The Hangman's Scrapbook (Hardback)
The Life and Executions of John Ellis
Imprint: Pen & Sword History
Pages: 256
Illustrations: 30 mono illustrations
ISBN: 9781399031660
Published: 30th September 2024
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During his years as executioner between 1901 and 1924, John Ellis hanged over 200 men and women. Among them were some of the most infamous killers of the 20th century including Dr Crippen, John Dickman 'The Railway Murderer', George Smith 'The Brides in the Bath' murderer, Henry Jacoby, poisoners Frederick Seddon and Major Herbert Rowse Armstrong. Ellis also hanged Sir Roger Casement for treachery and carried out the execution of Edith Thompson, one of the most controversial hangings in the history of capital punishment.
British executioners kept their own legers recording brief details of those they hanged, John Ellis maintained just such a leger too but he is believed to be the only British executioner to have kept an additional scrapbook of his personal accounts of those he executed and their crimes and as such it is a unique volume in the annals of British crime and punishment.
Rediscovered after being lost for decades, John Ellis' scrapbook - its cuttings, manuscript texts, and annotations - have now been diligently transcribed and we can now read the book Ellis envisaged in his own words, and in doing so, we gain a remarkable insight into the life and executions one of Britain's most notable but least-known hangmen.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
NetGalley, henry angrier
Neil R Storey gives a real insight into this terrible but necessary post at the time. He shows the toll that it takes in the mind of the man that has to carry out the ultimate punishment. I believe that Albert Peirrepoint suffered also having read his autobiography but not as extremely as Ellis. Before people advocate the return of it they should ask themselves would I do it, I think most of them wouldn't. Well written and researched.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
NetGalley, Louise Gray
This is absolutely fascinating. Accounts of historical cases leading to execution in the words of the executioner himself. Such a strange mix of deeply insightful and fairly emotional observations offered alongside clinical details of the length or “drop” required. I was intrigued by Ellis’ inability to explain what drove him to seek out, and with such determination, this career. A well presented account with useful references and photographs included,
'Edwardian executioner who hanged more than 200 criminals was afraid of killing chickens'
The Daily Mail
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
NetGalley, Tracy Shephard
I enjoyed this book. It is filled with hisorical facts about John Ellis.
Ellis was a hangman during the early 1900's and saw the deaths of several infamous killers.
I loved the background of Ellis, the choices he made and how he felt about being a hangman was interesting.
You may think keeping a ledger of his unusual job might be macabre but I am so glad he did. It is a fascinating read and revisiting the killers and their victims made me have a double sided view of the death sentences that Ellis carried out.
It will bring back debates and views of such a sentence, especially in todays horrific world.
This is a brilliant read I will be recommending it to my library bookclub and will enjoy other readers views.
About Neil R Storey
NEIL R STOREY is an award-winning historian and author who specialises in the impact of war on British society in the first half of the 20th Century. A graduate of the University of East Anglia, he lectures across the UK and has assembled a fine collection of original First and Second World War images to illustrate his works. Neil has published over forty books, has written for national magazines and journals and appears on television documentaries and factual programmes as a guest historian including Who Do You Think You Are? and The Buildings That Fought Hitler.
Neil's other books published by Pen and Sword Books Ltd include: The King’s Men: The Sandringham Company and Norfolk Regiment Territorial Battalions 1914 – 1918, Beating the Nazi Invader and Britain’s Coast at War.
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