A stoic letter by Ruth Ellis saying ‘I am quite well’ the day before she became the last woman to be executed in Britain has emerged 70 years on.
The nightclub hostess appeared remarkably serene about her fate after being convicted of murdering her lover, racing driver David Blakely, in 1955.
The previously unseen correspondence has come to light weeks after her family called for her to be posthumously pardoned, saying she was physically and emotionally abused by her partner before killing him.
They say that Ellis, who shot Blakely dead outside The Magdala pub in Hampstead, North London, would today be able to plead the defence of diminished responsibility due to his treatment of her.
This included her being punched in the gut by Blakely, causing her a miscarriage.
In the letter, Ellis thanked a campaigning MP for offering to take her son on holiday and appealing in vain for clemency on her behalf, before saying ‘goodbye’.
She also urged George Rogers to speak to her lawyer, Victor Mishcon, so he could ‘find out the truth’ about her case which gripped the nation.
Ellis poignantly signed off the letter ‘goodbye’ and the next day the 26-year-old was hanged at Holloway Prison by Albert Pierrepoint.
Pierrepoint, Britain’s most famous hangman, later said Ellis was the bravest person he ever put to death.
The letter, dated July 12, 1955 on Holloway Prison paper, reads: ‘I understand you so kindly offered to take my son Clare Andria, away for a holiday…
‘I will take this chance, of thanking you, once again, for the help you offered me.
‘I gather, you will speak to Mr Victor Mishcon, then you will find out the truth.
‘I am quite well – my family have been wonderful…
‘Once again, I thank you and your wife. Goodbye’.
The letter is tipped to sell for £2,000 at London-based Forum Auctions.
A Forum Auctions spokesperson said: ‘This letter was written by the last woman to be executed in Great Britain on the day before her death.
‘Ellis was sentenced to death in late June and hanged on July 13, 1955 for the murder of her lover, David Blakely.
‘MP George Rogers visited her in prison, and received her agreement to an appeal to the Home Secretary for clemency, which was denied.’
Rupert Powell, head of books at Forum Auctions, added: ‘This letter offers a rare and intimate insight into the final hours of the last woman to be hanged in the UK.
‘It stands as a powerful document of both personal and historical significance.’
Ellis, originally from Rhyl, Denbighshire, north east Wales, murdered Blakely on April 10, 1955 outside The Magdala pub in Hampstead, London.
She took her revolver out of her handbag and fired five shots at him as he searched for his car keys.
The first shot missed so she pursued him and fired four more bullets as he collapsed to the ground.
The six and final shot ricocheted off the ground and injured a bystander.
Ellis was arrested by an off-duty policeman and found guilty at trial of premeditated murder.
