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| Canada's Last Hangman - John Ellis |
Arthur Ellis was actually a pseudonym. The first Arthur
Ellis was Arthur B. English who had emigrated from England
He became Canada England Middle East and Canada
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| Arthur Ellis |
B.A. McKelvie in an article My Friend, the Hangman, from the book Outlaws and Lawmen of Western Canada
Arthur
Ellis was an artist. I like artists who take a pride in their work. Besides, he
was a genial, kind hearted little chap, always ready to alleviate distress.
I’ve seen him cry when told of the sufferings of a poor family.
His
work he regarded as purely impersonal. His was a duty to perform, and he did
it. “I am an executioner (he shunned the word “hangman” as being vulgar)
because I believe that I can carry out the judgement of the law with less pain
and anguish to the condemned than can any other man in the world,” he once told
me.
Later McKelvie was provided an
explanation on the knot that sent a chill up my back:
“I’ll
show you,” exclaimed Arthur. He grabbed his club bag, which I naturally thought
had his pyjamas and brush and comb. He opened it and displayed a fine
assortment of ropes and black caps. Deftly he tied a noose. “Now,” he said with
mounting enthusiasm, “I’d place it right there,” and he indicated a point just
beyond my left ear – and his cold hands rather fondly felt my neck. “I’d break
the third vertebrae,” he boasted. Honestly, I didn’t quite like being a guinea
pig for a hangman’s lecture on his art. Especially so, when to further
demonstrate the exactitude with which the rope should be adjusted, he wanted to
put a black cap over my head and the noose around my neck.
He was forced into retirement in
1935 when he relied on a weight given to him for Thomasina Sarao in making his
calculations for the execution. She was actually 35 pounds heavier. When she
dropped she was decapitated. It was the last public execution in Canada
His successor also took the name
of Arthur Ellis.
Our nation’s last executioner used
the name John Ellis. As abolition was being debated in Canada
As often the case I found the real story more powerful than
fiction. I am grateful Canada no longer has a hangman.
You're right Bill...fact more powerful than fiction in this case. A chilling interview for the way he was so calm and matter of fact about his job.
ReplyDeleteI'm very glad we don't have the death penalty any longer too.
Bill - This is really eerie! It's all the more so because of his impersonal way of describing what he did. And I hope for the day when the U.S. doesn't have the death penalty any longer either.
ReplyDeleteBernadette: Thanks for the comment. I found it unsettling his impersonal approach. I am not sure what I expect to hear from an executioner.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the comment. I wonder if most or even all executioners have so little emotion about taking life.
ReplyDeleteGosh, this is so disturbing I can't even read his quotes.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the worst jobs on earth, glad Canada, England, the rest of the European Union and Australia have abolished this heinous punishment.
When the execution of Troy Davis was carried out a few years ago in Georgia, the former warden of the prison was on MSNBC. He was adamently opposed to that cruelty and said that all of the prison staff who watched executions needed counseling because they were so disturbed about it.
He had become a vehement anti-death penalty advocate.
Some states here are abolishing the death penalty when looking at how many innocent people are gotten off death row by the Innocence Project.
However, so many others are doing nothing. The Texas governor and his sidekicks seem to enjoy sending people to their deaths. Nothing stops them -- lack of evidence, contradictory facts, inadequate counsel, problems with judges. You name it. They ignore it.
Kathy D.: Thanks for the thoughtful comment.
ReplyDeleteIt is not easy watching the interview and reading the quotes.
I am not surprised by the comments from Georgia. Killing people is bound to negatively affect the executioners.
I expect Texas will face the regrets Illinois had when it truly assessed those sentenced to death.
Arthur English was definitely NOT related to John Ellis.Different surname gives a clue!6
ReplyDeleteDepending which source you read he may or may not have been the nephew of Ellis. As set out in the post most sources say they were related.
DeleteI read an article online that says he took the name "Arthur Ellis" because he admired the work of John Ellis, the British hangman. Also, I'm not sure why so many articles call him "Arthur B English." One says the B stands for "Bartholomew." Yet his actual name (at least according to his tombstone in Montreal's Mount Royal Cemetery was "Alexander Armstrong English."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. There are varying details depending on the source. He was something of an enigma.
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