Execution Kit

Warning: The following text contains references to capital punishment and executions. These details may be distressing to some readers. : The following text contains references to capital punishment and executions. These details may be distressing to some readers.

This (copy of a) photograph and handwritten annotation document part of the equipment once kept at Pentridge Prison for executions by hanging.

Labelled “3 Execution Kits (Hanging) – D Division H.M.P. Pentridge circa 1967,” the note explains that the nooses used brass rings rather than the traditional rope loop.

Held in Phillip Jones Collection.

Hangings at Pentridge

Pentridge Prison in Coburg became Victoria’s main site for executions after 1924, when a permanent gallows was installed inside D Division. Between 1924 and 1967, ten men and one woman were executed at Pentridge.

The Hangman's Box - on display at Old Melbourne Gaol*

The equipment for executions in the Hangman's Box was stored in the Sheriff's Office. The weight was used to stretch the rope while the leather covering the noose helped to prevent lacerations and bruising. The leather covering, introduced in 1939, was waxed to ensure that the brass ring slipped smoothly over the rope. The arm and leg shackles restrained the prisoner before the execution. After the hanging, the body was placed in a canvas bag and removed.*

More information on the executions at Pentridge can be found here:

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