Henry Delvin

A father of seven sentenced to death by Lord Adam at Glasgow Circuit Court on 2nd September, for the murder of his wife. In June, he beat her to death with a poker at Benhar near Shotts, while their children looked on. On the morning of the execution the hangman entered the cell and pinioned the condemned man, then had to wait until the bailey had signed a warrant before the procession formed that led to the scaffold. It was reported that Delvin behaved like an utter coward on the walk to the gallows, and had to be held erect by the warders. After Berry pulled the lever and the trap fell, the officials were horrified to hear a snorting from the pit; it was obvious that the drop of four feet had failed to break his neck and that he had died from strangulation. This was not made public at the time as it had become standard practice to record that all executions passed off without incident. This terrible exhibition took place on the 23rd September 1890. Delvin was forty five when he went to the gallows in Glasgow.