Episode 3 of 3
First Execution Under New Law
- When
- 13 August 1868
- Where
- Maidstone Gaol
The first execution under the new law was carried out by William Calcraft on 13 August 1868 at Maidstone Gaol.
Thomas Wells, aged 18, was hanged for the murder of Edward Walshe, the stationmaster at Dover Priory railway station. This event marked the practical implementation of the new law requiring private executions.
Sources
- Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868 Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-20
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.