The Life and Execution of Ruth Ellis
The Last Woman to be Hung in Britain
Born on 9 October 1926 in Rhyl, Ruth, the third of six children moved with her family to Basingstoke in 1933.
Early Life of Ruth Ellis
At the age of 17, she became pregnant, having embarked on a love affair with a French-Canadian soldier, but like so many girls of that time, Ruth discovered her lover was married with a family in Canada.
On 15 September 1945, Ruth gave birth to a baby boy, Andre Clare, (Andy). In order to support her son, she found a job as a model for a camera club. This included posing nude for the club members, which was quite scandalous for the time. From here Ruth found a job as a nightclub manageress.
While working at the nightclub Ruth fell pregnant but terminated the pregnancy before the end of the first trimester. And it was also here that she met her husband-to-be, a dentist by the name of George Ellis.
A Tumultuous Marriage to George Ellis
From an early stage the relationship was tempestuous. Like Ruth's father, George was a heavy drinker. He eventually admitted himself into Warlington Park Hospital, Surrey to be treated for alcoholism. From here he found work as a dentist in Southampton, and in spite of the volatile nature of their relationship, the couple were married on 8 November, 1950. But the marriage continued to deteriorate. Ruth left her husband on a number of occasions but always returned and it wasn't long before the police were called to deal with their domestic disputes.
The following May, George lost his job, but found work in Cornwall. This time Ruth didn't follow immediately, but discovering she was pregnant, she decided to give the relationship another go.
Once again George was drinking heavily and decided to re-admit himself into hospital. Even though he was undergoing treatment, Ruth began to suspect her husband was conducting improper relationships with staff and patients and as a result of her suspicions violent rows ensued. After one such row George's psychiatrist, Dr. Rees intervened and prescribed the distraught Ruth a course of sedatives. She was to remain under his care until she was charged with murder; her medication just one of the mitigating factors not brought up at her trail.
On 2 October, 1951 Ruth gave birth to a daughter in Dulwich hospital, London but the arrival of the baby did little to save the marriage as soon after George filed for divorce.
By now Ruth was very much a part of the London nightclub scene but she was a doting mother and, with two children to support, she found a job managing a drinking establishment called the 'Little Club'. Here she met David Blakely, a man who was to have disastrous consequences on her life.
Ellis, Blakely and Cussen Love Triangle
In spite of her affair with Blakely, Ruth was also seeing another man, Desmond Cussen. Together they would spy on Blakely whom she suspected of being unfaithful.
Ruth fell pregnant for the fourth time but miscarried, allegedly following a blow to the stomach during a row with David Blakely.
Ruth was convinced of her lover's unfaithfulness. She was driven to Hampstead to confront him by Desmond Cussen just 10 days after the loss of her unborn child. Together they waited outside the Magdala public house, South Hill Park, for Blakely to leave.
Seeing Blakely leave the pub, Ruth called out to him, but he ignored her, a mistake which was to cost him his life. With a .38 revolver Ruth fired, hitting her lover with her second shot, and as he fell to the ground, she stood over him and fired the remaining bullets into his prostrate body. She was arrested by Alan Thompson, an off-duty policeman, the smoking gun still in her hand.
Show Trail at the Old Bailey
Ruth Ellis' trial opened on 20 June, 1955 at the Old Bailey's No. 1 court before Mr. Justice Havers, with Mr. Christmas Humpreys for the prosecution and Mr. Melford Stephenson for the defense.
During her trial prosecuting council asked: 'Mrs Ellis, when you fired the revolver at close range into the body of David Blakely what did you intend to do?' Ruth replied: 'It was obvious that when I shot him I intended to kill him.'
During his summation, Justice Havers advised the jury that there was insufficient evidence to reduce the charge to manslaughter on the grounds of provocation and as such they could not decide on a manslaughter verdict.
Verdict and Sentencing of Ruth Ellis
The jury retired, taking 14 minutes to reach a guilty verdict. Justice Havers had no alternative but to sentence Ellis to death to which she uttered just two words…'Thank you'.
Ruth Ellis, prisoner 9656, spent three weeks and two days in the condemned suite at Holloway Prison. At 09.01 AM on 13 July, 1955 the executioner, Albert Pierrepoint entered Ruth's cell. Her hands were tied behind her back with a leather strap and she was led the fifteen feet to the gallows.
After the execution the prison doctor examined Ruth's body before the room was locked and she was left hanging for the regulatory one hour. At 09.18 the execution notice was posted outside the prison gates.
Ruth's lifeless body was taken down from the gallows and the post-mortem conducted by Dr. Keith Simpson. His results gave her height as five feet two inches and her weight one hundred and five pounds. She had a fracture of the spine at C.2 and a two inch gap and transverse separation of the spinal cord. Both wings of the hyoid and the right wing of the thyroid cartilage were fractured as was the larynx. Ruth Ellis, aged 28, died of injuries to the central nervous system consistent with judicial hanging.
Sources:
- Ruth Ellis: The Last Woman to be Hanged by Robert Hancock, Orion Publishing, London (1963)
- Ruth Ellis (Crime Archive) by Victorial Blake, The National Archive Press (2008)
- BBC News online
Hangman's Noose
|
What do you think about this article?
More in History
Latest Articles