Age: 30
Sex: male
Crime: murder
Date Of Execution: 26 Aug 1890
Execution Place:
Method: unknown
Executioner: unknown
Source: http://web.archive.org/web/20070624062456/http://www.fred.net/jefalvey/execute.h
1890
August 26th: James HARRISON (30)
Leeds
A labourer from Bowling, near Bradford, convicted of the murder of his wife Hannah, whom he battered to death in May. Harrison lived with his wife and the woman who had adopted him as a child. He was an easy going hard working man who was kind to his wife and mother, always giving them money when he received his wages. His wife was quick tempered and would often provoke her husband into violence. At 5am on the morning of 12 May, Harrison left his bed and went downstairs to light the fire. He was still enraged by something his wife had done on the previous evening, and after starting the fire he picked up the poker, went back to the bedroom, and battered her to death. He immediately confessed and at his trial at West Riding Assizes before Mr Justice Charles on 6 August, he pleaded guilty through extreme provocation. The jury recommended him to mercy but it was ignored and he was hanged by James Billington.
