1852: The Last Public Hanging in NSW: Francis Thomas Green Executed at Darlinghurst Gaol
Francis Thomas Green was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol on 21 September 1852 for the murder of John Jones at Buckley’s Creek on 10 March that year, shot dead with a pistol. The execution holds a grim distinction: it was the last public hanging carried out in New South Wales.
The morning of the execution broke dark and drizzling, yet the crowd was of the usual size, with women reportedly outnumbering men by nearly three to one. A carriage carrying women described by the press as being of “respectable exterior” was drawn up directly in front of the gallows, its occupants showing what one newspaper called a “disgusting eagerness” to secure the best view, while mothers nursed infants and children ran boisterously among the onlookers.
Green’s wife visited him for a final farewell the day before his death, the only moment he was seen to show real emotion. He spent his last night in prayer with a Roman Catholic priest, having initially refused all ministers before requesting Catholic clergy in his final days.
Green made a partial admission to a gaol official before his death, saying that Jones had fallen by his hand “in the heat of a sudden quarrel”.
