John Austin (highwayman) John Austin (highwayman) John Austin (died 7 November 1783) was an English footpad who became the last person to be hanged at the Tyburn gallows outside London. He was sentenced to death for the murder of a labourer called John Spicer from Kent. The Recorder of London, James Adair, described it as a "robbery with violence" that involved "cutting and wounding [...] in a cruel manner." This hanging would mark the end of Tyburn, a village then in the county of Middlesex, being a place of executions for almost 600 years. Austin was brought from Newgate prison in the City
John Austin (inventor) John Austin (inventor) John Austin (April 17, 1752 – 1830), was a Scottish inventor, known for inventing musical equipment, improvements to weaving machines, and a new system of stenography. Austin was a native of Craigton. He was an apprentice to William and Walter Tait in Glasgow, and became a guild brother on January 18, 1776. He published at Glasgow, in or about 1800, a system of "Stenography which may be learned in an hour," on a single folio engraved sheet, price 2s. 6d. A note at the end announces the publication of a complete system by the same author, price