Who was Ruth Ellis and why was she hanged at London’s Holloway Prison?
Ruth Ellis: The Last Woman Executed in Britain Receives Royal Pardon
A Tragic Love Story and a Historic Justice
Who was Ruth Ellis and why was - More than seven decades after her execution, Ruth Ellis has finally received official recognition for what many believed was a grave miscarriage of justice. The King has granted the former nightclub hostess a conditional pardon, replacing the death sentence that was carried out at London's Holloway Prison on July 13, 1955. Ellis remains the last woman to be hanged in British history, a distinction that has now been formally acknowledged through this historic royal gesture.
The tragic events unfolded in Hampstead, north London, where Ellis shot her lover David Blakely outside The Magdala pub. Their relationship had been marked by turbulence and mutual infidelity, culminating in a violent confrontation that would change both their fates forever. Ellis, originally from Rhyl in north Wales, had endured significant hardship throughout her life, including physical abuse from Blakely, who was a racing driver, and an illegal abortion during a period when such procedures were prohibited in the United Kingdom.
The Fatal Evening
On Easter Sunday, April 10, 1955, the relationship reached its breaking point. Ellis tracked Blakely down to the Magdala pub in South Hill Park. According to eyewitness accounts, after Blakely emerged from the establishment with a friend and searched for his car keys, Ellis retrieved a .38 calibre Smith & Wesson Victory Model revolver from her handbag. She fired five shots at him in rapid succession.
The first bullet missed its mark, but Blakely collapsed after a second shot. Witnesses reported that Ellis then stood over her fallen lover and discharged three additional rounds. An off-duty police officer quickly arrested the distraught woman, who reportedly told authorities: "I am guilty, I'm a little confused."
"She was a brave woman," recalled hangman Albert Pierrepoint, who described how Ellis "flicked her eyes" and "tried to smile" as she walked to the trapdoor. Pierrepoint served as public executioner between 1930 and 1956.
From Conviction to Pardon
Ellis appeared at the Old Bailey in Court Number One on June 20, 1955, wearing a black suit and white silk blouse. When asked by the prosecution what she intended when firing the revolver at close range into Blakely's body, her response proved decisive: "It's obvious when I shot him I intended to kill him." These words sealed her fate, with the jury reaching a guilty verdict in just twenty minutes and imposing the mandatory death sentence.
The Bishop of Stepney, Joost de Blank, had visited Ellis shortly before her execution around 9am on the day she was hanged. Mr Justice Havers later reflected on her case, noting: "She was telling the truth...unfortunately the truth for her was fatal."
Justice Secretary David Lammy, standing in for Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions, explained that the pardon was granted "to recognise a profound injustice in this exceptional case." He added that the government hoped the decision would bring peace to Ellis's family, who had "carried the weight of what happened to her for over 70 years."
Modern Legal Perspective
Under contemporary law, legal experts suggest that Ellis might have successfully argued partial defences of loss of control or diminished responsibility. These arguments could potentially have reduced her conviction from murder to manslaughter, had the case been tried in today's courts according to the Ministry of Justice.
Her grand-daughter Laura Enston stated: "This pardon does not undo what happened 71 years ago. It does not restore the lives that were broken – the children left behind, the years lost. But it says, formally and finally, that Ruth should not have been executed; that the justice system failed her. That acknowledgement matters profoundly to our family."
Ellis had become manager of the Little Club, a Knightsbridge nightclub, in 1953 before meeting Blakely through another racing driver. Their relationship had been particularly difficult, with Blakely punching Ellis in the stomach during an argument that ultimately led to her miscarriage. The combination of personal tragedy, legal constraints of the era, and the passionate nature of her crime created a case that has resonated through generations of British legal history.