Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
Note: Page numbers followed by an n indicate footnotes.
abortion, 35–6, 177–8, 179, 185, 372
see also miscarriage
Ackrall, Jane (prison officer at Holloway), 289
adultery, 29–31, 36–7, 70, 95
Akam, Bessie (childhood friend of Edith Thompson), 87, 105, 197, 382–4, 387–6, 396
Allen, Margaret (murderess), 428–9
Ambrose, Dr Alexander (coroner), 296, 298
Anderson, Sir John, 3, 6, 9, 393, 418, 425
Ansell, Mary Ann (poisoner), 6, 7
appeal. See under Bywaters, Frederick, and Thompson, Edith Armstrong, Herbert (poisoner), 30, 204, 320
Askew, Alice and Claude (novelists), 178
Astor, Nancy, 31
Avenue Hotel, 241
baby farming, 3, 9, 10
Bailey, Mr (Ilford auctioneer), 99, 102
Barrington Matthews, J. (Frederick’s solicitor), 120–1, 288, 380
Bartlett, Adelaide (poisoner), 30, 375
Baxter, Beverley (editor of the Daily Express), 328, 406–8, 421–2, 425
BBC, 39
BBC Radio 4, 53n
Belgrave Road, Ilford, 94, 96, 183, 245, 246, 247–8, 250, 251, 252, 257, 260, 261, 266, 273, 327, 336, 413
Bella Donna (Hichens), 207–9, 343, 359
Bentley, Derek (execution of), 423
betting, 13, 39, 102
Birnage, Sidney (friend of Percy Thompson), 54, 86, 109, 234
birth control, 35, 39
Blackwell, Sir Ernley (civil servant), 6, 8, 126, 311, 361, 404
resumé of the case, 389–93
Bolding, Ada (nurse), 92
Booth, Thomas (Percy Thompson’s employer), 77, 82
Bournemouth, 97, 108, 143, 147, 205, 219–20
Bovary, Emma, 25, 109–111, 228
Bow, Clara, 40
Bridgeman, Sir William (home secretary), 379, 398, 407, 408
Brittain, Vera, 32, 38, 42
Brixton jail, 288, 290, 352–3
Brown, Edith (waitress at Fuller’s tearoom), 229, 238
Brownmiller, Susan, 51
Burton, Ida (contemporary of Edith at Kensington Avenue School), 394
Bywaters, Florence (Frederick’s sister), 113, 118, 259, 277, 381, 400–1
Bywaters, Frank (Frederick’s brother), 114
Bywaters, Frederick annual leave, 164
appeal for mercy by Eliot Howard, 125
appeal against death sentence, 321, 322, 353, 380, 382, 383, 388, 395–96
arrest, 276–7
carnal experience, 12
character, 120–1
charges against, 309
childhood, 111–2
cross-examination, 338–41
execution of, 410
fight with Percy Thompson, 154
letter to home secretary, 397–8
letters to Edith Thompson, 156–7, 161–3, 305–7, 310
medical report, 289–90
petition for reprieve of, 126–7
police statement, 284–5, 286
professional career, 115–16, 121–2
public opinion about, 123–8
relationship with Avis Graydon (Edith’s sister), 135, 141–2, 145, 174
relationship with Edith Thompson, 128–32, 134–7, 142–3, 145, 146–7, 146–51, 160–1, 197–8
relationship with Lilian Bywaters (his mother), 116–18, 119
sexual encounters with Edith Thompson, 149–50, 157, 164, 177, 178, 196, 199, 211, 214, 234, 278
stay at 231 Shakespeare Crescent, 141
testimony, 333–8
time spent with Edith Thompson, 164–5, 194
Bywaters, Frederick (Frederick’s father), 112–13, 120
Bywaters, Lilian (Frederick’s mother), 113–14, 114, 290, 394, 401–2, 429
opinion of Edith Thompson, 142
police statement, 115, 236, 238
reaction to murder of Percy Thompson, 277–8
relationship with Frederick Bywaters, 116–19
witness statement, 329–40
Bywaters, Lilian (Frederick’s sister), 113
Calvert, Louie (murderess), 428
Carlton, Herbert (Edith Thompson’s employer), 74, 93, 161–2, 271, 329
attraction to Edith Thompson, 54, 55, 107
police statement, 41, 143, 151, 223, 231–2
Carlton, John (Herbert Carlton’s son), 90, 107
Carlton & Prior, 42, 83, 102, 105, 106, 143, 229, 231, 236, 269
Cavendish, Lady Dorothy, 29
census 1911, 59–60
Chambers, Kenneth (Percy Thompson’s brother-in-law), 96–7, 98–9, 109
Chambers, Lily (Percy Thompson’s sister), 96–8
childlessness, 59, 110, 130
Christie, Agatha, 30, 102
Christofi, Styllou (murderess), 428, 429
class, 42, 49, 62, 71, 133
Cleveley, Percy (Ilford resident), 245, 246, 248–50, 262, 328
clothing
changes to women’s dress in early twentieth century 33, 34
See also corsets; and under Thompson, Edith Compulsory Service Bill, 75
conscription, 75–7
Cooper, Lady Diana, 54, 55, 108
corsets, 31, 32, 33
‘criminal conversation’ actions, 70
Crippen, Cora, 7–8
Crippen, Hawley Harvey (Dr Crippen), 8, 30, 92
Criterion Theatre, 44, 63, 238, 240, 244
Curtis-Bennett, Sir Henry (Edith Thompson’s counsel), 313–14, 406
closing speech, 142, 147, 282, 352–3
Edith Thompson’s letters, 296–7, 323, 324, 333, 341
Edith Thompson’s testimony, 208–9, 219, 262, 311
questioning Bernard Spilsbury, 331–2
questioning Dora Pittard, 328
questioning Fanny Lester, 256
questioning William Graydon, 66–7, 330
Curzon, Lord George, 95
Daily Chronicle, 45, 56–7, 367–8
Daily Express, 27–8, 61, 84, 109, 123, 328, 406, 407–8, 422–23
Daily Mail, 39, 76,105, 368, 414, 417, 422–3
Daily Mirror, 111, 368
Daily News, 127, 128, 369
Daily Sketch, 92, 126–7, 392
Daily Telegraph, The, 27,46
Davison, Emily (suffragette), 32
death penalty, 3, 10, 368, 422
see also executions
Derby Day, 209
Dippers, The (Ben Travers), 243
divorce, 28–31, 37, 41, 70, 88, 155, 167, 168, 239, 334, 336, 337, 340, 342, 356
Edith Thompson asks Percy Thompson for a divorce, 169, 218
see also separation
Dixon, Pat (Frederick’s childhood friend), 112, 113
domestic violence, 89, 154
Douglas, James (Sunday Express editor), 321, 329, 332, 333, 338, 346, 363, 368
drinking, 73, 87–8, 145, 366, 370
Drought, Percy (police surgeon), 276, 328, 329, 376
Eastbourne, 36–7
11 Westow Street (home of Lilian Bywaters from 1919), 114, 118, 273, 277, 278
Eliot, T.S., 104–5, 111, 147
Ellis, John (hangman), 413, 414, 423, 425, 426, 428
Ellis, Ruth (murderess), 12, 423, 428
Endsleigh Gardens, Ilford, 104, 245, 247, 248, 251, 256, 261, 284, 336
Epsom Derby 1913, 32
Essex Road, 60–1
Essex Road School, 112
Evans, Timothy (wrongful execution of), 423
Evening News, 94, 273, 275
Evening Standard, 127
execution of Edith Thompson, 413–15, 419–20, 425–28
controversy surrounding, 421–4
execution of Frederick Bywaters, 409
executions, 3–5
of men, 7, 10
public, 3–4, 10
of women, 6, 9–11, 428–9
extramarital sex, 36–7
see also adultery
female emancipation, 38–41
see also clothing; feminism; gender equality
female executions, 6, 9–11, 428–9
femaleness, 34, 50–1, 54
femininity, 51
feminism, 32, 41, 51
see also female emancipation
First World War, 37–9, 65–6, 75–7, 93, 113, 115
Fisher, Miss P. (Edith Thompson’s alter ego), 162–3, 223, 271
41 Kensington Gardens (home of Percy and Edith Thompson), 99–102, 103–4, 110, 134, 146, 164–5, 166, 167, 186, 222, 252, 268, 276, 388
see also Kensington Gardens
49 Seymour Gardens (home of Percy’s brother, Richard), 97, 213, 237
Foster, Detective Sergeant Ernest, 275–6, 284–5
Frampton, Walter (Edith Thompson’s counsel), 184–5, 200, 266, 283, 343–5
Fruitful Vine, The (Robert Hichens), 221, 359
Fry, Margery (prison reformer), 48, 50, 58, 344, 368, 405, 408, 425
Fullers tearoom, 106, 229, 230, 237, 238, 277, 326, 327, 339, 360
Gallagher, John (murderer), 8
gambling, 13, 39, 102, 108
gender equality, 5–6, 11, 30, 31–2, 33–5, 101
see also female emancipation
George V, King, 114
Gilligan, Fanny (murderess), 7, 10, 11
Glyn, Elinor (novelist), 45, 95
Good Housekeeping, 41
Graydon, Avis (Edith Thompson’s sister), 60, 380, 390, 429–30
birthday, 228–9
letter to Andrew Bonar Law, 86, 88, 205, 240, 394
letter to prison governor, 419
marriage, 73–4
portrayal of Percy Thompson, 82, 85–6, 87–8, 370
reaction to Edith Thompson’s letters, 69–70, 269–70
relationship with Edith Thompson, 138–41, 207, 210–11, 212–13, 220, 226, 239–40
relationship with Frederick Bywaters, 135, 141–2, 145, 174
witness statement, 67, 202–4, 243, 350
Graydon, Edith, see Thompson, Edith
Graydon, Ethel (Edith Thompson’s mother) (née Liles)
death, 429
family background, 31, 32–3, 35, 63
letters to Queen Mary, 26, 391–2, 406
letters to the Home Office, 404–5, 418–19
police statement, 272
reaction to Edith Thompson’s letters, 112
reaction to relationship between Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters, 62, 239
reaction to sentence, 309
relationship with Edith Thompson, 64, 97
telegram to King George V, 26
Graydon, Harold (Edith Thompson’s brother), 115, 170, 429
Graydon, Newenham (Edith Thompson’s brother), 60, 79, 93, 429
Graydon, William (Bill) (Edith Thompson’s brother), 115, 161–2, 219, 429
Graydon, William (Edith Thompson’s father), 62–3, 400
death, 429
family background, 65–7
letter to Frederick By waters, 139
on Percy Thompson, 77, 82, 87–8
police statement, 240, 241
witness statement, 329
Graydon family, 59–62, 268
Grimes, Sergeant Walter, 251, 257, 258
Haldane, J. B. S., 29
Hall, Detective-Inspector Francis, 133, 260, 261–3, 282, 291, 331
Hancock, Detective-Sergeant John, 190, 271, 299, 309
Hanged for Adultery? (BBC Radio 4), 53n
hangings, 3–5
of men, 7
public, 3–4, 10
of women, 6, 9–11, 428–9
see also execution of Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters
Heath, Neville (murderer), 12
Hichens, Robert (novelist), 45, 430
Higgins, Charles (warehouse boy at Carlton & Prior), 236–7
Hitchcock, Alfred, 430
Holborn Empire, 181–2
Holborn Restaurant, 136, 148
Holloway jail, 3, 10, 12, 13, 31, 35, 48, 53, 60, 112, 289, 305, 307, 309, 310, 335, 362, 378, 379, 380, 382, 397, 407, 408, 412, 413, 421, 423, 424, 429
Edith Thompson sent to, 288
Holtby, Winifred, 33
Homicide Act 1957, 10
horse racing, 13, 32, 39, 102, 167
House of Commons, 5, 402, 421
Housing Act 1919, 61, 101
Howard, Eliot (Chief Magistrate at Police Court in Stratford), 125, 298–9, 301, 309
Humphreys, Travers (prosecuting barrister), 17
charges against Edith Thompson, 371
Edith Thompson’s letters, 333
gender equality, 5–6
memoirs, 384
questioning of Richard Thompson, 257
questioning of William Graydon, 275, 330
replacement of, 321, 322
trial of Alma Rattenbury, 313, 314, 354
Ilford, 94–6, 100, 109, 247
Ilford Hippodrome, 44, 108, 137, 142, 202
‘Ilford murder’, 94–5, 106, 255, 260, 270, 276
pamphlet, 320
Ilford police station, 98, 124, 250, 263, 264, 276, 277, 282, 284, 291, 296, 330, 345, 350, 360, 396
Ilford railway station, 104, 168, 171, 245, 248, 263
Imperial Tobacco Company, 65
infanticide, 6
inquest, 4, 9
for Edith Thompson, 417, 418, 419
inquest jury verdict against Frederick Bywaters, 297
for Percy Thompson, 288, 295, 297, 301, 304, 366, 396
Inskip, Sir Thomas (solicitor general), 311, 321–2
closing speech, 199, 217, 356
cross-examination of Edith Thompson, 242–3, 345–8, 350–51
cross-examination of Frederick Bywaters, 201–2, 206–7, 208, 285, 338–41
opening speech, 184, 323–5, 331
questioning of Percy Drought, 376
Isle of Wight, 143, 144–6, 152, 164, 220
Islington, 50, 60–1, 105
Jacobs, Rose (Edith’s colleague at Carlton & Prior), 106, 163, 230–1, 269, 270–1, 277, 278–79, 299
joint enterprise / dual enterprise, 7–9, 126
jury (at Old Bailey trial), 57, 310, 312
and advice of Mr Justice Shearman, 353
and Edith Thompson’s letters to Frederick Bywaters, 192, 295, 323
and Edith Thompson’s defence counsel, 352, 358
and Filson Young’s account of the trial in Notable British Trials, 354
verdict of, 361
Kaye, Emily (Eastbourne murder victim), 36–7
Keel, Kate (matron at Ilford police station), 264, 272
Kensington Avenue School, 111, 112, 120, 395
Kensington Gardens (home of Percy and Edith Thompson), 108, 110, 111, 156, 159, 164–5, 166, 167, 228, 240, 247, 248, 250, 251, 258, 260, 261, 273, 275, 280, 307, 366, 388
see also 41 Kensington Gardens
Law, Andrew Bonar, 86, 88, 205, 240, 394
Laxton, John (Edith Thompson’s uncle), 63, 238, 243, 244
Laxton, Lily (Edith Thompson’s aunt), 63–4, 238, 243, 244–5, 352, 385, 395
Le Neve, Ethel, 7–8, 317
lesbianism, 37, 428
Lester, Fanny (sitting tenant at 41 Kensington Gardens)
describes Percy Thompson’s ‘heart attacks’, 77
describes quarrels between Edith and Percy Thompson, 89, 98
describes relationship between Frederick By waters and the Thompsons, 151–2, 153, 165
dislike of Percy Thompson, 99
makes breakfast at 41
Kensington Gardens, 186
Percy Thompson’s attempts to evict, 99, 224
police statement, 77, 100–1, 151–2, 154, 165, 169, 232, 233, 255
witness statement, 89, 256, 262, 328, 362, 391
letters between Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters, 14–6, 45–7, 132, 156–64, 171–3, 175–6, 186–7
as evidence, 270–1, 278, 292–7, 324–6, 333, 335–6, 358–9
written after their arrest, 304–7, 311
Lewis, William (Director of Public Prosecutions), 291, 299–300
Liles, Ethel see Graydon, Ethel
Limehouse Police Station, 133, 291
Lloyd’s Sunday News, 65, 102, 269, 413
Madame Bovary, see Bovary, Emma
Mahon, Patrick (murderer), 11–12, 37
Major, Ethel (poisoner), 428
Malwa, SS, 121–2
Manor Park, 61, 70, 72, 96, 111, 112, 114, 141, 142, 166, 198, 228, 274
marriage, 39, 83, 171
between Edith and Percy Thompson, 71–2, 73, 75–6, 83–5, 91, 178–81, 188
Mary, Queen, 26
Ethel Graydon’s letter to, 391–2, 404
Matrimonial Causes Act, 30–1
Maudsley, Dr Noel, 246, 248, 249, 250, 251, 262, 297, 329
Maybrick, Florence (poisoner), 30
Memorandum of Instructions for carrying out the details of an Execution (1891), 4–5, 380
Merrifield, Louisa (poisoner), 428, 429
Mew, Sergeant Walter, 251, 252, 256, 257–8, 262, 268
miscarriage, 177–8, 181–3, 186–7, 193, 204
Morea, SS, 121, 133, 139, 181, 226, 228, 236, 259, 291
Morton, Dr John Hall (Governor of Holloway jail), 423
anonymous letter to, 420–1
Avis Graydon’s letter to, 419
death penalty, 422
and Edith Thompson’s condition, 380, 381–2, 400, 405, 409, 410–1, 413, 414
and Edith’s letters, 307, 385
and Edith’s rumoured pregnancy, 378, 379
and visit to Edith by Canon Palmer, 394, 401–3
Mountbatten, Edwina, 37
Munro, Irene (murder victim), 36
My Weekly, 39, 63
Neil, Arthur, 262, 263, 281
Nellors SS, 1
Newbury, Arthur (chief clerk in P&O Pursers’ Department), 121
Newell, Susan (executed 1923), 423, 428
Nichols, Beverley (writer who attended the Thompson-Bywaters trial), 26, 53–4, 53n, 55, 62, 63, 123, 131, 320, 321
Norfolk Road, Islington (Edith Thompson’s birthplace), 60
Notable British Trials series, 48, 130, 312
Oaks, the (horse race), 102
Offences against the Person Act 1896, 19, 20, 36, 308
opium, 78, 97, 203, 204, 302–3, 307, 348
Orvieto, SS, 121, 122, 152
Osborne House (lodging house in Shanklin, Isle of Wight), 144
Osman’s (shop in Aldersgate Street), 237, 241–2
Page, Frank, Detective Inspector, 277–8
Palmer, Canon, 395, 401–3, 404
P&O (shipping company), 114, 115, 121, 122
Pankhurst, Sylvia, 34
Paradine Case, The (Hitchcock), 430
Pentonville jail, 120, 125, 288, 379, 380–81, 394, 401, 410, 412, 413
Piccadilly Circus, 16
Pierrepoint, Albert, 11, 12
Pierrepoint, Henry, 9
Pin to See the Peepshow, A (F. Tennyson Jesse, 1934), 46, 269n, 313
Pittard, Dora (resident of Endsleigh Gardens, Ilford), 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 262, 296, 326
Plassy, SS, 141
poisoning, 186, 189–90, 204, 206, 208, 303, 371–75
political franchise, 6, 31–2
porridge (made by Mrs Lester at 41 Kensington Gardens), 186
see also ‘wrong porridge’
pregnancy, 6, 35, 85, 177–8, 179, 180–1, 204–5, 214, 379–80, 423–4
see also abortion; miscarriage; and under Thompson, Edith
prejudice, 26–7
premarital sex, 36
Prior, Ellen (Herbert Carlton’s partner), 83, 105, 162, 170, 171, 191
public executions, 3–4, 10
quinine, 35, 199, 202, 204, 207, 373, 374
radio programmes, 53–4, 53n, 369–70
Rattenbury, Alma, 312–13, 316, 354
reprieves, 6, 7–9, 10, 11, 126–27, 313
Rhys, Jean, 37, 45
right to vote. See vote, women’s right to
Rouge et Le Noir, Le (Stendhal), 228
Row, Joseph (Ilford accountant who witnessed murder of Percy Thompson), 247–8, 250
rows between Edith and Percy Thompson, 88–9, 152–4, 165–6, 220
‘Russell case’ (1922), 88
Sach, Amelia (baby farmer), 3, 9, 12
St Barnabas church (Manor Park), 61, 62
St John’s church, Hackney, 61
Sayers, Dorothy L., 48
Secretan, Jessie (of Courtland Avenue, Ilford), 245, 246
separation, 29, 88, 169, 181, 334, 336, 337, 340
discussed by Edith and Percy Thompson and Frederick By waters, 155, 167
discussed by Frederick Bywaters and his mother, 116–17
discussed by Percy Thompson and Frederick Bywaters, 168
see also divorce
Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919, 38
Seymour Gardens, 97, 213, 237
Shakespeare Crescent (Graydon family home in Manor Park), 61–2, 78–9, 91, 100, 103, 141, 231, 237, 238–9, 274
Shearman, Sir Montague (judge at Old Bailey trial), 107, 355
closing speech, 355–62
Edith Thompson’s letters, 124, 158, 192, 221
Advice to jury, 354
Percy Thompson, 77, 80
questioning Edith Thompson, 185, 208, 343
questioning Frederick Bywaters, 336
summing-up, 348, 380
Shortt, Sir Edward (Liberal home secretary), 8, 378
Shulamite, The (Alice and Claude Askew), 178, 201
Simmons, Lillian, see Bywaters, Lilian (Frederick’s mother)
Slave, The (Robert Hichens), 44–5
Smith, Madeleine (poisoner), 374
social class, 42, 49, 62, 71, 133
social mobility, 61
Spilsbury, Bernard (Home Office pathologist), 301, 331–2, 354, 360, 375–6, 384, 394
Thompson, 77–8, 88, 190, 302–3, 330–1, 368, 382
Stern, F. A. S. (Edith Thompson’s solicitor), 264, 296–8, 308, 323, 381, 406–7
Stone, Mary (murderess), 8
Stoner, George (lover of Alma Rattenbury), 313
Stopes, Marie, 35, 36
Stratford Police Court, 287, 290–1
suffragettes, 31, 32
suicide, 150, 166, 172, 172–3, 199, 202
Sunday Despatch, 26, 321
Sunday Express, 40, 50, 90, 321
Sunday Pictorial, 190
Swann, Emily (murderess), 6, 8, 12
Teare, Professor Donald (pathologist), 369–70
Tennyson Jesse, F., 46, 269n, 312, 313, 375, 432
theatre, 43, 44, 103, 108, 188, 193, 196, 197, 221, 241, 242, 243, 244, 255
Thompson, Edith
alter ego, 162–3, 223, 271
appeal against death sentence, 320, 321, 352, 379, 381–4, 386, 388, 354–6
appearance, 53–4
aspirations, 49–50
belief in fate, 13, 172, 179, 205, 220, 363
charges against, 19–21, 309, 323
clothes worn, 53, 56, 68, 103, 418
clothes worn in prison, 381
comparison with Madame Bovary, 109–11
confession, 281
cross-examination, 261–2, 319, 345–7, 348–49
in custody, 272, 289
execution, 412–14, 425–8
family background, 59–62
fascination with luck, 102
femaleness, 34, 50–1, 54
as a housewife, 41
in Holloway jail, 288
inquest on following execution, 417–20
interest in books and the arts, 43–5
letter to Bessie Akam, 381–2, 387–8, 395
letter to father, 398–9
letter to parents, 385–6
letters to Frederick By waters. See letters between Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters
marital rows with Percy Thompson, 88–9, 152–4, 165–6, 220
marriage to Percy Thompson, 28, 71–2, 73, 74–6, 83–5, 91, 178–81, 188
medical report on, 288–90
men’s attraction to, 54–5
miscarriage, 177–8, 181–3, 186–7, 193, 204
personality, 52
police statement, 261, 279–80, 283
portrayal of Percy Thompson, 80–2, 86–7
post-mortem, 428
pregnancy, 85, 177–78, 180–1, 204–5, 214, 379–80, 423–4
professional career, 42, 83–4
public opinion of, 132
relationship with Avis Graydon (sister), 138–41, 207, 210–11, 212–13, 220, 226, 239–40
relationship with Lilian Bywaters (Frederick Bywater’s mother), 116, 118–19
relationship with Percy Thompson’s family, 96–8
relationship with Frederick Bywaters, 128–32, 134, 135–7, 142–3, 145, 146–7, 146–51, 160–1, 197–8
rows with Percy Thompson, 88–9, 152–4, 165–6, 220
sexual encounters with Frederick Bywaters, 149–50, 157, 164, 177, 178, 196, 199, 211, 214, 234, 278, 378
social class, 42, 49, 62, 71, 133
testimony, 266–267, 311, 342–5
time spent with Frederick Bywaters, 164–5, 194
weight gain between condemnation and execution, 379
will, 314
women’s attitude towards, 57, 126
Thompson, Margaret (Percy’s mother), 72, 113, 288
Thompson, Percy, 71–3, 122, 170–1, 212
character, 79–82, 85–8
conversation with Frederick Bywaters, 168–9
drinking, 73, 87–8, 145, 366, 370
fight with Frederick Bywaters, 154
on Frederick By waters, 135, 142
funeral, 288
‘heart attacks’, 77–8
injuries to, 250
marriage to Edith, 71–2, 73, 75–6, 83–5, 91, 178–81, 188
military service in First World War, 76–7, 78–9
murder of, 248–51
post-mortem report, 77–8, 88, 190, 302–3, 330–1, 369, 383
relationship with his family, 98–9
rows with Edith, 88–9, 152–4, 165–6, 220
wedding to Edith, 28, 71, 74–5
Thompson, Richard (Percy’s brother), 73, 77, 97, 99, 101, 102, 107–8, 108, 237, 256–7, 268–9, 269n, 413
Thomson’s Weekly News, 377
Times, The, 95, 255, 287, 288, 291, 304, 320, 355–6, 368, 414
Tucknott, Agnes, 87, 90
231 Shakespeare Crescent (Graydon family home in Manor Park), 61–2, 78–9, 91, 100, 103, 141, 231, 237, 238–9, 274
Upper Norwood, 114
Vellender, Lily (Edith’s work colleague), 105–6, 144, 195, 229, 231, 329
Vernon, Ethel (maid), 98
vote, women’s right to, 6, 31–2, 39, 41, 376
Waddingham, Dorothea (murderess), 428
Walker, Dora (doctor who witnessed Edith’s execution), 377, 411, 426–8
Walkinshaw, Edith (Edith’s aunt), 60
Wallis, Dr Preston (Graydon family’s doctor), 91–3
Walters, Annie (baby farmer), 3, 9, 12
war, 37–39, 65–66, 75–7, 93, 113, 115
Warren, Mr (Graydon family friend), 65, 79
Waste Land, The (T. S. Eliot), 104
Webber, John (resident of De Vere Gardens, Ilford), 249, 250, 262, 308, 359, 376
Wensley, Detective Inspector Frederick, 264–5, 266, 271, 281–2, 284, 295
conversation with Richard Thompson, 268–9
on Frederick Bywaters, 124–5, 131, 276
on Percy Thompson, 79–80
West, Rebecca, 42, 45, 50, 58
Westcliff-on-Sea, 93
Thompsons’ wedding night in, 75
Westow Street, Upper Norwood (Lilian Bywaters’ home), 114, 118, 273, 277, 278
Whiteley, Cecil (counsel for Frederick Bywaters), 374
closing speech, 351–2
questioning of Lilian Bywaters, 120
questioning of Frederick Bywaters, 146, 275, 335–8
Willis, Rhoda (baby farmer), 10
Woman Deborah, The (Alice and Claude Askew), 201
women
executions of, 6, 9–11
see also female emancipation; feminism; gender equality
Women’s Institute, 39
Woods, Alfred (assistant executioner), 412, 414, 421–2, 426
Woolf, Virginia, 407
work, 38, 42, 83–4
World War I, 37–9, 65–6, 75–7, 93, 113, 115
Wright, Daisy, 10
‘wrong porridge’ 183, 184, 185, 292
Yeldham, Elsie, 8–9
Young, Filson (editor of’The Trial of Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson’ for Notable British Trials series), 130, 312, 327–8, 333, 334, 355
Young, William (assistant executioner), 412, 414, 421–2, 425, 426
Yuill, James (Jim) (driver for Carlton & Prior), 162, 163–4, 181