[2] His father, James, was an executioner from 1884 to 1901, and his two older brothers, Thomas and William were employed in the same occupation.
On 2 December 1903, he carried out his commission as a chief executioner in Manchester, with John Ellis as his assistant.
[6] Twenty-nine executions took place in England and Ireland in 1903; the Billington brothers participated in 27 of them, including 15 as a two-man team.
[6] John Billington worked both as his brother's assistant and as a chief executioner for the next two years.
In his career, Billington carried out a total of 26 hangings as an assistant and 16 as a chief executioner.