AN EXECUTION at the former Worcester Jail in Castle Street was described in detail in Berrow's Journal this week exactly a century ago.

Back then, it was the dubious privilege of predecessors of mine as local reporters to attend hangings inside the city jail as formal witnesses of the harrowing events.

The convict who went to the gallows this week 100 years ago was one Samuel Middleton, a 46-year-old hay trusser who hailed from the Droitwich area. He had been found guilty at the County Assizes a few weeks earlier of murdering his young wife and then setting fire to their cottage at Foxlydiate with her corpse inside.

Witnesses stated that he was a brutal husband who had been constantly violent to his wife when in drink. On the night of the murder, he had been in a drunken fury and dealt her a death blow with a poker. He then went round to close relatives exclaiming "If she isn't dead, she ought to be."

The Journal's description of the 1902 execution day records: "When the representatives of the Press were admitted to the jail, there were only a few adults and boys assembled outside the prison, ostensibly in expectation that they would witness the raising of the black flag, but this procedure has, under a recent regulation, been abolished.

"No black flag is now run up, although the staff for it still remains above the main doorway, and the tolling of the bell is not now commenced until the actual fall of the gallows drop.

"The scene outside the prison was in striking contrast to that observable in the days of public executions - two of which the writer remembers. Then there was huge crowd on each occasion, whose noisy demeanour and coarse expressions were a disgrace to civilisation.

"Once inside the jail, the reporters had to wait in the drive way before being conducted to the place of execution. The doors being thrown open revealed a place resembling a coach-house, but presenting a grim appearance.

A rope and noose hung from a beam over the drop, whereon were chalk marks denoting the exact spot were Middleton was to stand, and a leather strap about an-inch-and-a-half wide lay nearby. The drop appeared to be about five feet, the convict being a heavy man.

"At one minute to eight, the warden gave notice that the procession was coming, and directly afterwards Middleton appeared, supported on either side by a warder, but walking apparently with firmness and not actually requiring their aid. He stood facing the white-washed wall of the building and therefore had his back to the spectators.

"The executioner, Billington junior, was upon the drop the instant the condemned man reached it and, stooping down, fastened the leather strap round Middleton's legs. He arms had already been pinioned. The cap was then placed over Middleton's face and the noose around his neck.

"The execution then shouted 'Stand Clear," and the warders supporting Middleton stepped aside from the fatal trap doors. With a pull of the lever, down dropped Middleton and there was a dull thud as he fell into the pit where, beyond the swaying and twisting of the rope for a few seconds, there was no motion of the body, death having apparently been instantaneous.

"Middleton had been very pale as he approached the drop, and he murmured not a word, looking neither to the right nor left. As the drop opened up, a few scarcely audible lines from the Burial Service were uttered by the Prison Chaplain. Overall, the execution was carried out with remarkable efficiency.

"Outside the prison were gathered not more than 50 people, and their morbid curiosity was satisfied when they heard the tolling of the bell and read the official notice that the execution had been carried out. On foot and cycle, they gradually dispersed."

The1902 Journal listed the 11 executions carried out at Worcester Jail over the previous 65 years.