160 Unusual Things to See in Ontario ~ The Donnelly Tombstone

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“The massacre of the Donnelly family, in the township of Biddulph, by an armed mob, is a crime which has no parallel in the history of Canada,” proclaimed the Listowel newspaper in February 1880.

The notorious Donnellys emigrated from Ireland in the 1840s with the hope of finding success in what would later become Canada. James and Johannah became squatters who eventually settled on contested land near London, Ontario. Before long, conflict characterized their relationship with many of their neighbours and the community as a whole. The feud escalated in 1857 when James Sr. killed Patrick Farrell, a man involved in a dispute over the land the Donnelly clan had illegally called home.

While James Sr. spent time at the Kingston Penitentiary for the crime, his seven sons grew into manhood. They eventually earned a sullied reputation of their own. Accused of many crimes including arson and assault, the Donnelly name became synonymous with trouble. The Donnellys (and their children James Jr., William, John, Patrick, Michael, Robert, Thomas and Jenny) were always ready and willing to go to battle whether it was over their stagecoach line or a young woman. Not surprisingly then, some residents of Lucan and Biddulph Township held the Donnellys responsible for almost every ill that befell the community. One day, James Donnelly complained to a local magistrate, “we are blamed for everything.” The next day he was dead.

On February 4,1880 the Donnelly farm was burned to the ground. The bodies of James, his beloved Johannah, son Tom and niece Bridget were in the ashes, the victims of a cruel and vicious mob. Another son lay dead in a separate murder the same night. To this day, despite a great deal of evidence (including an eye witness), no one has been found guilty of the crime. Many had no doubt “who done it”, but in two trials the jury would not deliver a guilty verdict.

 Petrolia Advertiser, July 12, 1889

The Donnelly Family Monument.

A handsome granite monument which is to mark the resting place of the members of the Donnelly family, who were so ruthlessly murdered in Biddulph nine years ago last February, has just been completed. On the front of the monument is the following Inscription:

JAMES DONNELLY,

Born March 7, 1816 — murdered Feb. 4, 1880.

JOHANNA DONNELLY,

Born Sept. 22, 1823 — murdered Feb. 4, 1880.

NATIVES OF TIPPERARY, IRELAND.

And on one side the following: -

JOHN DONNELLY,

Born Sept. 14, 1850 — murdered Feb. 4, 1880.

THOMAS DONNELLY,

Born Aug. 30, 1854 — murdered Feb. 4, 1880.

BRIDGET DONNELLY,

Born May 1, 1858 — murdered Feb. 4, 1880.

The name and date of birth and death of Michael, another member of the family who was stabbed to death some time before the noted tragedy, will also be placed on the monument. At present a separate stone marks his grave. The monument was shipped to Lucan on Tuesday, and will be erected in the Biddulph cemetery this week. It stands 11 feet 2 inches high, and is a very handsome affair.

Source: Unknown, "The Donnelly Family Monument," Glencoe Transcript, July 12, 1889. Notes: Transcription, J.J. Talman Regional Collection, University of Western Ontario Archives, Reaney Papers, Box 22 (B1308), File 1.