Don't You Bully Me... Justice I Want if There Is Justice to Be Had': The Rape of Mary Ann Burton, London, Ontario, 1907
Author | Constance Backhouse |
Pages | 15-49 |
E ChapterF
DONTYOUBULLYMEJUSTICE
IWANTIFTHEREISJUSTICETO
BEHADThe Rape of Mary Ann
BurtonLondonOntario
DwasthedeantretortofMaryAnnBurtonherbold
commandissuedfromthewitnessboxintheLondonPoliceCourton
JulyIwanttospeakjusticeandjusticeIwantifthereisjusticetobe
hadThestirringremarkwaskindledbyasearchingandruthlesscross
examinationasitwasdescribedbytheLondon Free Press, at the hands
of criminal lawyer Edmund Allen Meredith, KC. Mary Ann Burton, who
hadlaunchedacomplaintofrapeagainstJosephGrayonJulyhad
withstoodMeredithsmercilessgrillingwithcourageanddignityAsher
words indicated, she was incensed at both the substance and the tone of
the interrogation.
WomenwhomadeallegationsofrapeinearlytwentiethcenturyCanada
rarely spoke with such temerity and force. Those who suggested otherwise
were responsible for perpetrating one of the greatest mythologies embed
dedinlawSeventeenthcenturyEnglishjuristSirMahewHalehadbeen
thersttopronouncethatrapewasanaccusationeasilytobemadein
his HistoriaPlacitorumCoronaepublishedposthumouslyin
This un
substantiated dictum had come to be enshrined in the texts and judicial
decisionsofcriminaljusticesystemsthroughouttheAngloAmericanlegal
world.DespitetheendlessobeisanceconferreduponHaleshomilyitwas
common knowledge that most rape victims made no public outcry at all.
Women weighed the shame and embarrassment of public disclosure against
ナハCarnalCrimes
the trauma of dealing with coerc ive sexual assault in private, and voted over
whelmingly for perennial si lence. The few women who did resort to the law
for protection found themselves crushed in t he process, typically tormented
and abused on the witness sta nd by defence lawyers who stopped at nothing
tobesmirchthecredibilityoftheprosecutrixastherapecomplainantwas
anachronisticallycharacterized What such women thought of their treat
ment is generally not recorded.
MaryAnnBurtonistheexceptionalthoughfewsawttorecognizeher
for this in her own time. The wife of a tanner, Mrs. Burton was a poorly
educatedworkingclass heavyset woman of uncerta in ageShe l ivedin
a dilapidated rental house in a rundown neighbourhood at the fork of the
ThamesRiverinLondonOntarioWorkingclassareasstuckoutlikeasore
thumbinturnofthecenturyLondontheForestCitythatprideditselfon
thewealthofitsinhabitantstheelaboratebrickandstonestructuresthat
housedmanyoftheprovinceskeynancialbusinessesandtheornateresi
dentialmansionsthatgracedtheparklikeboulevardsTheselfsatisfaction
of city burghers was pricked by pockets of unreclaimed poverty, such as
the ramshackle row house that was home to Mrs. Burton. Like many of her
class, Mary Ann Burton cooked and cleaned for a few boarders who paid
toliveintheupstairsofhermodestdwellingHertwostoreyrowhouseat
DundasStreetWestbackedontothedumpAlongsideitstoodLancaster
Boat Builders, several other shambling residences, and assorted industrial
factories, including the Dennis Wire & I ron Works and the Elec tric Construc
tionCompanyTheforbiddingCityJailloomedovereverythingjustdown
the block and across the street.
MaryAnnBurtonsrapetrialwouldnotbecomealandmarklegalprec
edent, so far as lawyers and judges were concerned. The records suggest that
hereortstospeakjusticewerebetrayedbyherhusbandthephysician
whoexaminedherthefriendsandneighbourswhotestiedathertrialthe
lawyersthejudgeandthepressTherewaslileherethatwasnoteworthy
to those who parsed cases for legal ruli ngs and precedent. The decision was
notpublishedinthelawreportsItwasanordinaryrunofthemillrape
trial. The jury was never asked to deliberate on the evidence. The outcome
wasanacquialonadirectedverdictTheCrownoerednoappealThe
spirited resistance of Mary Ann Burton, thrown up in the face of all odds,
has been buried in the archives for over a century. Her impassioned words
deserveouraentionthismanyyearslaterbecauseshegavevoicetowhat
so many others must have thought, but dared not express.
DontYouBullyMeJusticeIWantifThereIsJusticetoBeHad
London Room, London Public Library, PGO 66
DundasStreetWestcsshowingDundasStreetbridgeand
Dennistee l Ltd., formerly Dennis Iron Works
TheEventsofJulyMrsBurtonsNarrative
WMJulywillneverbecompletelyrecover
ablefromthesurvivingdocumentationMaryAnnBurtonsdescriptionof
theeventswaslteredthroughpoliceinvestigatorsprosecutingCrownat
torneys, and the tightly structured criminal trial process. Yet hers was the
most detailed version to survive in the records, because it was she who was
the main focus of the judicia l proceeding. Her story, pieced together as fully
as possible from the remaini ng records, follows.
ItwasahotandsultryaernooninsouthwesternOntariowithanomi
nousthreatofthundershowersMrsBurtonhadbeenoutwindowshopping
withafriendandarrivedhomeattheheightofthehazymiddayheatThe
row house was quiet and empty, her husband and boarders long since de
partedforworkMrsBurtonbeganthetiresometaskofpuingthehouse
to orderShe scrubbed t he two upstairs rooms made the boarders beds
sweptoutthestairsandpassagewayandhadabiteofcolddinnerleover
fromSundayThenafriendandformermaleboarderofMrsBurtonswho
now rented just down the street, dropped over. Mrs. Burton interrupted the
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