were spent most devoutly, and on being asked how he felt himself, he said, “God has been very good to me; nothing gives me uneasiness, only that I have not brought up my children as I ought to do – in the fear of the Lord.” The fears that he expressed about his children were fully justified by his son James, who was also sentenced to death only some six months after his father, as further detailed below.

Executions at this time took place in public. At Stafford they had until 1817 been carried out on the roof of the Gatehouse. The gate-house to Stafford Gaol stood on Gaol Road and contained the reception ward and a room for the warders. The roof of the gate-house was used as the place of execution until 1817. The lower outer wall was to prevent ladders being placed at the foot of the inner wall, whose ornate top layer of brickwork was loose, designed to collapse should anyone try to climb over. The gate-house was demolished in 1952 in order to widen Gaol Road.

On 21st March, 1817, Ann Statham became the last prisoner to be hanged there. Ann, a single mother, had murdered her infant daughter. Many sources report that as she knelt in prayer on the platform, the scaffold gave way and Ann, the Chaplain and other officers all fell to the roof below. The scaffold had to be re-assembled so that the execution could take place. This dramatic account is disputed by some, but the fact remains that from this time on, executions were performed on portable gallows that were wheeled out to the front of the Gaol as required. John Duffield was only the fourth person to be executed on this portable gallows.


Figure 6. Portable Gallows at Stafford Jail. Courtesy of Bev Parker.

On Saturday 21st August, 1819 at about six o’clock in the morning, service commenced in the chapel, which, with the administration of the holy sacrament, occupied the time till near eight, when the tolling of the bell announced the approach of the unfortunate criminal. A hurdle (traditionally a kind of rough sled similar to a piece of fencing made from thin branches interwoven to form a panel, to which the prisoner was tied, to be dragged behind a horse) being prepared, he was drawn to the door of the Lodge. A contemporary account of an execution at another gaol describes how a hurdle, painted black, with seats in each side was waiting to convey the prisoners to the scaffold and they were drawn along by a horse to the foot of the scaffold.

On reaching the foot of the ladder, a moment’s delay ensued, when Duffield spoke with great composure, saying, “I am going to Heaven.” He ascended the platform with a steady step, and while the executioner was adjusting the rope, did not show the least agitation. After spending about five minutes in fervent prayer, the signal was given, the drop fell, and he died almost without a struggle. When cut down, his body was given to his friends, who conveyed it to Darlaston (a distance of some nineteen miles) for interment the same day.

The Wolverhampton Chronicle of 25th August, 1819 reported that: "On Saturday morning, about half-past eight o’clock, John Duffield underwent the awful sentence of the law at the front of the county gaol at Stafford, for counterfeiting, at Darlaston, the coin of this realm called a shilling, of which he was convicted (with Josiah Wilkes and Thos. Earp) at our late assizes."

Newspapers report that he was 47 years of age, and left seven children. The Parish Registers of Darlaston show that John Duffield of Cramphill Bank, aged 46, executed at Stafford for coining, was buried at Darlaston on 21st August, 1819, Rector S. Lowe officiating.
   
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