Nosey Bob
Bob lost his nose when kicked in the face by a horse. His work as a cabman suffered. Despite subsequent “success” as the NSW hangman, Bob continued to struggle socially.
“Nosey Bob” was born Robert Rice Howard in Norwich, England in 1832 and migrated to Australia in 1861. He worked as a cabman in Sydney and was very successful. He owned his own hansom cab, having built a profitable clientele among the wealthy residents of Darling Point. His good looks and height (the Mudgee Guardian once described him as someone who “passed for an Adonis amongst the horsey crowd”) undoubtedly worked in his favour.
But tragedy struck during the height of his popularity. He was kicked in the face by a young horse at a stable in Bligh Street and his nose was irreparably smashed, creating the impression that he had no nose at all. In keeping with the cruelty of those times, he was given the ironic nickname Nosey Bob.
Following the accident, Howard’s clientele began avoiding him and his business began to fall apart. With his career in pieces, he was forced to look elsewhere for work. However, because of his startling appearance, finding work was not easy. Unemployed, shunned by society and out of options, Howard decided to accept the unwanted post of New South Wales State hangman.
Howard hanged felons across New South Wales, but almost half of his work was done at the imposing Darlinghurst Gaol where he hanged some of the most famous criminals of colonial Sydney. Howard performed 66 executions at Darlinghurst Jail, 7 at Old Dubbo Jail and acted as “guest hangman” in other states and even in New Zealand.
Despite his “success” as a hangman, Howard continued to struggle socially. He not only faced abuse and insult due to his disfigurement, he was now also loathed as a hangman, due both to changing societal attitudes to capital punishment AND the fact that he tended to botch his hangings from time to time, causing either unnecessarily prolonged deaths or near decapitations. (It all comes down to body weight and the length of the drop.)
He retired from his hangman career of 30 years in 1904, died in 1906 and is buried in Waverley Cemetery.
Howard lived in a tiny timber cottage located at 103 Brighton Boulevard. It was one of the first cottages built at Bondi Beach, on (then lonely) Ben Buckler point.
Howard’s hobby was shark hunting. [Ed: That’s very 2026.] He would set bait, and then use his horse to assist him in pulling the shark out of the water (as per Truth, 15 January 1899). He had a large collection of shark jaws to show for this.
Howard also liked a drink, but due to his disfigurement, didn’t like to go out in public or visit pubs. He famously trained a horse to carry a billy and make the return trip from his home to a local establishment across the bay, Dunlop’s Cliff Hotel House on the site of the present Astra Hotel. The billy carried a sixpence there and beer on the way back. Larrikins would sometimes try to intercept the money, sometimes the beer, but the horse was trained to resist those scoundrels.
The story of Nosey Bob is told with flair and forensic detail in a 2022 book An Uncommon Hangman by New South Wales State Librarian Rachel Franks.
Video Podcast
Remo and Claudia discuss Nosey Bob from around the 8:30 mark of this episode of the REMORANDOM video podcast:
REMORANDOM Chapter
