The Life of John Ellis, Casual Labourer, Hairdresser, and Executioner.
The Life of John Ellis, Casual Labourer, Hairdresser, and Executioner. On This Day in History in 1874, John Ellis was born. Nope, you probably don't recognise his name. John Ellis was an Englishman who worked as a casual labourer and as a factory worker in and around Manchester, England. He also became a hairdresser and then opened a newsagent's shop. He then had enough of the normal life and became an executioner. John Ellis executed Hawley Harvey Crippen, amongst others, who was better known as Dr. Crippen. It was one particular execution that caused John Ellis sleepless nights, though. The execution of Edith Thompson. Edith Thompson had been tried and found guilty of the murder of her husband. And then sentenced to death by hanging. Edith Thompson's execution didn't go smoothly. She collapsed before the noose could be slipped around her neck. Reports state she was carried up the stairs to the ga...