'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYH/8QAFAEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/aAAwDAQACEAMQAAAAwaWD/8QAHxAAAgEEAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIDAAQFEQYSIVGB/9oACAEBAAE/AMRlYk4rfWUqSlFnEwC6HYkaO/gp2QuxUFQT4Hqv/8QAFREBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL/2gAIAQIBAT8Al//EABURAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAC/9oACAEDAQE/ALf/2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom, is the subject of the upcoming BritBox drama A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, set to premiere on February 17, 2025. The series examines her life in 1950s London, where she worked as a nightclub manager and became romantically involved with racing driver David Blakely. Their relationship, marked by turmoil and abuse, led to a tragic confrontation outside a Hampstead pub on April 10, 1955, where Ellis fatally shot Blakely.
At the time, media coverage was fixated on Ellis’s appearance and social status. The Daily Mirror detailed her attire in court, while headlines like Model Charged With Murder sensationalized the case as per The British newspaper archive May 9, 2022.
Her trial spanned just two days, and the jury swiftly returned a guilty verdict. On July 13, 1955, she was executed at Holloway Prison. Decades later, her story remains significant, influencing the eventual abolition of capital punishment. A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story on BritBox aims to reexamine Ruth Ellis’s life and the societal forces surrounding her fate.
Trending
At 9:30 pm, as Blakely reached his car with Clive Gunnell, Ruth Ellis pulled a revolver from her handbag and fired five shots
Ruth Ellis was at The Magdala pub in Hampstead on April 10, 1955, when she saw David Blakely, her former lover, leaving with his friend Clive Gunnell. As Blakely approached his car, Ellis took out a .38 caliber revolver and fired five shots at him. Three of the bullets struck him in the back while he lay on the ground. A sixth shot missed and instead hit a bystander, Gladys Yule, severing her thumb, as per Lancashire Evening Post, April 28, 1955.
Ellis, seemingly in shock after the attack, did not attempt to flee. She admitted guilt on the spot, telling Gunnell, "Phone the police." She was promptly arrested by an off-duty officer and taken to Hampstead Police Station, reported by Daily Mirror, April 21, 1955. Her composed demeanor throughout the process puzzled authorities. Despite undergoing psychiatric evaluations, no evidence of mental illness was found, as per Dundee Courier, June 21, 1955.
With no legal defense available under English law at the time, the jury convicted her of murder in less than twenty minutes, as per Manchester Evening News, June 21, 1955.
Death sentence and execution
Ruth Ellis was sentenced to death. Public outcry followed, with over a thousand people signing a petition requesting clemency. However, Home Secretary Gwilym Lloyd George rejected any intervention, stating that there were no sufficient grounds for a reprieve, as per the Daily Mirror on June 24, 1955.
Days before her execution, Ellis confided in her solicitor, Victor Mishcon, that Desmond Cussen, another former lover, had given her the revolver, taught her how to use it, and drove her to the pub that night. However, she had not previously mentioned this, saying,
"I didn't say anything about it up to now because it seemed traitorous, absolutely traitorous,”- The Standard, February 27, 2024
Despite this revelation, no action was taken against Cussen, and her execution proceeded as scheduled. On July 13, 1955, Ruth Ellis was hanged at Holloway Prison by executioner Albert Pierrepoint. Before her death, she wrote to Blakely’s parents, stating,
"I have always loved your son, and I shall die still loving him." - The Standard.
She was initially buried in an unmarked grave at the prison before being reburied in Amersham, reported by The Standard.
Impact on Capital Punishment
The execution of Ruth Ellis intensified debates about capital punishment in Britain. The media, including The Evening Standard and novelist Raymond Chandler, criticized the legal system, calling the decision to hang her "medieval savagery." The case was pivotal in shaping public opinion, contributing to the abolition of the death penalty in 1965.
Although capital punishment continued in the UK for another decade, the Ellis case set a precedent for future reprieves. By the 1960s, nearly half of those sentenced to death were granted clemency, highlighting the growing discomfort with executions, as per The Standard.
Personal and family tragedies
The aftermath of Ellis’ execution devastated her family. Her ex-husband, George Ellis, died by s*icide in 1958. Her mother, Bertha, attempted s*icide but survived, though she never fully recovered. Her son, Andy, was deeply affected by his mother’s death and took his own life in 1982 after destroying her gravestone. Her daughter, Georgina, was placed in foster care at six and later died of cancer in 2001, as reported by The Standard on February 27, 2024.
Early Life of Ruth Ellis
Ruth Ellis was born Ruth Neilson in Rhyl, Wales, on October 9, 1926, the fifth of six children. Her father, Arthur Hornby (later Neilson), was a cellist, and her mother, Bertha, was a Belgian refugee. The family moved frequently, with suspicions that this was to conceal Arthur’s s*xual abuse of his daughters. As per The British Newspaper Archive released on May 9, 2022, Ruth was abused from the age of 11.
At 14, she left school and worked as a waitress before entering London’s nightclub scene. By 17, she became pregnant by a Canadian soldier, Clare Andrea McCallum, but was left to raise their son alone. To support herself, Ellis turned to nude modeling and later worked as a nightclub hostess, which eventually led her into s*x work.
In 1950, she married George Johnston Ellis, a divorced, alcoholic dentist. The marriage was short-lived due to his violent behavior. She gave birth to their daughter, Georgina, in 1951, but George denied paternity, and they separated soon after. In 1953, she secured a managerial position at The Little Club in Knightsbridge, where she met David Blakely. Their relationship was passionate but volatile, marred by infidelity and violence, as noted by The British Newspaper Archive.
The events that unfolded on April 10, 1955, were the culmination of years of abuse, manipulation, and societal constraints that left Ruth Ellis with no perceived way out. Nearly seventy years later, A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story aims to bring renewed attention to her case, exploring the class struggles, gender roles, and justice system of 1950s Britain.
Stay tuned for more updates.
