John Ellis

Who was John Ellis?

John Ellis was a Rochdale hairdresser and newsagent who served as one of the United Kingdom's executioners for 23 years, from 1901 to 1924.

Born in the Balderstone district of Rochdale on 4 October 1874, he first worked in a series of jobs as a casual labourer in and around Manchester before getting a job at a spinning mill in Bury. After another stint in a factory he decided to follow his father's trade by becoming a barber and hairdresser in Rochdale, where he subsequently also opened a newsagent's shop, which he ran with his wife and children.

At the age of 22 he applied to the Home Office to become a hangman and was invited to attend training at Newgate Prison. He first participated in an execution in Newcastle in December 1901, as assistant to Chief Executioner James Billington, who also lived in Rochdale at that time.

Ellis served as Chief Executioner from 1907 and was involved in a total of 203 executions. Among the executions he performed were those of Hawley Harvey Crippen in 1910, Frederick Seddon in 1912, Sir Roger Casement in 1916, Herbert Rowse Armstrong in 1922, and of Edith Thompson in 1923. He took the responsibility of his position very seriously and hoped to "despatch" the condemned person with as little fuss and pain to the individual concerned as possible.