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Jack Ketch
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Etching by Jan Luyken showing the beheading of James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, in London in 1685; the executioner holds Scott's head over a block as onlookers watch.
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Byname of:
John Ketch
Died:
November 1686
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James Scott, duke of Monmouth; Jack Ketch
James Scott, duke of Monmouth; Jack Ketch Jack Ketch executing James Scott, duke of Monmouth, etching by Jan Luyken, 1698.

Jack Ketch

English executioner
Also known as: John Ketch
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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ā€¢History

Jack Ketch (died November 1686) was an English executioner notorious for his barbarous inefficiency; for nearly two centuries after his death his nickname was popularly applied to all of Englandā€™s executioners.

Ketch is believed to have received his appointment as public hangman in 1663. The first recorded mention of him appears in an anti-Roman Catholic broadside published in 1678 entitled The Plotters Ballad; Being Jack Ketchā€™s Incomparable Receipt for the Cure of Traytorous Recusants; or Wholsesome Physick for a Popish Contagion. He is reported to have executed Lord William Russell (1683) in a brutal and inept manner, and in 1685 he took at least eight strokes of the axe in beheading James Scott, duke of Monmouth.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.
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