Firebugs, Rustlers, Vandals and Vigilantes: Crime & Criminal Justice in Late 19th & Early 20th Century Rural Ontario

Abstract

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the provincial system for administering justice in rural Ontario was criticized in the press and by some local justice officials in the counties. Criticisms were in response to apparent moments of criminal crisis. The public learned about the crimes of violent groups and gangs mainly through the press. There were stories of sensational property crime, violent attempts at social control, and more rarely, vigilantism. Ontario, however, appeared to be a peaceable province, which moderated calls for improvement in the system. The slow pace of reform, and evidence of a system that functioned well under most circumstances, suggests that the province had only marginal interest in reform. An antiquated system of rural constables was useful to critics advocating reform. In some cases however, the local knowledge of the county constable complimented the investigative strength of the provincial detectives. The rise of the Ontario Provincial Police in the 1910s and 1920s promised a change for the better, but the force was not designed to meet the needs of rural Ontarians, and did not take over rural policing until 1929. The challenges faced by the force in its early years, as well as issues of performance, leaves open for consideration the extent to which crime management in rural Ontario actually improved.