Ruth Ellis, a Welsh-born nightclub hostess who became the last woman to be executed in the UK following the fatal shooting of her abusive lover, David Blakely has been posthumously granted a conditional pardon, commuting her sentence from execution to life imprisonment, on the grounds of the violence she had suffered at his hands.
Born 9 October 1926 6.41pm Rhyl, Wales, she was abused by her father from the age of 11, her older sister having been made pregnant by him aged 14. Ruth Ellis became a nightclub hostess as a teenager and had a series of chaotic, unstable relationships with men. She became pregnant at 17 and gave birth to a son whom she supported through nude-modelling work and prostitution, becoming pregnant again. She married a violent and possessive alcoholic dentist and had a daughter.
In 1953, she met David Moffett Drummond Blakely, a hard-drinking racing driver, who moved in with her despite being engaged to another woman. Ruth had her second abortion since he would not commit; and suffered a subsequent miscarriage when he punched her in the stomach. The relationship became increasingly violent as both continued to see other partners.
On Easter Sunday, 10 April 1955 at 9.30pm, Ellis shot Blakely dead outside The Magdala public house in Hampstead, London. She was found guilty of premeditated murder, sentenced to death and hanged on 13 July at 9.01 am at Holloway Prison, still protesting she loved Blakely and always would.
A car-crash of a life.
The birth time is unverified but if sound, she had a hard-working 6th house Sun Libra in a controlling square to Pluto, a legacy of a dominating father. Her emotionally intense Scorpio Moon was opposition Mars in Taurus and conjunct Saturn square Jupiter in Aquarius and square Neptune in Leo – a Fixed Grand Cross of emotional dysfunction. Her mother did not defend her children since she was scared of her husband so setting a pattern of embedded masochistic/sadistic involvements for Ruth extending into her adult life. Mars Saturn is an abuse signature in one of its manifestations. The Moon Mars hints at a mother who suppressed her anger/assertion. Saturn is depressive and in square to Neptune has potential for paranoia. Her 5th house Neptune was also on the apex of a yod inconjunct Uranus sextile Midheaven, which would make her a dreamer and to a degree delusional.
Her Venus in early Libra is not well integrated into her chart – or life.
Blakeley 17 June 1929, was a Sun Gemini (square her Uranus) with his Mars in Leo square her Mars and Saturn; and his Taurus North Node sitting on her Ascendant conjunct her Mars. So he would trigger all of her early trauma which she could not leave behind, having become addicted to the sexual violence she grew up with.
The relationship chart with Blakeley does have a passionate/obsessional composite Venus Pluto conjunction; and an adventurous Jupiter Uranus conjunction which was in an explosive square to Mars.
When she shot him tr Saturn was back in Scorpio for her Saturn Return which at that point was in a bleak square to Pluto with Mars in final degree Taurus. All of which would trigger her natal Mars Saturn opposition.
She was hanged when Algol was in the 10th close to the Midheaven square Pluto. Tr Saturn was exactly conjunct her Solar Arc Sun.
It is difficult to get a clear moral view of a wrecked life. Bad things happening early on tend not to produce good people. Part of me wants to say she had choices but I am not sure she had. The murder was premeditated though the reason for it was not clear since she was still obsessed by him.
The post Ruth Ellis – repeating old trauma first appeared on Astroinform with Marjorie Orr – Star4cast.
