Alexander Green | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Alexander_Green_Cert_of_Freedom_1831.jpg) Extract from Green's Certificate of Freedom, dated 26 January 1831. | |
| Born | c. 1802 |
| Died | 31 August 1879 Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation | Hangman |
| Years active | 1834 – 1855 |
Alexander Green (c. 1802–1879) was an Australian executioner. He arrived in the colony of New South Wales in 1824 as a convict and was granted a Certificate of Freedom in 1831. During the period 1826 to late 1833 Green was employed as a flagellator, or scourger, at Sydney, Port Stephens and the Hunter Valley, inflicting floggings on those who had received a sentence of corporal punishment. In February 1834 he was appointed as the colony's public executioner, beginning a career of twenty-one years during which Green carried out about 250 hangings. During most of his employment as the New South Wales hangman, judicial executions were able to be viewed by the public. His last execution in February 1855 was the first private hanging after the enactment of legislation to abolish public executions in New South Wales. Towards the end of his career Green's behaviour became increasingly erratic due to drunkenness and mental instability. He was declared to be insane in April 1855 and committed to a lunatic asylum. Alexander Green died at the Parramatta Asylum on 31 August 1879.[A]