Alexander Armstrong English (he used the pseudonym Arthur Ellis; 1864/1865 – 21 July 1938) was a
British national who was the official
hangman of
Canada between 1912 and 1935. It is estimated he carried out more than 600 hangings in all of Canada's provinces and incorporated territories.
Biography
English began his role as the assistant to
John Radclive
Capital punishment in Canada dates back to Canada's earliest history, including its period as a French colony and, after 1763, its time as a British colony. From 1867 to the elimination of the death penalty for murder on July 26, 1976, 1,481 peo ...
, a 20-year veteran of Canadian hangings. The only official method of
capital punishment in Canada since the fall of
New France was
hanging. In his capacity as official executioner, English adopted the surname of the famous English executioner,
John Ellis John Ellis may refer to:
Academics
*John Ellis (scrivener) (1698–1791), English political writer
*John Ellis (naturalist) (1710–1776), English botanical illustrator
*John Ellis (physicist, born 1946), British theoretical physicist at CERN
* Jo ...
, as a pseudonym.
Career demise
English's career as Canada's professional hangman ended in ignominy following the botched execution of Tommasina Teolis, who had been convicted of hiring two hit men to kill her husband, at
Bordeaux Prison in
Montreal on 28 March 1935.
The
long drop method of hanging was used, where the condemned would be executed by the weight of their body snapping their neck after they fell through the gallows' trap door. However, English used a miscalculation for Teolis' weight, which resulted in her dropping too far and being decapitated. This shocking event led to a public outcry that permanently ended English's career.
Although since 1 January 1870, all executions in Canada were conducted in private, members of the public could still attend upon invitation from the prison or provincial authorities. This was ended following the beheading of Teolis.
Three years later, English died in poverty in Montreal on 21 July 1938. He was buried at the
Mount Royal Cemetery
Opened in 1852, Mount Royal Cemetery is a terraced cemetery on the north slope of Mount Royal in the borough of Outremont in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Temple Emanu-El Cemetery, a Reform Judaism burial ground, is within the Mount Royal grounds. Th ...
.
Legacy
The
Crime Writers of Canada {{primary sources, date=January 2015
Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) is a national, non-profit organization, founded in 1982 by Derrick Murdock and other professional crime writers. Its mandate is to promote crime writing in Canada and to raise the p ...
present annual literary awards, which were known as the
Arthur Ellis Awards
The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, are a group of Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Crime Writers of Canada for the best Canadian crime and mystery writing published in th ...
from 1984 until 2020.
English's career is referenced in the novella ''The Hangman'' by Canadian crime writer (and two-time Arthur Ellis Award winner)
Louise Penny.
In 2009 Alexander English/Ellis featured in a documentary entitled the ''
Hangman's Graveyard
''Hangman's Graveyard'' is a Canadian documentary film which was originally broadcast in Canada on History Television on December 6, 2009. A work-in-progress screening of the film was presented at the Ontario Archaeological Society's 36th annual s ...
''. The film follows an archaeological investigation into a forgotten cemetery at Toronto's old
Don Jail. Two of the individuals featured in the film were executed by English/Ellis.
See also
*
Capital punishment in Canada
References
;Bibliography
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:English, Alexander B.
1938 deaths
1865 births
Canadian executioners
English emigrants to Canada
Burials at Mount Royal Cemetery
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