It was interesting to see your piece on Chippenham felon John Parker’s skull (Chippenham Gazette & Herald, May 15).
You state that there is no title or date to the newspaper cutting reporting the execution in Gloucester. This was possibly the Gloucester Journal and the date of the double hanging is September 11, 1813.
Parker and Rodway were part of a notorious gang of housebreakers which had been terrorising the Bristol area and the prison chaplain spent some time trying to get them to name their associates, without success.
It may be of interest that of the 57 or so executions carried out in Gloucester in the first 20 years of the 19th century, only nine were hung for murder.
Sheep and horse stealing, highway robbery and burglary were the most common capital offences.
Parker and Rodway themselves had been found guilty of stealing silver spoons, a damask tablecloth and two shirts from Mrs Grey of Clifton. These were certainly hard times for the criminal classes.
Patrick Hodges, Brinkworth, Chippenham.
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