• 1835 – James Pratt and John Smith became the last people to be executed in England for sodomy.

James Pratt and John Smith

James Pratt (1805–1835), also known as John Pratt, and John Smith (1795–1835) were two London men who, in November 1835, became the last two to be executed for sodomy in England. Pratt and Smith were arrested in August of that year after allegedly being spied through a keyhole having sex in the rented room of another man, William Bonill. Bonill, although not present, was transported to Australia as an accessory to the crime, where he died.

Modern interpretation has cast doubt on the facts and legality of the conviction. In January 2017, Pratt and Smith were among those who were posthumously pardoned by the Alan Turing law which pardoned those who had been convicted of criminalised homosexuality offences which no longer exist in the UK.

Biographies

James Pratt
Born: 1805
Died: 27 November 1835 (aged 30); Newgate Prison, London, United Kingdom
Cause of death: Execution by hanging
Conviction(s): Buggery (posthumously pardoned in 2017)
Criminal penalty: Death

John Smith
Born: 1795
Died: 27 November 1835 (aged 40); Newgate Prison, London, United Kingdom
Cause of death: Execution by hanging
Conviction(s): Buggery (posthumously pardoned in 2017)
Criminal penalty: Death

James Pratt was born in 1805 and worked as a groom. He was married and lived with his wife and children at Deptford, London.

John Smith was born in 1795 and was from Southwark Christchurch. He was described in court proceedings and contemporary newspaper reports as an unmarried labourer, although other sources state he was married and worked as a servant.

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Trial and execution

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William Bonill was one of 290 prisoners transported to Australia on the ship Asia, which departed England on 5 November 1835 and arrived in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) on 21 February 1836. Bonill died at the age of 74 at New Norfolk Hospital in Van Diemen's Land on 29 April 1841.

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