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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
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The common hangman January 1880

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

The common hangman January 1880

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National Library of Australia

[The Bulletin, 31 January 1880, p4 via Trove]

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Robert ‘Nosey Bob’ Howard

Subjects

Death and Dying Law and Order Law enforcement Punishment

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Howard, Robert Rice

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The Bulletin

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National Library of Australia

Robert ‘Nosey Bob’ Howard

Robert Rice Howard was the official executioner or hangman in New South Wales for nearly 30 years. Initially a successful cab driver in mid-nineteenth century Sydney, he took on the role of 'finisher of the law' after losing his nose in an accident with a horse and losing much of his business.

Death and Dying

Punishment

Law enforcement

Law and Order

Howard, Robert Rice

Robert 'Nosey Bob' Howard was the New South Wales public hangman from 1876 until his retirement in 1904. He acted as assistant executioner several times prior to his official permanent appointment. Howard had been a successful hansom cab driver who was apparenlty popular with his wealthy Darling Point clientele (it was rumoured that he had been the preferred cab driver for Prince Alfred during his visit to Sydney in 1868), but after being kicked in the head by one of his horses and losing his nose, his disfigured appearance deterred his former patrons and his business failed. He moved from Paddington with his family to Bondi Beach in 1888 and lived there until his death in 1906.

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The Bulletin

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Weekly magazine influential in Australian literature and culture, particularly before World War I.