William Henry Woodgate

William Henry Woodgate (1827 – 25 January 1877) was the 37th person to be hanged in New Zealand and the last to be hanged in the Marlborough Sounds.

William Henry Woodgate was born at Beer, Devon, UK, in 1827 and was baptised on 1 January 1828. In the 1841 Census, he was living at Signal House, Beer, with his parents Robert & Elizabeth Woodgate and his younger siblings. Willam, who had married Margaret (Mary Ann) Heberley in 1863, was accused and found guilty at the Supreme Court of murder of the newborn baby of his niece Susan Woodgate, who was the daughter of his brother Robert. He was thought to be the father of her child.

Woodgate was well loved in the community and even in the face of his crimes there was a public outcry in the face of his sentence. A petition was sent to the Governor but summarily dismissed. After the Sheriff found no one willing to execute William his execution was postponed until a suitable person was found. At 6.30am on Thursday, 25 January 1877, eight days after the original date, he was hung in Picton.