Billington family
| Ethnicity | English |
|---|---|
| Current region | Lancashire |
| Place of origin | Great Britain |
| Members |
|
| Connected families | Hart wrestling family |
| Distinctions | Executioners, Hand-to-hand combat |
| Name origin and meaning | It's the name of several villages in England, meaning The settlement of the Billingas. |
The Billington family is a British family of English nationality which has had a long history in England as state employed executioners as well as several members who ventured into the world of combat sports and professional wrestling. Two of the family's sports oriented members would go on to marry into the Canadian Hart wrestling family.
James Billington (1847 – 13 December 1901) was a hangman for the British government from 1884 until 1901. Billington was said to have had a "lifelong fascination" with hanging, and made replica gallows in his back yard on which he practised with weights and dummies and, it was rumoured locally, stray dogs and cats. Billington died at home from bronchitis in the early hours of 13 December 1901, one month after his last execution. Billington had three sons – Thomas, William, and John – who all ended up being executioners. He had also been a wrestler in his youth.
Thomas Billington (born 1872) was an English executioner from 1897 to 1901. He was the oldest son of James Billington. He gained a job as an assistant executioner in 1897 thanks to his father. He usually worked as an assistant to his father or brother, William. In December 1901, James Billington died. Thomas died in December 1901, within a month of his father of pneumonia at the age of 29.
William Billington (1875 – 1952) was an English executioner. He was on the Home Office list from 1902 to 1905. William was second son of executioner James Billington, and carried out his first hanging in July 1899. But and underwent formal training in early 1900. After his father died in December 1901, William became the principal executioner for England. He was at first assisted by his older brother Thomas and then by his younger brother John, along with Henry Pierrepoint.
...
Wikipedia