A new ITVX show aired this month detailing the tragic story of the last woman to be hanged in the UK, who is buried at a church in Amersham.
Ruth Ellis was a Welsh nightclub hostess whose name is often mentioned when looking at the history of law and order.
After fatally shooting her lover, David Blakely, she became the last woman to be hanged in the country on July 13, 1955. She is buried at St Mary the Virgin Churchyard in Amersham, in an unmarked grave.
Her tragic death contributed to the eventual abolition of the death penalty.
Her trial and death made headlines, and her story has been adapted in a series of shows, movies and theatre productions. On Wednesday, March 5, A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story aired on ITVX, telling her story through fresh eyes.
Speaking to The i Paper, Lucy Boynton, who plays Ruth, said: “Ruth was made an example of because of everything that she represented as a single, financially independent woman.
“The authorities did not want her to be the poster woman of possibility… Ruth was used as a political chess piece.”
A large part of the story, which the ITVX adaptation mentions, is how the court was not allowed to hear about David’s abuse, which would have been a factor in Ruth’s sentencing.
Lucy continued: “The court wasn’t allowed to discuss Blakely’s abuse, because it was seen as inappropriate to talk about the ugly behaviour of someone of his social standing.
“Psychologists diagnosed Ruth as hysterical while she sat there knowing that the men in her life were the ones who were volatile and erratic and violent… I really just wanted this to humanise Ruth because the public impression of her at the time was so coloured by the media reporting of her.”
You can watch the show at www.shorturl.at/RfwX8
Photo credit: British Newspaper Archive and ITVX
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