Deceased was a healthy subject at the time of death.
Mark of suspension normally situated and injuries from judicial hanging - to the spinal column - such as must have caused instant death.

CAUSE OF DEATH ...

Injuries to the central nervous system
consequent upon judicial hanging.

Signed Keith Simpson
M. D. Lond.
146, Harley St. W. 1 and Guy's Hospital (Pathologist)
Registrar in Forensic Medicine London University

Note : ecchymoses is the medical term for subcutaneous bleeding (i.e. under the skin)

After the execution.

After death by any form of hanging, the body will typically show the marks of suspension, e.g. bruising and rope marks on the neck. In some cases there will have been effusions of urine and faeces as the sphincter muscles become deprived of oxygen and thus relax. The opening of the sphincters can also be caused by an adrenaline rush which is common in circumstances of extreme fear.
Total body death results usually within less than 30 minutes as the cells becomes starved of oxygen.This was one of the reasons why prisoners were left hanging for an hour in Britain.It is noteworthy that irrespective of the method of hanging it seems to take about the same time for total body death to occur.

Male prisoners sometimes have penile erections (priapism) after hanging due to the pooling of blood in the legs and lower body once the heart stops. The original photograph of the execution of the Lincoln conspirators in America in 1865 appears to show one of the men, Lewis Powell, had an erection after he was hanged.
Men may also ejaculate on the rope. Dr. Charles Croker King was a surgeon in Ireland in the mid 19th century and was able to examine the body of John Hurley who was hanged on the 27th of August 1853 at Galway, immediately after the execution.Hurleys neck was not broken by the drop.King noted that Hurleys penis was erect and that there was a whitish liquid that had come from it.He took a slide of this and examined it under a microscope, finding spermatozoa. This together with the other post mortem findings was reported in his treatise On Death by Hanging published in 1854.King was professor of anatomy and physiology at Queens College Galway. Ejaculation may be caused by the stimulation of the penis during the conscious struggling phase, combined with the pressure on the Vagal nerve which is responsible for sexual arousal, together with the reduced level of oxygen reaching the brain.
In the handwritten autopsy notes of a hanging by the famous pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury, he states that there was no "seminal effusion" which implies that he had found this on occasion.

Execution equipment.

The gallows.
All manner of patterns of gallows have been used worldwide over the years. Simple gallows, having an upright with a projecting beam cross braced to it were commonly used in many countries, even up till the end of the World War II.
However for a variety of reasons, gallows designs became more elaborate. From 1783, the gallows at Newgate in London had a trapdoor and as the concept of giving the prisoner some drop became more widely used, this style spread. The earliest use of the "New Drop", as it was called in Britain was on May 5th, 1760 for the execution of the Earl of Ferrers. This was in the form of a small box like structure rising about 12 inches from the main platform which would drop level with the floor when the hangman pulled away the supporting props.See article for drawing of this.
The American gallows, shown in this picture, is what many of you would probably imagine a gallows to look like and is from 1894. This style was used extensively in America and most other countries up until the early part of the 20th century. The present day gallows in Washington's Walla Walla prison looks most unlike this traditional pattern, consisting simply of two massive iron eye bolts through which the rope passes, each set over a single leaf trap operated by an electromagnetic release mechanism. (See picture). America typically used a single leaf trap whereas Britain and countries which adopted British style hanging typically use(d) a two leaf trap.
Modern gallows in Australia, Britain, Singapore, Malaysia and former British colonies typically have no steps and use double trapdoors, normally operated by a lever on the platform. South Africa used a metal beam that could accomodate up to seven prisoners simultaneously at Pretoria Central Prison prior to abolition. In early 20th century British execution rooms there were no uprights, the ends of beam being set into the walls, while later a concealed beam running above the ceiling was used, as was the case at Pentonville and Wandsworth prisons in London up to abolition.
Lebanon used this quite complex style of gallows for public hangings - the picture is of the public execution of two men, carried out on the 25th of May 1998.
Visit the Gallows Galleries for pictures of gallows from Britain and around the world.