Executioner: Pierrepoint

by Albert Pierrepoint

I am slightly wary of autobiographies written by people that come from a field of work as far from writing as it can possibly be. There was no co-author listed, so this probably was penned by Mr Pierrepoint himself.

In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by the fluency of the account, it did take me about 20 pages to get into it and familiarize myself with the language and time period of his life story.

Mr Pierrepoint, despite being probably the most experienced British executioner, seems to have been a very reasonable man that did not brag about his profession and had his doubts about capital punishment. However, he did believe that if a person is to be executed, he/she should be put to death as quickly and as free from suffering as possible.

He just so happened to be active during the post-war years of the German trials and executions, which is the main reason he officiated as many hangings as he did.

His life story was made into a film (of course it was) called Pierrepoint (US title The Last Hangman) and starring Timothy Spall. There is also another book about the Pierrepoint family available (the executioner business was a family trade) called Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners (currently on my TBR pile).

6/10