Tom Long (hangman)
Appearance
Tom Long (died 15 December 1908[1]) was the New Zealand government hangman in the late 19th-early 20th century,[2] although it was not a full-time position.[3] He executed the "baby farm" murderer Minnie Dean, the only woman hanged in New Zealand. Long, an Irishman who claimed to have been an executioner in Australia, was appointed as New Zealand's first official hangman in 1877. In a newspaper interview in 1905 he claimed to have executed "fifteen in this country but hundreds in India.". He worked as a bushman and is said to have taken his swag through Wairarapa in between jobs. He was killed in 1908 while felling trees at Kauangaroa east of Wanganui.
People hanged by Long
- 1895 Minnie Dean, murderer.
- 1897 William Sheehan, murderer.[4]
- 1905 James William Ellis, murderer.[5]
- 1877 William Woodgate, murderer[6]
References
- ^ "Tom Long Killed". Hawera & Normanby Star. 16 December 1908. p. 5.
- ^ "Russian Jack". Masterton District Library and Wairarapa Archive. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
- ^ "Tom Long". Hawera & Normanby Star. 20 March 1905. p. 4.
- ^ "Furore over murder". Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. 20 July 2002. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- ^ "Conservation of Ellis Hut". Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- ^ Winter, Contributed by Gareth; Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Tom Long, hangman". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
See also