Chapter 11: Biography of John Bernard Moore – “John Ellis”

Abstract

Hangman John Bernard Moore died on May 8, 1950, at age 57, due to kidney cancer. The death certificate includes a considerable amount of information that may not be accurate, depending on the knowledge and veracity of the informant, assumed to be his wife, Mary Pratt Moore, or son, calling himself Bernard Moore. Our hangman was said to be born in England on February 5, 1893. His father was Alfred Moore, and his mother was Annie Vale. He was married to Mary Gertrude Pratt. He was said to have resided in Canada for 25 years, most recently on Kennedy Road, Milliken, in the Township of Markham, District of York. Curiously, his profession was listed not as a farmer, but as a mason in the bricklaying business, which he had allegedly been engaged in for the last 14 years. His remains were buried at the Pine Hills Cemetery in Scarborough. As we will see, much of this information is questionable. We know for certain, for example, that he resided in Canada long before 1925.