Ruth Ellis

On 13th 1955 at Holloway Prison she secured her place in history as the
last woman to be executed in Britain. She is only memorable because she was
hanged, if she had been given a life sentence she would have been forgotten
in a few weeks by most people.

 
COURT:
Her judge, Mr Justice Havers had no alternative but to sentence her to death. The
black cap was placed on his head and he sentenced her to be taken to the
place where she had last been confined and from there to a place of
execution where she would suffer death by hanging. To which she replied
"Thank you".
Unlike many people who have just heard their death sentence Ruth did not
faint or become hysterical but rather turned smartly, smiled to her friends
in the public gallery and walked calmly down the stairs at the back of the
dock.
She decided against an appeal (there were absolutely no legal grounds for
one) and therefore the final decision on her fate rested with the Home
Secretary, Major Gwilym Lloyd George. He decided against her.
 
EXECUTION:
Death came quickly in those days, Ruth spent just 3 weeks and three days in
the Condemned Cell.
There was much public sentiment at the time for a reprieve and around a
thousand people stood silently outside Holloway Prison at 9.00 am on the
Friday morning waiting for the execution notice to be posted outside the
gates.
Inside the usual preparations had been made.
Ruth had been weighed and the correct length of drop calculated. The
gallows had been tested on the Thursday afternoon using a sand bag of the
same weight as Ruth, which was left overnight on the rope to remove any
stretch.
On the Friday morning the trap was reset and the rope coiled up so as to
leave the leather covered noose dangling at chest height above the trap.
A cross had been placed on the far wall of the execution room at Ruth's
request.
On the morning of execution she was given canvas pants to wear which were
compulsory for female prisoners. She had also been given a large brandy by
the prison doctor to steady her nerves and was attended by a Catholic
Priest.
At nine o'clock Albert Pierrepoint entered her cell, pinioned her hands
behind her back with a leather strap and led her the 15 feet to the
gallows.
The white cotton hood was drawn over her head and the noose positioned
round her neck.
The assistant pinioned her legs and when all was ready stepped back
allowing Pierrepoint to remove the safety pin from the base of the lever
and push it to open the trap through which she now plummeted.
The whole process occupied no more than ten seconds and the now lifeless
body was examined by the prison doctor before the execution room was locked
up and she was left hanging for the regulation hour.
She was then taken down and an autopsy performed by the famous pathologist,
Dr. Keith Simpson which showed that she had died virtually instantaneously.
Unusually the autopsy report was later published and Simpson noted the
presence of brandy in her stomach.
 

Why was ther so much media interest in the killing of Ruth?
Ruth had many qualities that engendered great public interest; she
was an attractive, sexy young woman, a mother of two small children and a
murderer whose victim was probably seen by most people as not exactly
blameless. Her crime could hardly be described as "evil", a subjective
concept admittedly, but a very one important in the minds of the general
public in determining the justice of a case. She also behaved with great
courage at all times.
It would be easy to add here that she was, at 28, relatively young and that
she had two small children although these are, in my view, "red herrings"
that should have no place in deciding whether or not to reprieve her.
Equally the other women hanged since the end of the war, (Bill Allen and
Louisa Merrifield) had very little attraction (sex appeal?) for the media
and for various reasons elicited little public sympathy.

HOME