Waddingham, Dorothy (1902-1936)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1936 Apr 22 p. 1

Birth date: 1902

text of obituary:

MOTHER IS HANGED FOR CRIME IN ENGLAND

At Birmingham, Eng., Mrs. Dorothy Waddingham, 34, widowed mother of five, was hanged in Windson [sic Winson] Green prison while a crowd of 3,000, keeling [sic] on the streets outside, prayed and sang hymns.

Mrs. Waddingham went to the gallows for the poisoning of a woman patient in her nursing home at Nottingham. She was the ninth woman to be executed in England in this century.

A conspicuous figure in the crowd outside the prison was Mrs. Violet Van der Elst, wealthy woman who has led demonstrations against capital punishment at nearly every recent hanging. She organized the demonstration again, appealing to the crowd thru a loudspeaker to attempt to prevent the hanging — but the crowd made no such move.