18 July 1806 – Andrew Akow

Andrew Akow was sent to the gallows on this day in 1806.

He’d been done for murder out at sea. Anything that happened over international water, such as this particular crime, came under the jurisdiction of the High Court of Admiralty, which convened at the Old Bailey.

Though this was a capital crime, rather than the standard sites for stringing people up, the offenders of these crimes sailed up the road to east London’s Execution Dock, where they would be hanged until they were dead, then slung up in chains for the duration of three high tides so others would get the certain message that punishment would be swift and harsh.

Akow found this out the hard way after he ended his days at the Wapping-based gallows, aged 36.

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