ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the changing penal outcomes of convicts sentenced to death during a period of rapid political and social change and legal reform. Based on evidence collected in the pioneering Capital Convictions at the Old Bailey and Digital Panopticon databases, it assesses the basis on which decisions about executions, pardons and alternative punishments were made, focusing on the role played by the specific circumstances of each case: the nature of the offence, and the character, age and gender of the convict. Despite the professionalisation of the pardoning process, the evidence confirms the continuing importance of discretion, as the gap between the number of death sentences and the number of executions grew ever wider. But the cultural norms which shaped decision-making shifted significantly.
