An Uncommon Hangman

The life and deaths of Robert 'Nosey Bob' Howard

Rachel Franks

• Publisher: NewSouth
• Year: 2022
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781742238401
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: History

Executioners were once a critical component of the justice system in New South Wales. In an era when judges handed down death sentences as easily as they toasted the good health of the monarch, someone had to do the dirty work of the authorities. Robert 'Nosey Bob' Howard used to be a household name. Today, the noseless hangman who sparked fear and fascination everywhere he went is largely forgotten, yet Howard is vital to understanding attitudes towards capital punishment in Australia. Howard's story is a critical chapter in the history of how generally enthusiastic spectators at early executions were overtaken by campaigners for the abolition of the death penalty. This dramatic tale of life, death, and radical social change is told through the sixty-one men and one woman who met Nosey Bob, under the worst possible circumstances, when he served as a New South Wales executioner between 1876 and 1904.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Conversions
• Abbreviations
• Introduction Looking for A Noseless Hangman
• Charter 1 Learning on the Job
• Chapter 2 Allowing the Law to take its Course
• Charter 3 In the Swing of Things
• Charter 4 Keeping Count
• Chapter 5 The Horror of Botched Hangings
• Chapter 6 A Cruel Equality
• Chapter 7 Short and Long Drops
• Chapter 8 A Busy Time at Work
• Chapter 9 Criminals as Fodder for the Media
• Chapter 10 The Executioner’s Workload Eases
• Chapter 11 A Golden Jubilee
• Chapter 12 Laid to Rest
• Epilogue The First and Last Men
• Appendix A Executioners of New South Wales
• Appendix B The Patients of Robert ‘Nosey Bob’ Howard
• Select Bibliography
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Index