Guillermo Valencia of Chinese poems. He translated La balada de la cárcel de Reading (1932; “The Ballad of Reading Gaol”) from the English poem by the 19th-century writer Oscar Wilde. He also turned more frequently to writing essays, many of which are collected in Panegíricos, discursos y artículos (1933; “Panegyrics, Speeches, and Articles”). Guillermo Valencia Guillermo Valencia Castillo (October 29, 1873 in Popayán, Colombia – July 8, 1943 in Popayán) was a Colombian poet and translator. He was the father of Guillermo León Valencia (1909-1971), Colombian president during 1962-1966. His first volume of poetry, Ritos (1898, rev. ed. 1914; “Rites”), containing original
Charles Thomas Wooldridge to be carried out. On the morning of the execution Wooldridge attended a service in the prison chapel, showed repentance for his terrible crime and was resigned to his fate. Because of "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" Wooldridge became the most famous person ever to be executed at Reading. The executioner was James Billington, whose use of a drop longer than specified by the official Table of Drops stretched Wooldridge's neck by eleven inches. He was aged 30 when executed. Wilde was imprisoned in Reading Gaol when Wooldridge was hanged there on Saturday 7 July 1896; the two never met