RUTH Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain on July 13, 1955, left behind two children when she was executed at the age of 28.
New ITV series A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, which premiered on Wednesday, March 5th, 2025, dramatises the tragic tale. Here’s everything we know about Ruth’s kids.
What happened to Ruth Ellis’ children?
Georgina Ellis
Ruth Ellis‘ daughter Georgina was just three years old when her mother’s death penalty via hanging was was carried out.
She was fostered at the age of six after her father George Ellis died by suicide in 1958.
As an adult, Georgina struggled with alcoholism and faced difficulties raising her own six children.
She was married twice and had several high-profile relationships, including affairs with celebrities including George Best and Richard Harris.
However, the death of her mother caused a tragic chain of events within the family.
Georgina’s daughter Laura Enston told the Telegraph: “My grandfather, Ruth’s first husband, George Ellis, a dentist with an alcohol problem, hanged himself three years after Ruth’s execution.
“In 1969, Ruth’s mother, Bertha Neilson, was found unconscious in a gas-filled room; she never fully recovered.
“My mother, Georgina Ellis, Ruth’s daughter, was three years old and living with an adoptive family when her mother was hanged.
“She led a chaotic life thanks to her childhood; she could not be the mother that my siblings and I needed, drank heavily later in life and died of cancer aged 50.“
Georgina published a book titled Ruth Ellis, My Mother (1995), which included her memories of Ruth and how her own life was shaped by her mother’s legacy.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”What led to the death penalty being abolished in the UK in 1965? ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6226298717001″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]She sadly passed away in 2001.
Andy Ellis
Ruth’s son Clare Andrea Neilson, known as Andy, was born on September 15, 1944.
His father, Clare Andrea McCallum, was a married Canadian soldier.
As a youngster, Andy lived with his grandmother while Ruth worked various jobs to support him.
He was 10 years old when his mother was executed.
In 1982, at the age of 37, Andy took his own life in a bedsit.
Before his death, he desecrated his mother’s grave, destroying the headstone on her burial plot in St Mary the Virgin Churchyard in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.
Laura said: “Andy, my uncle, who was 10 when Ruth was hanged, died by suicide, aged 37.“
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story
ITV‘s new four-part series A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story explores the life of Ruth Ellis.
Starring Lucy Boynton as Ruth and Laurie Davidson as David Blakely.
The series delves into their tumultuous relationship, culminating in Ellis’ conviction for Blakely’s murder.
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story premiered at 9 pm on ITV1 on Wednesday, March 5th, 2025.