| Mary Ball | |
| Birth Name: | Mary Wright |
| Birth Date: | c. 1818 |
| Birth Place: | Nuneaton, Warwickshire |
| Death Place: | Cuckoo Lane, Coventry, Warwickshire |
| Death Cause: | execution by hanging |
| Resting Place: | Coventry Gaol |
| Occupation: | housewife |
| Known For: | last person to be executed in Coventry |
| Criminal Charge: | murder |
| Penalty: | death |
| Conviction Status: | executed |
| Motive: | unhappy marriage |
| Victims: | Thomas Ball |
| Date: | 20 May 1849 |
Mary Ball (c. 1818–1849) was a Nuneaton housewife who poisoned her husband with arsenic. She was hanged in Cuckoo Lane, outside Coventry Gaol, before a crowd of about twenty thousand. She was the last person to be publicly executed in Coventry.[1] [2] [3] [4]
A plaque on the former County Hall in Coventry marks the nearby site of her execution.
A historical account of the life, death and trail of Mary, The Life, Trial and Hanging of Mary Ball,[5] was written by her great-great grandson Robert Muscutt. A novelised account of Mary's life, The Defiance of Mary Ball, was written by the same author.
A musical concept album presenting a fictionalised account of Mary's story called "Mary Ball - The Musical Concept Album", was released in August 2024 by composers Ben Fellows and Richard Barnfather.[6]