Official Table of Drops

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Official Table of Drops

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The Official Table of Drops, published by the British Home Office, is a manual which was used to calculate the appropriate length of rope for long drop hangings.

Following a series of failed hangings including those of John 'Babbacombe' Lee, a committee chaired by Henry Bruce (Baron Aberdare) was formed in 1886 to discover and report on the most effective manner of hanging. The results of the committee's report were published in 1888.

A significantly revised edition of the Table of Drops was published in 1913, when the length of rope previously used for a 14 stone individual was prescribed for an 8 stone individual.

Body weight 1888–1913 drop Modern drop
Stone lb kg ft cm ft cm
14.0 196 89 8′0" 244 5′5" 165
13.5 189 86 8′2" 249 5′6" 168
13.0 182 82¾ 8′4" 254 5′8" 173
12.5 175 79½ 8′6" 259 5′11" 180
12.0 168 76¼ 8′8" 264 6′1" 185
11.5 161 73¼ 8′10" 269 6′4" 193
11.0 154 70 9′0" 274 6′6" 198
10.5 147 66¾ 9′2" 279 6′8" 203
10.0 140 63¾ 9′4" 284 7′1" 215
9.5 133 60½ 9′6" 290 7′5" 226
9.0 126 57¼ 9′8" 295 7′7" 231
8.5 119 54 9′10" 300 7′9" 236
8.0 112 51 10′0" 305 8′0" 244

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