This is a list of people executed in New South Wales. It lists people who were executed by British (and from 1901, Australian) authorities within the modern-day boundaries of New South Wales. For people executed in other parts of Australia, see the sidebar.
Within weeks of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 and the establishment of Sydney, New South Wales as the first permanent European settlement, Thomas Barrett became the first person to be executed in Australia under British law.
From 1788 to 1830
Location of execution not indicated James Reece – 8 February 1799 – Hanged for bestiality with a sow. Reece tried to cut his own throat on the morning of his execution. John Hardy – 2 June 1800 – Hanged for vagrancy and theft. William Jones – March 1803 – Hanged for robbing Thomas Harley, a settler from Prospect. James Lovell – 22 February 1805 – Hanged for forging and uttering. George Holland – 11 October 1806 – Hanged for breaking into the house of Laughlane Gallighcoghan at Parramatta and stealing 10 shillings. Holland had assaulted the occupant of the home, described as a "feeble old man". Dennis Kaneen – 27 November 1806 – Hanged for breaking into the house of James Hogsen and stealing six bushels of maize, some meat, sugar and a copper coin amounting to nine shillings and three pence. William Page – 15 December 1806 – Hanged for burglary from the house of William Tracey at Fennel Farm. Abraham Smith – 15 December 1806 – Hanged for burglary from the house of William Tracey at Fennel Farm. William Poxam – 4 April 1807 – Hanged for sheep stealing. John Hughes – 4 April 1807 – Hanged for entering the house of Edward Redmond and stealing a chest containing cash, bills and other property. Hugh Dowling – 28 September 1808 – Hanged for armed burglary of the house of William Styles at Nepean and stealing cash and clothing. John McCabe - 21 January 1813 – Hanged for robbery of William Parish in Hobart John Townshend – 21 January 1813 – Hanged for robbery of William Parish in Hobart Peter Gory – 21 January 1813 – Hanged for robbery of William Parish in Hobart William Davis – 11 June 1813 – Hanged for cutting and maiming William Mason with a knife during a drunken brawl at Ultimo. Thomas Thorpe – September 1813 – Hanged for assaulting and robbing John Galligan of a silver watch on the King's Highway. William Gray – March or April 1814 – Hanged for highway robbery. Stopped the cart of Edward Powell Jr and John Beckwith on the King's Highway and robbed them of ten gallons of spirits and other items. Dennis Donovan – 12 July 1814 – Hanged for burglary of the house of John Cowley at Surry Hills, the murders of William Alder, Thomas White and Hannah Sculler on the Hawkesbury, and for rape. His body was handed over for anatomisation and dissection. Patrick Dawson – 9 February 1816 – Hanged for the robbery and murder of Edward Pugh at his home in Richmond. His body was dissected and anatomised. Philip McGee – 9 February 1816 – Hanged for the robbery and murder of Edward Pugh at his home in Richmond. His body was dissected and anatomised. Henry Laycock – 9 February 1816 – Hanged for the robbery and murder of Edward Pugh at his home in Richmond. His body was dissected and anatomised. Thomas Hill – 1 March 1816 – Hanged for cutting and maiming police constable Thomas Smith near Parramatta. William Langford – 1 March 1816 – Hanged for highway robbery on the Parramatta Road, robbing William Wright of a silver watch. Elizabeth Anderson – 19 July 1816 – Hanged for the murder of her husband, John Anderson, at Pitt Town. Her body was handed over to surgeons to be dissected and anatomised. James Stock – 19 July 1816 – Hanged for the murder of John Anderson at Pitt Town. His body was handed over for dissection and anatomisation. Nicholas Knight – 19 July 1816 – Hanged for highway robbery of Mrs Pearce on the Liverpool Rd, of two gallons of rum and a quantity of barley. Thomas Collins – 1 November 1816 – Hanged for highway robbery having violently assaulted and robbed the cart of John Andrews on the Parramatta Road. Hugh MacAlaire – 1 November 1816 – Hanged for highway robbery having violently assaulted and robbed the cart of John Andrews on the Parramatta Road. Daniel Moowattin (also called Daniel Mowatty) – 1 November 1816 – Hanged for the rape of a fifteen-year-old girl at Parramatta. The first Indigenous person legally hanged in Australia. Patrick Ryan – 19 December 1825 – Hanged for arson in setting fire to the house of Richard Thompson at Bathurst. John Judd – 30 April 1830 – Hanged for robbery and putting in fear of John Smith in the Singleton area. After receiving sentence of death from Judge Dowling, Judd remarked to the court "My Lord and Gentlemen of the Jury, it is only five minutes choking." John Roach – 30 April 1830 – Hanged for burglary and putting in fear in the Singleton area.
Sydney Cove (1788-9) Thomas Barrett – 27 February 1788 – Barrett was publicly hanged at Sydney Cove for stealing or conspiring to steal from government stores. He was the first person hanged in the colony of New South Wales. John Bennett – 2 May 1788 – A 19-year-old convict who was publicly hanged at Sydney Cove for theft. Samuel Payton – 28 June 1788 – Hanged at Sydney Cove for stealing shirts, stockings and combs. He was a 20-year-old convict and stonemason.Xavier Duff, "Noose: True Stories of Australians Who Died at the Gallows", p. 9 Edward Corbett – 28 June 1788 – Hanged at Sydney Cove for the theft of four cows. James Daly – December 1788 – Hanged at Sydney Cove for theft of a handkerchief from a fellow convict using force and arms. James Baker – 27 March 1789 – One of six Marines hanged at Sydney Cove for theft of government stores. James Brown – 27 March 1789 – One of six Marines hanged at Sydney Cove for theft of government stores. Richard Lukes – 27 March 1789 – One of six Marines hanged at Sydney Cove for theft of government stores. Thomas Jones – 27 March 1789 – One of six Marines hanged at Sydney Cove for theft of government stores. Luke Haines/Haynes – 27 March 1789 – One of six Marines hanged at Sydney Cove for theft of government stores. Richard Askew/Asky – 27 March 1789 – One of six Marines hanged at Sydney Cove for theft of government stores. Ann Davis (alias Judith Jones) – 23 November 1789 – The first woman hanged in Australia. A First Fleet convict, she was found guilty of theft from a fellow convict at Sydney Cove. She claimed to be pregnant to avoid the noose and some old women were instructed to inspect her. One of the women told the court, "Gentlemen, she is as much with child as I am."
Sydney
Sydney 1790s Thomas Sanderson – 10 January 1790 – Hanged at Sydney for stealing with force of arms flour, beef, pork, associated chattels and goods from Thomas Steel and Joseph Bishop. William Chafe – 20 April 1790 – Hanged at Sydney for burglary from the house of James Sunnyhill in Sydney Cove. Hugh Low – 24 August 1790 – Hanged at Sydney for sheep stealing. He had behaved with merit during the shipwreck of the Guardian; a letter of pardon arrived from His Majesty 12 months after his execution. James Chapman – 28 July 1791 – Hanged at Sydney for breaking into the house of John Patree and stealing a shirt. James Collington – 8 February 1792 – Hanged at Sydney for breaking into the hut of the baker John Campbell and stealing bread, flour and a check apron. At the hanging tree he addressed the assembled convicts before his execution, warning them to avoid the path he had pursued; but said that he was induced by hunger to commit the crime for which he suffered. John Crowe/Crow – 10 December 1793 – Hanged at Sydney for burglary. Archibald Macdonald – 14 July 1794 – Hanged at Sydney for burglary. John Hemming – 17 July 1794 – Hanged at Sydney for burglary from the house of Robert Spriggs. John Bevan – 6 October 1794 – Hanged at Sydney for burglary from the house of William Fielder. John Hill – 16 October 1794 – Hanged at Sydney for murder in the course of robbery. He had fatally stabbed Simon Burn in the left side of the chest at Parramatta. William Smith – 16 November 1795 – Hanged at Sydney for burglary from the house of William Parrish at Prospect Hill. John Fenlow – 8 August 1796 – Hanged at Sydney for the murder of his servant David Lane at Mulgrave, on the Hawkesbury. Francis Morgan – 30 November 1796 – Hanged at Sydney for the murder of Simon Raven. Following his execution his body was gibbeted on Pinchgut Island in Sydney Harbour. His skeleton was still hanging there four years after his execution. John Lawler/Lawor – 30 November 1796 – Hanged at Sydney for robbing the public stores. Martin McEwan – 30 November 1796 – Soldier, hanged at Sydney for robbing the public stores. Samuel Mobbs – 16 March 1797 – Hanged at Sydney for "robbing the public stores".Samuel Mobbs - 1797, NSW Capital Convictions Database.David Collins (1798), An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales From Its First Settlement, in January 1788, to August 1801, pages 24-25. John Rayner – 31 July 1797 – Hanged at Sydney for burglary. Johnathan Boroughbridge – April 1798 – Hanged at Sydney for piracy after he and accomplices stole two boats with the intent of escaping the colony. Michael Gibson – April 1798 – Hanged at Sydney for piracy after he and accomplices stole two boats with the intent of escaping the colony. Samuel Wright – February 1799 – Hanged at Sydney for burglary from the house of Simeon Lord in High St (Lower George St). Wright had been reprieved at the gallows in 1793, when previously sentenced to hang for burglary. Thomas Jones – 6 July 1799 – Publicly hanged in Sydney on the site of the crime for the murder of missionary Samuel Clode in the brickfields. A soldier in the NSW Corps, he had owed the missionary money but when the man came to collect he was murdered by Jones with his wife and two neighbours as accomplices. Clode was stabbed, his throat cut and his skull fractured with an axe. The Jones house was pulled down and burned on orders of the governor, the gallows were erected on its spot and he and two of his accomplices were hanged. Jones' corpse was later gibbeted. Elizabeth Jones – 6 July 1799 – Wife of Thomas Jones. Hanged at Sydney for her part in the murder of missionary Samuel Clode at the brickfields in Sydney. After being hanged her body was handed over for surgical dissection. William Elberry – 6 July 1799 – Hanged at Sydney for his part in the murder of Samuel Clode, executed where the murder took place then gibbeted.
Sydney 1800-09 William Meredeth – 4 July 1800 – Hanged at Sydney for escaping from custody. Thomas Thompson – 4 July 1800 – A corporal in the New South Wales Corps. Hanged at Sydney for forgery. James Riley - December 1800 - Hanged at Sydney for burglary. However another source indicates that he may not in fact have been executed. Charles Davis - February 1801 - Hanged at Sydney David Burton - 5 December 1801 - Hanged at Sydney for the murder of Mary Hailey Laughlan Doyle – 14 March 1803 – Hanged at Sydney for robbery of Thomas Neal of Richmond Hill. John Lynch – March 1803 – Hanged at Sydney for feloniously entering the house of Thomas Neal of Richmond Hill. John Francis Morgan – March 1803 – Hanged at Sydney for feloniously entering the house of Thomas Neal of Richmond Hill. Patrick Ross – March 1803 – Hanged at Sydney for feloniously entering the house of Thomas Neal of Richmond Hill. Thomas Shanks – March 1803 – Hanged at Sydney for feloniously entering the house of Thomas Neal of Richmond Hill. Michael Wollaghan – March 1803 – Hanged at Sydney for feloniously entering the house of Thomas Neal of Richmond Hill. Laurence Dempsey – 19 March 1803 – Hanged at Sydney for feloniously entering the house of Thomas Neal of Richmond Hill. Timothy Mulch/Mulcahy/Malahoy – 25 March 1803 – Hanged at Sydney for feloniously entering the house of Thomas Neal of Richmond Hill.