The Donnellys - 140th Anniversary
SOUTHWESTERN, ONTARIO
An Irish immigrant family arrived in Lucan, Ontario in the 1840s, and almost immediately clashed with members of the local community. A fiery dispute erupted that would last for decades and escalate into madness, leaving a pile of bodies in its wake.
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Credits:
Research and writing: Nate Hendley
Editing, narration, music arrangement: Kristi Lee
Audio editing: Erik Krosby
Disclaimer voiced by the host of Beyond Bizarre True Crime
Theme Song: We Talk of Dreams
Images courtesy of Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History Project, University of Western Ontario Archives, J.J. Talman Regional Collection.
Music:
Soularflair
Kevin McLeod / Incomptech - Long Note Four
Kai Engel - Aspirato
Theme by We Talk of Dreams
Main Resources
— PERIODICALS
“A Lucan Row.” London Advertiser, September 18, 1879.
“Another Outrage.” London Advertiser, March 20, 1878.
“Famous Murder Stirred Whole of Continent.” January 16, 1926, London Free Press.
“Horrible Tragedy at Lucan.” The Globe, February 5, 1880.
“How Biddulph Dealt With Nest of Snakes.” The Globe and Mail, October 19, 1944.
“Ku-Klux in Lucan.” London Free Press, May 23, 1877.
“Lawlessness at Lucan: Full Details of the Tragedy.” London Free Press, February 26, 1876.
“Preliminary Trial.” The Globe, February 23, 1880.
“The Biddulph Prisoners.” The Globe, October 6, 1880.
“The Biddulph Tragedy.” The Globe, February 11, 1880.
“The Biddulph Tragedy.” London Free Press, June 29, 1880.
“The Donnelly Case.” Maclean’s magazine, November 1, 1931.
“The Donnellys: Another View of Their Character.” The Globe, April 17, 1880.
“The Lucan Murders.” The Globe, February 6, 1880.
“The Tragedy—Funeral of the Murdered People.” London Advertiser, February 7, 1880.
“The Vigilante Massacre.” Maclean’s magazine, June 1, 1950.
—BOOKS
Guillet, Edwin. Famous Canadian Trials: Volume Eight – The End of the Donnellys or Mass Murder in Biddulph Township. 1944.
Wallace, Stewart. Murders and Mysteries: A Canadian Series, 1931.
— OTHER SOURCES
Father John Connolly petition. June, 1879. Stored in the J.J. Talman Regional Collection, University of Western Ontario Archives, Reaney Papers.
William Porte Diary. Stored in the J.J. Talman Regional Collection, University of Western Ontario Archives, Donnelly Family Papers.
