The Unsound Mind of the Hangman - John Ellis, Chief Executioner

Your videos are some of the best l have watched. You are a good storyteller and you always show respect for the victims and families involved. Every story has been interesting and l hope you and Vickie keep going for a long time as ll always look forward to the next episode. Wishing you well and thank you for all your hard work!

I just watched this again.
Capital punishment was never a deterrent, people who murder others, some of them are that silly they think they won't get caught, others do not seem to comprehend that is wrong .

The thing is nobody asked him to be an executioner, and I don't think you can really ever rationalise that it's not me, it's the law.
Ellis knew Edith Thompson wasn't a murderer, guilty of writing letters to her lover tongue in cheek.
No wonder he was so messed up in the head.
My dad told me a week before he took his own life about killing Japanese soldiers, as a young man he saw the horrors of war, it was a case of kill or be killed.

Whilst he hated the japs all his life foe what they did and wharche saw, this haunted him.
He had no choice, Ellis did.
Be careful what you wish for.

how much. Could you buy with. ten pounds. in. them days think on 10. gold sovereigns would. convert to80gramsof 22ct gold a sovereign. would sell for. £530

Freddie Bywaters Edith Thompson
Years ago my husbands grandfather would tell me a story about Freddie Bywaters. "Horrible man !" He told me. I've still got it written down somewhere. Our Jack Hilditch used to work for P & O liners. Freddie Bywaters was on one of these voyages working. Jack and the other men didn't like him at all. Couldn't stand him. I wished i had asked more, but that's all he would say. I think Edith was buried at Brookwood Cemetery in Woking until her remains were removed and reburied somewhere else x

How sad I can understand how traumatic it must have been to be an executioner we don't know what goes on in people's minds are the horrific things those upholding the law must go through and its no wonder they are traumatised this was a heartbreaking and interesting story you have covered with sensitivity and grace poor man

I expect he had PTSD. Most of the excecuioner’s see to have suffered with their mental health.

Hi Chris Hi Vicki fascinating video, thanks for your wonderful channel. I would imagine that by being a Hangman over the years would take a terrible toll on a person's health, both physically but especially psychologically. Even with the worst cases it must be so hard to see the fear and panic that a person feels just before their death. Edith Thompson was a case in point. My dear Mum would often talk about her as I grew up. There was no real evidence against her, I'm convinced that her lover murdered her Husband so that he could be with her. I do not believe that Edith had any idea as to what was about to happen. And as well as that the terrible state that she was in when she had to face John Ellis would have made any one to lose their mind. And the blood and possibility of her being pregnant is about as barbaric as it gets. If someone paid me £million I could never witness or do such an act of bsrbarism.
David

That was a really haunting and well presented episode. You made me feel really sorry for poor John Ellis ( and I'm anti capital punishment). Imagine the nightmares that sensitive man must have suffered. Strange that he chose gun and then razor for his own attempts, and not hanging which he had knowledge of and skill at.
I don't think I would've wanted to go to a barber whose other job was public executioner😮

I always ask myself if hangmen like Ellis and Pierrepoint were legalised psychopathic serial killers.

Another interesting video, perhaps it takes a strong mind to do this horrendous work, it obviously got the better of him in the end ( could he have been suffering with PTSD ? from Paula in Oxfordshire

Hey i have really been enjoying your videos great work cheers...years apart i know but could this hangman be a distance relative of Ruth Ellis.. would be interesting to know.. cheers.

great story chris and vicky and a sad end john ellis must be at peace now i have noticed in the graveyards up in your area there is a lot of black stone unlike here they are mostly white and grey would that your local stone used for you area ??? thank you both for your time filming for us all i had a look at your spanish holidays you all had a good time and some great walks all the best from trev and chris xx

A job that much of the time, I personally wouldn't bat an eyelid over doing . But it would take a terrible toll on someone who had to execute people like Edith, or someone, who acted in the heat of the moment, and wasn't a bad person.

A tad addicted here in OZ to your wonderful events you cover in UK HISTORY 😁😁

They were quite willing to have them do their dirty work and not even pay them a pension or look after them, then get enraged when he tried to make a living with his shows.
I don't trust this government with the death penalty today, maybe if it was their sentence lol

Such an interesting story. You can understand why a hangman would become anti capital punishment. Like Albert Pierrepoint, who towards the end of his career, saw hanging as revenge and not punishment.

❤😮what a strong story rip John E it could happen to anyone who does this for a job 😢 20/24 🇺🇸 thxs Chris amen 🙏

Another great video, sad story, thanks Chris and vicky

Love the show love your accent . and no i wouldent bring back execution . where would it stop . i.e the terry venebles case where two young boys were treteated as hard criminals and other cases we know now were more borderline . and cases where people have actually turned and become citizens even after bad crimes of murder . ARE U UR BROTHERS KEEPER . ..P.S I feel affinity with Your Victoria . and i feel i would love to hear more of Vicki. i dont know exactly why but i feel i know her even though im in a different country and iv never been to Briton id like to hear her sometime talking to us. .

Poor man must have been in a bad space when he tried to end his life. It was a botched job and didn't die. He must have realised that what he was doing, to earn a living had a terrible affect on him, hence the depression he suffered. He tried a second time and this time it was successful. R.I.P. John Ellis. Thanks for sharing Chris and Vicky.

Hi Chris, have you ever thought of covering Albert Pierrepoint? One thing I do know is that he ran a pub in the Manchester area

Can you really execute people and not be mentally destroyed by it?
I believe when Peirrepoint retired in 1956 it was £15 per execution which was a decent weeks wages back then, can you really kill for money?
A bit of Trivia here, back around 1966 when I was 13 my dad had to buy some ropes for his work truck, and one Sunday at lunch time he told us about going to Bermonsey and buying rope only to find the company had made hangmans ropes for the Home Office butcnow still made them for export, he also described that they were hangmans knots like we all thought at the time.
Well, dad is dead now, so a few years ago, I google it, and sure enough John Edgington of Old Kent Road Bermonsey made hangmans ropes

This is a very interesting video about a complex and sensitive man whose book I have also read. I have to admit to reacting very extremely on the subject of the death penalty, where those who especially harm and take the lives of children, should pay the ultimate price, legally. Unfortunately, the presence of the death penalty didn't appear to deter those who murdered when it still existed here in the UK, during my youth. Of course it is concerning that there are those who were hanged on circumstantial evidence, meaning that if the death penalty was ever returned then there should be no doubt about their guilt, especially with DNA evidence being available now. Interestingly some other executioners were able to detach from this particular task without it knowingly affecting their lives, but was there a cost for them too? This is such a debatable subject and am sure will remain so.

Very sad job !

Personally I don't agree with the death penalty.
I can't get my head around if it's illegal to kill someone, how can you then kill that person? It surely can't be illegal unless a judge decides otherwise.

An interesting video. You read about the trials, but never consider the effect on the officers who have to carry out the penalty. The problem with the death penalty today is the question of certainty and possible lack of forensic proof. Would the public be willing to serve on a jury knowing they could send an innocent person to death? The whole life sentence was brought in to cover this.

Another fantastic video. A very sad story told with dignity and respect.

Why have I only just found your channel? Brilliant 😊 really enjoyed listening to you tell the story, although it's a sad one. Looks like I've got some catching up to do 😊

That was surreal, the hangman, excecutioner taking his own life! Amazing story and getting to see his grave, eerie!

Another excellent and very interesting video. Thankyou both

Well made video. The story also reminds me of those nurses taking lives in the Hospitals, playing God.

Brilliant! you told the story so well I have seen John Ellis's grave and read the book a very interesting read. I have always believed in capital punishment I think there would be far less murders Anyway that's just my opinion. Also Chris not forgetting Albert Pierrpoint who also came from Lancs in fact he ran a pub in the town I live in. I am sure there are another one or two past hangmen from the area too. Anyway thank you so much 👏👏👏👏👏👏

I love watching your new videos tonight it was a sad one😢😢 keep up with the good work guys can't wait to see more videos like this X ❤

One hell of a lot of Ellis’s in these vids. Not that surprising when you think of how many Welsh migrated north when the pits were in full flow but still it’s quite disproportionate when you look at the amount of murders by Ellis’s compared to the number of Ellis in the population.