Edith Jessie Thompson nee Graydon will be remembered as being one of the five women who were judicially executed from 1903 to 1955 at London, England's Holloway Prison for Women. In a widely publicised murder case, Edith and her lover, Frederick Edward Francis Bywaters, were found guilty of murdering her husband Percy Thompson.
The oldest of five children Edith was the daughter of William Eustace Graydon a clerk with the Imperial Tobacco Company and Ethel Jessie Thompson nee Liles.
She met 18 year old Percy Thompson when she was fifteen and they were married in January 1916. Being eight years younger Frederick Bywaters was a classmate of Edith Thompson's younger brother and known to her family .
The Thompson couple lived comfortable life-styles with good jobs and were buying a home in London. She was beautiful and intelligent. The intimate relationship between Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson started in June of 1921 when he accompanied the couple on a vacation. After that Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson started meeting in hotel rooms under fictitious names.
On October 3 1922 at about 11 pm the Thompson couple were walking home from the theatre when a man jumped from the bushes verbally attacking then stabbing Percy Thompson and pushing Edith Thompson to the ground. The attacker fled before Edith Thompson could recover from her fall. Screaming for help, she found her husband dead from his wounds. After being questioned as a witness by the police, she identified Frederick Bywaters as the attacker and he was arrested. When the police found sixty love letters handwritten by Edith Thompson in Frederick Bywaters home, she was arrested. Frederick Bywaters protested repeatedly that he had not plan to kill anyone and that Edith Thompson was completely innocent. They were tried together.
On December 11 1922, the jury found the couple guilty of murder in two hours and fifteen minutes and sentenced to death by hanging. Both were executed on the same day - January 9 1923. She was initially buried on the prison grounds in an unmarked grave.
Since this trial, there are been numerous newspaper and magazine articles along with books written. Recent books: author Rene' Wesis wrote "Criminal Justice" in 1990. Molly Cutpurse wrote two books on the Edith Thompson cases: in 2003 "A Life Lived" and in 2010 "The Following Years." Laura Thompson wrote "Edith Thompson: A Tale of Two Murders" in the spring of 2018. Edith Thompson was exhumed and reburied in City of London Cemetery in 2018.
The oldest of five children Edith was the daughter of William Eustace Graydon a clerk with the Imperial Tobacco Company and Ethel Jessie Thompson nee Liles.
She met 18 year old Percy Thompson when she was fifteen and they were married in January 1916. Being eight years younger Frederick Bywaters was a classmate of Edith Thompson's younger brother and known to her family .
The Thompson couple lived comfortable life-styles with good jobs and were buying a home in London. She was beautiful and intelligent. The intimate relationship between Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson started in June of 1921 when he accompanied the couple on a vacation. After that Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson started meeting in hotel rooms under fictitious names.
On October 3 1922 at about 11 pm the Thompson couple were walking home from the theatre when a man jumped from the bushes verbally attacking then stabbing Percy Thompson and pushing Edith Thompson to the ground. The attacker fled before Edith Thompson could recover from her fall. Screaming for help, she found her husband dead from his wounds. After being questioned as a witness by the police, she identified Frederick Bywaters as the attacker and he was arrested. When the police found sixty love letters handwritten by Edith Thompson in Frederick Bywaters home, she was arrested. Frederick Bywaters protested repeatedly that he had not plan to kill anyone and that Edith Thompson was completely innocent. They were tried together.
On December 11 1922, the jury found the couple guilty of murder in two hours and fifteen minutes and sentenced to death by hanging. Both were executed on the same day - January 9 1923. She was initially buried on the prison grounds in an unmarked grave.
Since this trial, there are been numerous newspaper and magazine articles along with books written. Recent books: author Rene' Wesis wrote "Criminal Justice" in 1990. Molly Cutpurse wrote two books on the Edith Thompson cases: in 2003 "A Life Lived" and in 2010 "The Following Years." Laura Thompson wrote "Edith Thompson: A Tale of Two Murders" in the spring of 2018. Edith Thompson was exhumed and reburied in City of London Cemetery in 2018.
Edith Jessie Thompson nee Graydon will be remembered as being one of the five women who were judicially executed from 1903 to 1955 at London, England's Holloway Prison for Women. In a widely publicised murder case, Edith and her lover, Frederick Edward Francis Bywaters, were found guilty of murdering her husband Percy Thompson.
The oldest of five children Edith was the daughter of William Eustace Graydon a clerk with the Imperial Tobacco Company and Ethel Jessie Thompson nee Liles.
She met 18 year old Percy Thompson when she was fifteen and they were married in January 1916. Being eight years younger Frederick Bywaters was a classmate of Edith Thompson's younger brother and known to her family .
The Thompson couple lived comfortable life-styles with good jobs and were buying a home in London. She was beautiful and intelligent. The intimate relationship between Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson started in June of 1921 when he accompanied the couple on a vacation. After that Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson started meeting in hotel rooms under fictitious names.
On October 3 1922 at about 11 pm the Thompson couple were walking home from the theatre when a man jumped from the bushes verbally attacking then stabbing Percy Thompson and pushing Edith Thompson to the ground. The attacker fled before Edith Thompson could recover from her fall. Screaming for help, she found her husband dead from his wounds. After being questioned as a witness by the police, she identified Frederick Bywaters as the attacker and he was arrested. When the police found sixty love letters handwritten by Edith Thompson in Frederick Bywaters home, she was arrested. Frederick Bywaters protested repeatedly that he had not plan to kill anyone and that Edith Thompson was completely innocent. They were tried together.
On December 11 1922, the jury found the couple guilty of murder in two hours and fifteen minutes and sentenced to death by hanging. Both were executed on the same day - January 9 1923. She was initially buried on the prison grounds in an unmarked grave.
Since this trial, there are been numerous newspaper and magazine articles along with books written. Recent books: author Rene' Wesis wrote "Criminal Justice" in 1990. Molly Cutpurse wrote two books on the Edith Thompson cases: in 2003 "A Life Lived" and in 2010 "The Following Years." Laura Thompson wrote "Edith Thompson: A Tale of Two Murders" in the spring of 2018. Edith Thompson was exhumed and reburied in City of London Cemetery in 2018.
The oldest of five children Edith was the daughter of William Eustace Graydon a clerk with the Imperial Tobacco Company and Ethel Jessie Thompson nee Liles.
She met 18 year old Percy Thompson when she was fifteen and they were married in January 1916. Being eight years younger Frederick Bywaters was a classmate of Edith Thompson's younger brother and known to her family .
The Thompson couple lived comfortable life-styles with good jobs and were buying a home in London. She was beautiful and intelligent. The intimate relationship between Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson started in June of 1921 when he accompanied the couple on a vacation. After that Frederick Bywaters and Edith Thompson started meeting in hotel rooms under fictitious names.
On October 3 1922 at about 11 pm the Thompson couple were walking home from the theatre when a man jumped from the bushes verbally attacking then stabbing Percy Thompson and pushing Edith Thompson to the ground. The attacker fled before Edith Thompson could recover from her fall. Screaming for help, she found her husband dead from his wounds. After being questioned as a witness by the police, she identified Frederick Bywaters as the attacker and he was arrested. When the police found sixty love letters handwritten by Edith Thompson in Frederick Bywaters home, she was arrested. Frederick Bywaters protested repeatedly that he had not plan to kill anyone and that Edith Thompson was completely innocent. They were tried together.
On December 11 1922, the jury found the couple guilty of murder in two hours and fifteen minutes and sentenced to death by hanging. Both were executed on the same day - January 9 1923. She was initially buried on the prison grounds in an unmarked grave.
Since this trial, there are been numerous newspaper and magazine articles along with books written. Recent books: author Rene' Wesis wrote "Criminal Justice" in 1990. Molly Cutpurse wrote two books on the Edith Thompson cases: in 2003 "A Life Lived" and in 2010 "The Following Years." Laura Thompson wrote "Edith Thompson: A Tale of Two Murders" in the spring of 2018. Edith Thompson was exhumed and reburied in City of London Cemetery in 2018.
Inscription
Edith Jessie Thompson 25 December 1893 - 9 January 1923. Reunited with her mother and father since 22 November 2018.
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