Ghost of the Hangmans Noose

Ghost of the Hangmans Noose

Ben Ellis: Executioner at Adelaide Gaol

   Most people take pride in their work, but Ben Ellis, Hangman for the Adelaide Gaol from around 1860 until the mid-1870s, and also hangman at Mount Gambier Gaol in the same period took exceptional pride in his efforts to make sure he did his job precisely.

  The Adelaide Gaol hangman lived on-site within the gaol, part payment for being the most unpopular man in Adelaide, and doing the dirtiest job of all. Partly to keep him safe from the general public, and from released prisoners who may have made promises to condemned prisoners.

 His quarters were in a small apartment under the female dormitory. In an observation in an Adelaide newspaper in the late 1860s, it was noted how filthy Mr Ellis kept his room. It was also noted that fires would often break out inside, or near his particular dwelling.

 Mr Ellis only had one execution go wrong in his time as hangman, and that was of prisoner Charles Streitman in 1877. In this particular instance, Mr Ellis was hasty in his preparations and didn’t go about his job in his usual way. When it became time for the trap door to drop, Streitman, rebounded and got caught on the platform – it took him 22 minutes before death took him from hanging – an insufferable way to die.

 Ben Ellis was described in one old newspaper as;  "a hulk of a man with “alcohol” blemishes on his nose, a whisp of grey head and a shabby beard. A grumpy looking fellow who lived in squalid conditions."

 Ellis went about his job without no complaint, until 1873, when Elizabeth Woolcock was due to be hung in the gaol. The first woman to be executed in Adelaide. Ellis protested her execution and from then on questioned his position as executioner.

 It wasn’t too much longer until Ellis found himself unemployed, and unemployable. Ellis ended up in the district court for vagrancy. His solicitor stated that he could not get a job anywhere in Adelaide due to his incredible unpopularity, from his previous career, and since being released from his position, had lived on the streets of Adelaide.

Ben Ellis would eventually pass away a vagrant, and be buried in a paupers grave in West Terrace Cemetery.

  It is alleged Mr Ellis now haunts the Adelaide Gaol. The spirit of a person matching his description is often seen around the area of the old bakery, and in the tunnel that joins the main gaol to the 'New Building' yard.

© 2015 - Allen Tiller

The Rhynie Tragedy: Part One

The Rhynie Tragedy Part One

On April 1st, 1920, tragedy struck the small country town of Rhynie, a little hamlet not far from Riverton in the States Mid-North. The bodies of Mrs Muriel Lee and three of her five children, aged three, five and six years old respectively, were found dead, lying in their beds in their country home, murdered by husband and father, Alexander Lee.

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.  1848 - 1957), Monday 5 April 1920, page 6

  Alexander had come home a couple of days prior, after being away for a lengthy time shearing sheep at homesteads around the State.
 He had returned home drunk one night and accused his wife of a number of petty things, but had wound himself up, and accused her of having a series of “fancy” men in the house in his absence.

  The night before the murder, Charles Glen, Mrs Lee's brother had visited the house. Alexander was laying on the sofa, smoking a pipe. Glen went to leave saying “I will get away now, as I want to get a pint of beer before 6”, after which Lee said, “A Pint would do me good.”
  Mrs Lee said to her brother “Don't talk to me about beer, I had enough of it last night. He came home drunk and accused me of all sorts of things, and he said I had men in the house when he was away."

  Lee then called his daughter, Amelia into the room and stated "I will keep you and little Alice, and I hope to God the rest of the ------- are dead by the morning." Lee then looked at his wife and said, “You must have riled me to say a thing like that!"

  This was not the first time Alexander Lee had been harsh to his wife. The married couple also had twins babies which at the time of the murders were in a hospital in Adelaide, as they had been unwell with influenza.
 Emily Mellery, a young nurse looking after the young twins, who was later called upon as a witness, reported she had been staying with the Lee family. One evening, Mr Lee arrived home in a bad state of intoxication and began to call his wife all manner of names and curses.

  After a while Lee began to make accusations about the fatherhood of his twins, "I am not responsible for your condition." Lee said, to which his wife answered, "Don't say that to me, Alex You know I don't do that." 

 

Advocate (Burnie, Tas.  1890 - 1954),
 Wednesday 9 June 1920, page 3

  Lee, who had two bottles of brandy and a bottle of wine with him from which he was drinking heavily, then forced his wife to drink several glasses of brandy. After each drink she was sick.
  The following afternoon Mrs Lee was removed to the Riverton Maternity Hospital, and was away from home for about three weeks. On the day she reached home, the twins began to cry, and Lee remarked to his wife, "Chuck the little ----- outside they don't belong to me."   Mrs Lee replied, "Oh, Alex don't say that to me. God put them into the world for something, and we must look after them." Alex replied, "I Wasn't Home, I wasn't home when the twins arrived, I was away shearing. I think your memory has failed you considerably."

There was much speculation that Alexander Lee thought his brother, Leonard, may have been the father of the twin. This, he speculated because, on a day in March, Leonard had been standing at the front gate of the family home when Alexander had returned from work. Alexander said unto him “Hello you F$#@er!” and then had continued to berate his wife inside the home saying “why don't you keep your fancy man in here?”

  Alexander Lee obviously had trust issues and a drinking problem, but also had murder on his mind – next week on The Haunts of Adelaide, we take a closer look at the murders, trial and hanging of Alexander Lee


© 2014 Allen Tiller