The Last Gay Men Executed in Britain

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2024

⏱️ 26 minutes

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Summary

Why was Georgian Britain's penal code so bloodthirsty when it came to homosexuality? Was Britain unusually cruel in this regard? And does this animosity persist to the present day? For LGBT+ History Month, we hear the story of James Pratt and John Smith, the last two men executed for homosexuality in Britain.

Dan is joined by politician and historian Christ Bryant MP, who takes us back to 1830s Britain and puts us at the centre of this controversial trial.

Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Anisha Deva.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everybody welcome to Dan Snow's history hit.
0:03.2	In 1835, a young Charles Dickens visited the horrific prison in London,
0:09.7	Newgate prison.
0:11.2	He described the disgusting conditions in the prison, which were themselves a danger to life.
0:17.0	And he then talks about two particular inmates that he was very struck by.
0:21.0	They had nothing to expect from the mercy of the crown. Their
0:24.7	doom was sealed. No plea could be urged an extenuation of their crime, and they knew well that for
0:31.4	them there was no hope in this world.
0:34.8	The two hopeless men that Charles Dickens were describing
0:38.1	were James Pratt and John Smith.
0:41.5	They were in this dreadful prison, in the shadow of the hang man's noose for the atrocious
0:47.0	crime of having sex with each other, at least, so the pub landlord claimed.
0:53.0	Homosexuality, buggery, sodomy, was illegal in this period, not just illegal,
0:58.3	but punishable, technically, by death.
1:01.4	Very, very few men faced that ultimate sanction, but James and John did. Just a few days after
1:08.7	their visit by Dickens, they were hanged by the neck until they were dead.
1:14.0	At their execution, the public hissed.
1:17.0	There were 73 men in London that were condemned to death that year.
1:21.0	Those sentences were commuted in every single case except that of
1:27.0	James and John.
1:29.1	Why were James and John killed?
1:30.8	Why were they even in prison?
	...

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