Crime and Punishment in Upper Canada. Janice Nickerson

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      Assault was the most common offence by far in the Upper Canada period. In the Niagara District there were 261 cases of assault at the Quarter Sessions (the lower court) from 1828 to 1833. However, only one was severe enough to be prosecuted at the Assizes (the high court, which tried cases for which capital punishment was a possible sentence).³¹

      Most assaults were by men against men. A few were by women against women. Very few were by men against women.³²

      The minutes of the Quarter Sessions for the London District record one case in which it appears that an entire family was charged with assault and battery in 1818. The Best family first appears in the records on 16 May, when the court ordered a bench warrant issued for John Best, John’s wife, and John’s son, Cosper Best, requiring them to appear at the next Quarter Sessions to answer charges. On 14 July, John Best, Mrs. Best, and Cosper Best appeared, as required, but were told to return the next day and given permission to go home.

      There is no record of the Best family on the 15th, but on the 16th they appeared again. This time there were four of them: John, Dota (presumably John’s wife), Cosper, and Ann. Each were required to put up £100 to assure their appearance at the next Quarter Sessions. John Young and Philip Young were also required to put up £50 each for each of member of the Best family, as their sureties. There’s a note that says all the court costs were paid up to that date.

      On 13 October, the Best family finally began their trial. John, Dota, Cosper, and Ann were all present, a jury of twelve men was sworn in. Caleb ? [Wood, I think] and Jeremiah Young were also sworn in as witnesses. Then there is a note, “Prisoner Ann Best not Guilty,” and the court was adjourned until the next day.

      On the 14th, John Best, Dota Best, and Cosper Best were arraigned again and plead not guilty. Another jury of twelve men (only five of whom were on the previous day’s jury) was sworn in, Caleb Wood, Joseph Kitchen, and Matthew Tisdale were sworn in as witnesses for the prosecution; Jeremiah Young and Ann Best were sworn in as witnesses for the defence. The jury found the prisoners guilty. John Best was fined £1 10s.; Mrs Best was fined 15s. and Cosper Best was fined 5s. They were ordered to be imprisoned until they paid their fines, but they paid them promptly to the sheriff. ³³

      It should be noted that even the most prominent citizens appeared in the Quarter Session records convicted of assault. It didn’t seem to affect their reputations or success in life.³⁴

      More serious crimes were another matter. Between 1827 and 1846 there were twenty cases of murder brought before the Niagara District Assizes. In seven cases, the accused were con–victed, in ten cases they were acquitted, two cases weren’t heard, and one of the accused was judged insane and therefore unable to stand trial. Of the twenty accused, three were women. Of these, two were acquitted and one was found guilty of a lesser charge (concealing the birth of a child).³⁵

      Only eight cases of rape were brought before the Niagara Assizes in the same period (as rape was a capital offence, it was not eligible to be tried at the Quarter Sessions). Six of the eight were acquitted. Very likely the low number of cases is due to the low conviction rate. The conviction rate rose dramatically after 1842, when legislation allowed conviction for “assault with intent to rape.”³⁶

      In some cases, magistrates decided to prosecute for assault instead of rape. This allowed them to take the case to the Quarter Sessions (which was less intimidating and quicker) instead of the Assizes, and to increase the likelihood of conviction.

      For example, in October 1836, Samuel Hathaway Farensworth of St. Catharines, yeoman, was charged with “assault with intent to carnally know a child under ten years of age.” The victim was a seven-year-old girl who had been liv–ing with Farensworth for a few weeks in the summer. The girl’s father prosecuted the case, bringing fourteen witnesses, includ–ing three doctors.The doctors all agreed that the child had been assaulted, which appears to have been rare. In all, twenty-nine witnesses and three constables testified at the lengthy trial. The jury convicted Farensworth and he received a sentence of three months in gaol and a fine of £25 and court costs, which would have been in the order of £20 (the fine would be equivalent to about seventy days work for a skilled labourer, perhaps $13,000 now³⁷). He complained bitterly about the costs, saying that sev–eral of the witnesses were either not necessary or didn’t need to attend court for more than one day (witnesses were paid 2s. 6d. per day in court, plus mileage).³⁸