Colonial Justice: Justice, Morality, and Crime in the Niagara District, 1791-1849

298 Pages·2002·16.121 MB·English

by  David Murray

COLONIAL JUSTICE
Justice, Morality, and Crime in the Niagara District,
1791-1849
In 1791, when the Constitutional Act created a legislative assembly for
Upper Canada, the colonists and their British rulers decreed that the
operating criminal justice system in the area be adopted from England,
to avoid any undue influence from the nearby United States. In this study
of early Canadian law, David Murray delves into the court records of the
Niagara District, one of the richest sets of criminal court records surviv-
ing from Upper Canada, to analyse the criminal justice system in the
district during the first half of the nineteenth century.
Murray explores how local characteristics affected the operation of a
criminal justice system transplanted from England. In addition to exam-
ining the roles of the Niagara magistrates, constables, and juries, he
analyses how legal processes affected Upper Canadian morality, the
treatment of the insane, social welfare, and views on crime committed in
the district. Murray concludes by arguing that while the principles and
culture of British justice were firmly established in the Niagara district,
this did not prevent justice from being unequal, especially for women
and visible minorities. Integrating the stories of the individuals caught
up in the legal system, Murray explores law from a local perspective, and
illustrates how the Niagara region's criminal justice system operated
under influences from both Britain and the United States.
(Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History)
DAVID MURRAY is a Professor in the Department of History at the
University of Guelph.
PATRONS OF THE SOCIETY
Aird & Berlis LLP
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
McCarthy Tetrault LLP
Osier, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Torkin Manes Cohen & Arbus LLP
Torys
Weir Foulds LLP
The Osgoode Society is supported by a grant from
The Law Foundation of Ontario
The Society also thanks The Law Society of Upper Canada
for its continuing support.
COLONIAL JUSTICE
Justice, Morality, and Crime
in the Niagara District,
1791-1849
DAVID MURRAY
Published for The Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History by
University of Toronto Press
Toronto Buffalo London
© Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History 2002
Printed in Canada
Reprinted in paperback 2003
ISBN 0-8020-3749-6 (cloth)
ISBN 0-8020-8688-8 (paper)
©
Printed on acid-free paper
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Murray, David Robert
Colonial justice : justice, morality and crime in the Niagara district,
1791-1849 / David Murray.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-8020-3749-6 (bound). - ISBN 0-8020-8688-8 (pbk.)
1. Criminal justice, Administration of - Ontario - Niagara Peninsula -
History - 18th century. 2. Criminal justice, Administration of - Ontario -
Niagara Peninsula - History - 19th century. 3. Criminal justice,
Administration of - Moral and ethical aspects - Ontario - Niagara
Peninsula - History. I. Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History.
II. Title.
KEO176.M87 2002 364'09713'38 C2002-902116-2
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its
publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the
Ontario Arts Council.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its
publishing activities of the Government of Canada through its
Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).
For My Family
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Contents
FOREWORD ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
Introduction 3
1 The Paradise of Upper Canada 9
Part One: Justice 23
2 Courts, District Rulers, and Crown Servants 25
3 Servants of the Court 52
Part Two: Morality 73
4 Enforcing a Christian Moral Order 75
5 Intruders upon the Precincts of Crime 90
viii CONTENTS
6 The Cold Hand of Charity 107
Part Three: Crime 131
7 Crimes and Punishments 135
8 Criminal Victims 154
9 Criminal Boundaries 175
10 Hands Across the Border 196
Conclusion 217
NOTES 225
INDEX 269
Foreword
In many ways, the acquisition of historical knowledge is a cumulative
process and one scholar moves forward from the building blocks pro-
vided by another. Although recent years have seen the publication of
several good books and articles on the legal history of Upper Canada,
these works in some ways are premature in that they offer overviews
and interpretations before attempting to assess how the courts and
legal structures actually functioned 'on the ground/
Fortunately there does exist for early Ontario a relatively rich archi-
val heritage which historians are beginning to tap into to create local
studies which will allow us to arrive at a more encompassing synthe-
sis. For no part of Upper Canada do richer records exist than for the
Niagara District. In Colonial Justice Professor David Murray of the Uni-
versity of Guelph uses these records and demonstrates how necessary
and revealing the local study can be as the essential precursor to more
general interpretation.
David Murray argues that, as a colony, Upper Canada was obliged
to adopt the essential elements of the British legal system. But just
how did a system designed for a much more sophisticated society
function in the wilds of early Canada? Focusing on the border District
of Niagara, he offers some surprising and intriguing answers as he
demonstrates how deeply legal processes affected Canadian life and
how Niagara's criminal justice system actually functioned. Based pri-
marily on court records, Colonial Justice integrates the stories of indi-