Edith Jessie Thompson (25 December 1893 – 9 January 1923) and Frederick Edward Francis Bywaters (27 June 1902 – 9 January 1923) were a British couple who were executed for the murder of Thompson’s husband Percy. Events 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople. Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1358 - Republic of Dubrovnik is founded 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople. Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries Their case became a cause célèbre. A cause célèbre (plural causes célèbres, French famous case) is

Contents 1 Early life and events leading to the murder 2 The murder 3 The trial 4 Imprisonment and execution 5 Reactions to the executions 6 Burial 7 The case in popular culture 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

Early life and events leading to the murder

Edith Thompson was born Edith Graydon at 97 Norfolk Road in Dalston, London, the first of the five children of William Eustace Graydon (1867–1941), a clerk with the Imperial Tobacco Company, and his wife, Ethel Jessie Liles (1872–1938), the daughter of a police constable. Dalston is a district in the London Borough of Hackney, England, in Inner London. Imperial Tobacco Group PLC ( is the world's fourth largest international Tobacco company During her childhood, she was a happy, talented girl who excelled at dancing and acting, and was academically bright, with a natural ability in arithmetic. Arithmetic or arithmetics (from the Greek word αριθμός = number is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics used by almost everyone Upon leaving school, she found employment as a bookkeeper for a fabric importer. Bookkeeping (also book-keeping or book keeping) is the recording of all Financial transactions undertaken by an individual or Organization (including She quickly established a reputation as a stylish and intelligent woman and was promoted by the company several times, until she became their chief buyer and made regular trips to Paris on behalf of the company. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city

In 1909 she met Percy Thompson, and after a six-year engagement they were married in 1916. Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year They bought a house in the fashionable town of Ilford in Essex and with both their careers flourishing, lived a comfortable life. Ilford is a district of the London Borough of Redbridge. It is a suburban development situated east north-east of Charing Cross and one the major metropolitan centres Essex is a county in the East of England. The County town is Chelmsford, and the highest point of the county is Chrishall Common

The couple became acquainted with Freddy Bywaters in 1920, although Bywaters and Edith Thompson had met nine years earlier when Bywaters had been a school friend of Edith’s younger brother. Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar By 1920 Bywaters had joined the merchant navy. Edith was immediately attracted to Bywaters, who was handsome and impulsive and whose stories of his travels around the world interested Edith. By comparison Percy was a staid, conventional person, and Bywaters represented a more dashing figure to her, and more closely resembled her romantic ideal. He was welcomed by Percy, and the trio, joined by Edith’s sister, holidayed on the Isle of Wight. The Isle of Wight is an English Island and county in the English Channel between three and five miles (8 km from the south coast of the Upon their return, Percy invited Bywaters to lodge with them.

Edith and Bywaters began an affair soon after, and when Percy realised this he confronted them. A quarrel broke out and when Bywaters demanded that Percy divorce Edith, Percy ordered him from the house. Edith later described a violent confrontation with her husband after Bywaters left, and said that her husband struck her several times and threw her across the room. From September 1921 until September 1922, Bywaters was at sea, and during this time Edith Thompson wrote to him frequently. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Upon his return, they met again.

The murder

On October 3, 1922 the Thompsons attended a performance at the Criterion Theatre in London’s Piccadilly Circus and were returning home, when a man jumped out from behind some bushes near their home, and attacked Percy. Events 42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. Piccadilly Circus is a famous road junction and public space of London 's West End in the City of Westminster,built in 1819 to connect Regent After a violent struggle, during which Edith Thompson was also brutally knocked to the ground, Percy was stabbed. Mortally wounded, he died before Edith could summon help. The attacker fled. Neighbours later reported hearing a woman screaming hysterically, and shouting “no don’t” several times, and by the time police arrived she had still not composed herself. At the police station she appeared distressed and confided to police that she knew who the killer was, and named Freddy Bywaters. Believing herself to be a witness, rather than an accomplice, Thompson provided them with details of her association with Bywaters.

As police investigated further they arrested Bywaters, and upon discovering a series of more than sixty love letters from Edith Thompson to Bywaters, arrested her too. An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the investigation and prevention of crime The letters were the only tangible evidence linking Edith Thompson to the murders, and allowed for the consideration of common purpose, namely that if two people wish to achieve the death of a third, and one of these people acts on the expressed intentions of both, both are equally guilty by law. In Criminal law, the doctrine of common purpose, common design or joint enterprise refers to the situation where two or more people embark on a project They were each charged with murder.

The trial

The trial began on December 6, 1922 at the Old Bailey. Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Central Criminal Court in England, commonly known as the Old Bailey, is a court Bywaters co-operated completely. He had led police to the murder weapon he had concealed after the murder, and consistently maintained that he had acted without Edith’s knowledge. The love letters were produced as evidence. In these Edith Thompson passionately declared her love for Bywaters, and her desire to be free of Percy. She said on one occasion she had ground a glass light bulb to shards and had fed them to Percy mixed into mashed potato, and on another occasion had fed him poison. Not only had he failed to die, he had failed to become ill, and Edith now implored Freddy to “do something desperate”.

Thompson’s counsel urged her not to testify, stressing that the burden of proof lay with the prosecution and that there was nothing they could prove other than that she had been present at the murder. A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law as an attorney, Counsel or Solicitor; a person By this time Thompson seemed to be enjoying the publicity she was attracting and insisted that she would take the stand. Her testimony proved damning, and she was caught in a series of lies. "Testify" redirects here For other uses see Testify (disambiguation and Testimony (disambiguation. Her demeanour was variously flirtatious, self pitying and melodramatic and she made a poor impression on the judge and the jury, particularly when she contradicted herself. In answer to several questions relating to the meaning of some of the passages in her letters, she said “I have no idea”. Her counsel later stated that her vanity and arrogance had destroyed her chances for acquittal. In Criminal law, an acquittal is a verdict of not guilty, or some similar end of the proceeding that terminates it with prejudice without a verdict Her testimony negated the positive testimonies of neighbours who had heard Thompson crying out in horror during her husband’s murder, and the statements from police who dealt with the immediate investigation stating that Thompson appeared to be in a genuine state of shock and disbelief and attested to her assertions of “Oh god, why did he do it?” and “I never wanted him to do it”.

Bywaters stated that Edith Thompson had known nothing of his plans for the simple reason that he had not intended to murder Percy Thompson. His aim was to confront him, and force him to deal with the situation, and when Thompson had reacted in a superior manner, Bywaters had lost his temper. Edith Thompson, he repeatedly stated, had made no suggestion to him to kill Percy, nor did she know that Bywaters intended to confront him. In discussing the letters, Bywaters stated that he had never believed Edith had attempted to harm her husband, but that he believed she had a vivid imagination, fuelled by the novels she enjoyed reading, and in her letters she viewed herself in some way as one of these fictional characters.

On December 11, the jury returned a verdict of guilty, and both Thompson and Bywaters were sentenced to death by hanging. Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office A jury a sworn body of persons convened to render a rational, impartial Verdict (a finding of fact on a question officially submitted to them In Law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a Jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death Thompson became hysterical and started screaming in the court, while Bywaters loudly protested Thompson’s innocence.

Imprisonment and execution

Before and during the trial, Thompson and Bywaters were the subjects of a highly sensationalist and critical media commentary, but after they were sentenced to death, there was a dramatic shift in public attitudes and in the media coverage. Almost one million people signed a petition against the imposed death sentences. Bywaters attracted admiration for his fierce loyalty and protectiveness towards Thompson. Thompson was regarded as a foolish woman, but attracted sympathy as it was generally considered that to hang a woman was abhorrent, and no woman had been executed in Britain since 1907. Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Thompson herself stated that she would not hang, and when her parents were allowed to visit her she urged her father to simply take her home. Despite the petition, and a new confession from Bywaters in which he once again declared Thompson to be completely innocent, the Home Secretary, William Bridgeman, did not extend them a reprieve. The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office William Clive Bridgeman 1st Viscount Bridgeman, PC, JP, DL, ( 31 December 1864 &ndash 14 August 1935) was a A few days before their executions Thompson was told of the date which had been fixed, and lost her composure. She spent the last few days of her life in a state of near hysteria, crying, screaming and moaning, and unable to eat. On the morning of her execution she was heavily sedated, but remained in an agitated state. On January 9, 1923 in Holloway Prison, Thompson was half carried to the scaffold where she had to be held upright while the noose was fitted to her. Events 475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople. Year 1923 ( MCMXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. HM Prison Holloway is a Prison in the London Borough of Islington, London, United Kingdom. In Pentonville Prison, Bywaters who had tried since his arrest to save Thompson from execution, was himself hanged. HM Prison Pentonville is a Prison built in 1842 on the Caledonian Road, North London. They were hanged simultaneously at 9. 00 am, only about half-a-mile apart - Holloway and Pentonville prisons are located in the same district. Later, the bodies of Thompson and Bywaters were buried within the walls of the prisons where they had been executed.

Edith Thompson was one of only 17 women hanged in the United Kingdom during the 20th Century. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on

Reactions to the executions

The hanging of Edith Thompson shocked British society. It was unthinkable that a young, attractive, middle class woman could be executed, and many of her supporters argued that she had been hanged for no more than adultery. Adultery is the voluntary Sexual intercourse between a married person and another person who is not his or her Spouse, though in many places it is An autopsy on Percy Thompson had failed to reveal any evidence that he had been fed ground glass or any type of detectable poison. An autopsy, also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy, or obduction, is a Medical procedure that consists of a thorough Examination Grave concerns that Thompson’s letters were the work of a bored, imaginative and immature housewife who fantasised about a life without her husband, without ever intending him harm, had been insufficient to save her, but her supporters continued to speak on her behalf. After her death, they became more vocal and critical of the manner in which her case was handled. The Home Office files were marked not to be opened for 100 years, which helped to stifle examination of the case, while adding fuel to the growing rumours. The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for security and order Many of the letters were censored by the court during the trial, because they dealt with subjects such as menstruation and orgasm, subjects that were not considered fit for public discussion and which may in part account for the decision to keep them from public scrutiny for 100 years. See also "Mensuration" a term sometimes used to describe Measurement, particularly in the context of Forestry. An orgasm (sexual climax is the conclusion of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, and may be experienced by both males and females At the trial, the jurors were presented with only snippets from the letters, and were prevented from placing them in the context of her extended writing.

Several years later it was revealed that upon dropping through the scaffold, Thompson had suffered a massive haemorrhage. Bleeding, technically known as hemorrhaging / haemorrhaging (see American and British spelling differences) is the loss of Blood from The large amount of blood spilled, combined with the fact that Thompson had gained weight during her imprisonment even while resisting food, led to conjecture that she had been pregnant. Pregnancy ( Latin graviditas) is the carrying of one or more offspring known as a Fetus or Embryo, inside the Uterus of a Female However, no subsequent post-mortem examination was made. An autopsy, also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy, or obduction, is a Medical procedure that consists of a thorough Examination John Ellis, her executioner, eventually committed suicide, with his closest associates stating that he had remained haunted by the horror of Thompson’s final moments. John Ellis ( October 4, 1874 – September 20, 1932) was an English Executioner from 1901 to 1924 All women hanged in Britain after Thompson were required to wear special knickers made of canvas which would prevent a recurrence of the massive bleeding suffered by Thompson.

Burial

The body of Edith Thompson was buried in an unmarked grave within the walls of Holloway Prison, as was customary. The phrase Unmarked grave has Metaphorical meaning in the context of cultures that mark burial sites. HM Prison Holloway is a Prison in the London Borough of Islington, London, United Kingdom. In 1971 the prison underwent an extensive programme of rebuilding, during which the bodies of all the executed women were exhumed for reburial elsewhere. Burial, also called interment and inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground

With the exception of Ruth Ellis, the remains of the four other women executed at Holloway, i. Ruth Ellis ( October 9 1927 — July 13 1955) was a British Murderess who was the last woman to receive the Death penalty e. Edith Thompson, Styllou Christofi, Amelia Sach and Annie Walters were reburied in a single grave at Brookwood Cemetery. Styllou Pantopiou Christofi ( 1900 - 13 December 1954) was a Greek Cypriot woman Hanged in Britain for Murdering Amelia Sach (1873-1903 and Annie Walters (1869-1903 were two British Serial killers better known as the Finchley baby farmers Brookwood Cemetery is a burial ground in Brookwood Surrey, England. The new grave (in plot 117) remained unmarked for over twenty years. Finally, on 13th November 1993, a grey granite memorial was placed on plot 117 and dedicated to the memory of the four women buried there. Granite (ˈɡrænɪt is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, Felsic, igneous rock. Edith Thompson's details appear prominently on the face of the tombstone, together with her epitaph: 'Sleep on beloved. An epitaph (in Greek, &mdash literally " on the gravestone " is a short text honoring a deceased person strictly speaking that inscribed on Her death was a legal formality'. The names of the other three women are inscribed around the edges of the tombstone.

The remains of Frederick Bywaters still lie in an unmarked grave within the walls of HMP Pentonville, where they were buried shortly after his execution in January 1923. HM Prison Pentonville is a Prison built in 1842 on the Caledonian Road, North London. The precise location of the cemetery within the prison is 51°32′44.05″N 0°06′54.62″W / 51.5455694, -0.1151722.

The remains of Percy Thompson are buried in The City of London Cemetery, Wanstead. Wanstead is a suburban area in the London Borough of Redbridge, East London. ^[1]

The case in popular culture

The couple were the subject of waxworks at Madame Tussauds and during the many years they were displayed, were highly popular with patrons. Alfred Hitchcock expressed the wish to make a documentary film on a real life case, several times commenting that the Thompson and Bywaters case was the one he would most like to film. Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt in one fashion or another to " Document " reality Their story has provided the basis for several fictional stories, and plays.

In 1934, F. Tennyson Jesse published A Pin to See the Peepshow, "a fictional account of the Thompson-Bywaters case despite the usual disclaimer at the front that all the characters are imaginary. The title refers to the children's entertainment at which (she) first met her lover-to-be. "^[2] .

A play by Frank Vosper, People Like Us, written in the 1930s was originally banned by the Lord Chamberlain and remained unperformed until 1948 when it premiered at the Wyndhams Theatre, London, in the West End. Frank Vosper (born London, December 15 1899 - March 6 1937) was a British Actor and Playwright. The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom, and is to be distinguished Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham (cp Criterion Theatre) London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom.

Both P. D. James and Dorothy Sayers have written fiction which has been based on their story. Phyllis Dorothy James Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, FRSA, FRSL (born 3 August, 1920) is an English Crime writer Dorothy Leigh Sayers ( IPA: usually pronounced /ˈseɪɜrz/ although Sayers herself preferred /ˈsɛːz/ and encouraged the use of her middle initial to facilitate this

I non-fiction, Lewis Broad wrote The Innocence of Edith Thompson: A Study in Old Bailey Justice in 1952. A study of the case titled Fred and Edie by Jill Dawson was published in 2000, and a biography of Thompson, titled Criminal Justice : The True Story of Edith Thompson, by Rene Weis was published in 1988. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. A biography (from the Greek words bíos (βίος meaning "life" and gráphein (γράφειν meaning "to write" is an account

Weis' biography received a new edition in 2001 to coincide with the film Another Life which told their story. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Natasha Little played Edith Thompson, Nick Moran played Percy Thompson and Ioan Gruffudd played Freddy Bywaters. Natasha Little (born 2 October 1969) is a British actress. She is best known for her work on British television but has also starred in many Nick Moran (born Nicholas James Moran on 23 December 1969) is a British actor writer and producer Ioan Gruffudd (ˈjoʊæn ˈgrɪfɪð;; born 6 October 1973) is a Welsh Actor.

In 2006, the writer Molly Cutpurse published, A Life Lived, a novel on how Edith's life might have developed had she been allowed to live. Molly Cutpurse is an English Transgendered Author. She was born in Stratford in the East End of Caketown in September 1952 and raised in nearby

See also

• Capital punishment
• Capital punishment in the United Kingdom

References

External links

• Photograph of Edith Thompson's grave

---

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic