The new ITV drama, A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, delves into the life of the last woman to be sentenced to death in Britain. The four-part series, inspired by Carol Ann Lee’s bestselling biography A Fine Day For A Hanging, is set in 1955 within the glitzy realm of London’s club scene, where Ruth gained recognition as the city’s youngest club manager.
Ruth Ellis became involved with racing driver David Blakely, a relationship that eventually turned violent and resulted in his death. Ruth was arrested and charged with his murder, leading to her being sentenced to hang.
On July 13, 1955, at precisely one minute past nine, 28 year old Ruth Ellis was executed by hanging. Her trial and execution were widely publicised in the 1950s, with 50,000 people signing a petition for her clemency.
Unfortunately, the petition was dismissed, and protestors gathered outside Holloway Prison on the day of her execution. This is the true story behind the new ITV drama and who Ruth Ellis was.
Who was Ruth Ellis?
Ruth Ellis, born Ruth Hornby in Rhyl, Wales in 1926, was the fifth of six children to cellist Arthur and mother Berta. Early in her childhood, her family relocated to Basingstoke in Hampshire, where she attended school before moving to London in 1941.
The Express reports 17-year-old Ellis fell pregnant by a Canadian soldier and gave birth to a son, known as Andy, who was raised by her mother. After working various low-paying jobs, Ruth took up nude modelling and later became a nightclub hostess at the Court Club in Duke Street.
Ruth tied the knot with divorced dentist George Ellis in 1950, a regular at the Court Club where she was employed. She soon fell pregnant with her daughter Georgina, but their union was short-lived.
George’s alcohol-induced violence and jealousy led him to deny paternity of his daughter, accusing Ruth of multiple affairs during their marriage. .
Returning to live with her parents and children, Ruth resorted to prostitution once more to make ends meet. However, her luck took a turn for the better when she became the manager of the Little Club in Knightsbridge in 1953, rubbing shoulders with celebrities of the era.
Introduced by celebrity friend and Formula One driver Mike Hawthorn to rising racing star David Blakely, Ruth fell head over heels in love, leading David to leave his fiancee. However, their relationship hit rocky ground when Ruth fell pregnant and chose to terminate the pregnancy.
Having lost her job at the Little Club, she moved in with ex-RAF pilot Desmond Cussen.
Despite this, her affair with Blakely persisted, and jealousy sparked a violent streak as both parties saw other people. A mere 10 days before the murder, Ruth suffered a miscarriage after Blakely punched her in the stomach during a dispute.
On Easter Sunday, 10 April 1955, Ruth shot Blakely dead outside The Magdala public house in Hampstead, London.
Emerging from the shadows, she greeted him with a “Hello, David,” before shouting out for “David”. In that moment, as Blakely turned around, Ruth Ellis pulled a.
38 Smith and Wesson Victory revolver from her handbag and fired. Blakely was hit four times and declared dead at the scene, suffering numerous wounds to his intestines, liver, lung, aorta, and trachea.
Realising the gravity of her actions, Ellis immediately requested to be apprehended and was taken into custody by off-duty police officer Alan Thompson.
Why was Ruth Ellis hanged?
The question hovers due to the nature of her trial which unfolded at the Number One Court at the Old Bailey in London on June 20, 1955, under Mr Justice Cecil Havers. Ellis shunned any defence of insanity, instead, she claimed provocation arising from Blakely’s violent treatment towards her.
During her time in the witness box, prosecutor Christopher Humphreys asked her pointedly: “When you fired the revolver at close range into the body of David Blakely, what did you intend to do?” To which Ellis candidly responded: “It’s obvious when I shot him I intended to kill him.”
After the two-day trial concluded, the jury didn’t take long to deliberate and swiftly convicted Ellis of Blakely’s murder, resulting in a death sentence. Despite fervent attempts by Ellis’ family and the public—underscored by petitions with 50,000 signatories—to urge Home Secretary Gwilym Lloyd George to overturn her execution, their pleas ultimately fell on deaf ears.
On the eve of her execution, a crowd of 500 people gathered outside Holloway Prison’s gates, singing and chanting in support of Ellis for several hours. On July 13, 1955, at precisely one minute past nine, Ruth Ellis, aged 28, was executed by hanging.
Her execution was briefly delayed when a prank caller, pretending to be Home Secretary Gwilym Lloyd George, falsely claimed that Ellis would be pardoned. Once the call was verified as a hoax, Ruth’s execution proceeded.
As per the custom of the time, she was buried in an unmarked grave within the prison grounds. Her death was as contentious as her life and set the stage for the abolition of capital punishment in the UK in 1965.
Ruth’s remains were later reinterred in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.
You can watch the first episode at 9pm on Wednesday, March 5 on ITV1 and ITVX.