| Citation |
NHG-P.765.045
16 Aug 1765:12 (462)
London, June 15. . . [13 lines] Extract of a Letter from
Ivelchester, May 9. Yesterday Mary Norwood, for poisoning
her husband, Joseph Norwood, of Axbridge, in this county,
was burned here, pursuant to her sentence, in the presence
of about eight thousand spectators. She was bro't out of
the prison about three o'clock in the afternoon, bare foot:
she was covered with a tarr'd cloth, made like a shift, a
tarr'd bonnet on her head, & her legs, feet, and arms had
tar on them: the heat of the weather melting the tar on the
bonnet, it ran over her face, so that she made a shocking
appearance: she was put on a hurdle, and drawn on a sledge
to the place of execution, which was very near the gallows.
After spending some time in prayer, and singing a hymn, the
executioner placed her on a tar-barrel, about three feet
high: a rope (which ran in a pulley through the stake) was
fixed about her neck, she herself placing it properly with
her hands; . . . [17 more lines, describing her execution]
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