WORLD HISTORY AND FACTS

John Lee - "The man they could not hang". One of hangman James Berry’s most famous (non) jobs was the strange case of John Lee at 8.00 a.m. on Monday the 23rd of February 1885 at Exeter prison.  All the normal preparations were made on the gallows, set up in the coach house, but when Berry operated the lever, nothing happened.  Berry and the two warders holding Lee, stamped on the trap doors but to no avail, and Lee was then taken back to his cell whilst the release mechanism was tested. It worked perfectly.   The process was now repeated but with the same result and yet again the trap worked perfectly after Lee was removed.  After the third unsuccessful attempt at 8.10 a.m., the governor stayed the hanging and the Under Sheriff travelled to London where he briefed the Home Office.  As a result Lee was reprieved later that same day by the Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt and the official document sent by train late that night.  The governor immedia...