Memorial for gibbeted hanged man

The gibbet was a contraption used to display a body

A memorial for the last man hanged and gibbeted in England is to be created.

Miner William Jobling, 30, was executed 175 years ago for the murder of local magistrate Nicholas Fairles, 71, but it is believed he may have been innocent.

After his hanging, during the 1832 miners' strike in Durham and Northumberland, his body was displayed inside a gibbet contraption in Jarrow.

Now Jarrow Community Area Forum has decided to establish a memorial to him. His body was on display for six weeks.

It has not yet been decided what form the memorial will take.

Jarrow councillor Jim Perry said: "He was the last man in this country to be gibbeted and it was never proven beyond reasonable doubt that he did it.

"Local historians now believe he was a scapegoat.

Outlawed in 1843

"The climate of the day was one in which he was made an example of.

"He was hanged, then his body was dipped in tar and put in a steel cage and hung on public display on a gibbet, as a deterrent to anyone contemplating carrying out a similar act.

"Even for its day, it was horrific."

When Fairles was killed, Jobling was with fellow pitman Ralph Armstrong, who the dying magistrate is said to have identified as his killer.

But Armstrong escaped and was never found. Gibbeting in England was outlawed in 1843.

Mr Perry said the memorial could be ready within months, although its location in Jarrow has not yet been decided.