The Case of the Black Donnellys

The case of the so-called “Black Donnellys” is indicative of social and community relations during the nineteenth century in Upper Canada. Characterized by frontier agriculture, a growing but weak authority structure, and an influx of emigration, mob justice complemented the legal system nefariously. The arson of the Donnelly's home, as well as James Senior's imprisonment demonstrate the role of these two powers in society. I will argue that Upper Canada during the mid to late nineteenth century reacted to increased crime with both community power, in the form of vigilante justice, and legitimate authority, in the form of the penitentiary system; this uptick in crime coincided with settlement of the land by British emigrants. The factors that surrounded this phenomenon were emigration, land, crime, vigilante power, and legal enforcement, particularly the role of the Kingston Penitentiary.

Upper Canada was in the tumultuous process of settlement during the nineteenth century. From 1800-1860, wheat and flour exports went from a negligible amount to peak at 13 billion bushels in 1860.1 It is important to understand the rapid nature of settlement to contextualize life in rural Upper Canada. From 1805-1840, the population increased by over eight hundred percent.2 Many of these were Irish emigrants, even in the period preceding the famine; these pre-Famine Irish emigrants were predominantly “middling farmers,” «c'est à dire des fermiers cultivant des terres petites ou moyennes, ceux qui ont été le plus durement touchés par la baisse soudaine des prix des produits agricoles à la fin des guerres napoléoniennes [en Europe]».3 Many of the emigrants settled into townships and villages on the agricultural frontier, such as the Biddul...

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...0. Accessed via America: History and Life, EBSCOHOST.

“Inmates at the Gaol.” Great Canadian Mysteries: Heaven and Hell on Earth. http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/donnellys/context/inmates/indexen.html.

“Lucan and Farming Life.” Great Canadian Mysteries: Heaven and Hell on Earth. http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/donnellys/context/lucanandfarminglife/2640en.html

McQuillan, Aidan. “Des chemins divergents: les Irlandais et les Canadiens francais au XIXe siècle.” ed. Wadell, Eric. “Le dialogue avec les cultures minoritaires.” Ste-Foy, QC: Les Presses De L'Université Laval 1990.

“Middlesex County, Gaol Summary, 1 October 1879 to 30 September 1880.” Unknown. Great Canadian Mysteries: Heaven and Hell on Earth.

See, Scott. “Nineteenth century collective violence: toward a North American context.” Labour/Le Travail. Spring 1997, Iss. 39. Accessed via EBSCOhost.