Escapes from the Noose

Over the centuries of British history, from the Anglo-Saxons to the 1960s, our society imposed the death penalty for serious crime. In the Regency years, the number of capital offences increased to over 200. But by the side of retribution there was always clemency. What could save a felon from the noose? From earliest times, the condemned could look to the sovereign for a royal pardon. Then, in 1...