The Last Newfoundland Hangings

Do you know why we stopped hanging criminals?

It was because they were so popular.

The last execution by hanging in Newfoundland happened on May 22, 1942. This was before Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949. We administered our own justice system and had our own police force called the Newfoundland Rangers.

When the death penalty was abolished in Canada, it affected Newfoundland because, by then, we were a province.

Public hangings ended across Canada in the mid-19th century due to concerns about the rowdy, carnival-like atmosphere. Some people wondered if such brutal public displays were effective deterrents for crime.

Thousands attended public executions in Newfoundland for a variety of reasons, primarily because authorities intended them to serve as a public deterrent to crime and, over time, also as a major public spectacle or form of entertainment in communities with limited alternative forms of leisure. Basically, our grandparents had nowhere to have fun.

The events became social gatherings, where people from all over the province would come together, sometimes weeks in advance, to witness the proceedings and to socialize. In an era without modern entertainment options like television or movies, an execution was a major event that drew large crowds, sometimes numbering in the thousands. The atmosphere would be carnival-like, with people bringing blankets and beer and cheering on the event.

Many people in the community felt a sense of retribution and wanted to see the criminal ‘pay’ for their actions, especially in cases of heinous crimes that affected close-knit communities.

Religious figures and others would attend to deliver sermons or distribute printed materials about the consequences of sin and crime, using the execution as a stark moral lesson.

In other words, don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.

Mortality rates were high due to disease and conflict, so people were generally less squeamish about death than they are today. Many people were directly involved in slaughtering animals for food, making them generally more familiar with death. Back then, adults didn’t leave the house and go out in public in their pyjamas with their support blankets.

Some executions didn’t stop at hanging. The most heinous criminals were put on a gibbet. They were built to display the corpses of executed criminals.

The last person to be hanged in Newfoundland was poor old Herbert Augustus Spratt on May 22, 1942, in St. John's, seven years before the dominion joined Confederation. The last executions in all of Canada were a double hanging in Toronto in 1962.

Ultimately, the intended purpose of public executions as a solemn deterrent was often undermined by the festive atmosphere and large crowds, which led to their eventual abolition in favour of private hangings in Canada in 1870.

Simply put, too many people were enjoying them.