Toronto’s Don Jail....'Hangman' The Story of Canada’s First Executioner by Julie Burtinshaw
Toronto’s Don Jail and the Evolution of Capital Punishment: The Story of Canada’s First Executioner Over the course of two decades (1890-1910), John Radclive, Canada’s first official executioner criss-crossed Canada officiating at over 100 hangings. Initially a staunch advocate of capital punishment, Radclive’s stance on state-sanctioned killing shifted over time. Radclive conducted his first execution, Thomas Kane (1890), and his final two executions, John Boyd (1908) and Pavel Steffoff (1909) at Toronto Don Jail. These three events not only had a profound effect on Radclive, but also forever changed the practice of capital punishment in Canada.