For crimes for which the death sentence was mandatory e. g. for the huge number of capital crimes prior to 1838 and for persons found guilty of murder up from 1861 to 1957, the prisoner would be asked if they had anything to say why sentence of death should not be pronounced upon them. A woman might "plead her belly,” i. e. that she was pregnant and up to 1827, men could demand ”benefit of clergy” which was a wonderful excuse cooked up by the church to ensure that clerics could not be executed for most offences. However, if neither of these excuses were available, the judge (or his chaplain) would place the ”black cap” a nine inch square of black silk, on his head and proceed to pronounce sentence.
Up to the early 1950’s, the judge would say ”(full name of prisoner) you will be taken hence to the prison in which you were last confined and from there to a place of execution where you will be hanged by the neck until dead and thereafter your body buried within the precincts of the prison and may the Lord have mercy upon your soul”. In 1948, The Royal Commission on Capital Punishment recommended that the sentence be modified slightly by the substitution of the words ”suffer death by hanging” for ”be hanged by the neck until dead” and this applied to those convicted of capital murder between 1957 and 1964. Note that the sentence did not change with the ending of public execution or the introduction of the long drop. The Murder Act of 1752 specified that execution take place two days after sentence, unless the third day was a Sunday in which case it would be held over until the Monday. From 1834, a minimum of two Sundays had to elapse before the sentence was carried out, and from 1868 onwards, three Sundays. From 1902, this was reinforced by the Home Office which suggested Tuesday as the day for execution. In some cases, 20th century prisoners spent longer in the condemned cell due awaiting their appeal hearing, but many condemned chose not to appeal and their execution was frequently carried out within the three weeks.
World History
