Don't You Bully Me... Justice I Want if There Is Justice to Be Had': The Rape of Mary Ann Burton, London, Ontario, 1907

AuthorConstance Backhouse
Pages15-49

E ChapterF
DONTYOUBULLYMEJUSTICE
IWANTIFTHEREISJUSTICETO
BEHADThe Rape of Mary Ann
BurtonLondonOntario
DwasthedeantretortofMaryAnnBurtonherbold
commandissuedfromthewitnessboxintheLondonPoliceCourton
JulyIwanttospeakjusticeandjusticeIwantifthereisjusticetobe
hadThestirringremarkwaskindledbyasearchingandruthlesscross
examinationasitwasdescribedbytheLondon Free Press, at the hands
of criminal lawyer Edmund Allen Meredith, KC. Mary Ann Burton, who
hadlaunchedacomplaintofrapeagainstJosephGrayonJulyhad
withstoodMeredithsmercilessgrillingwithcourageanddignityAsher
words indicated, she was incensed at both the substance and the tone of
the interrogation.
WomenwhomadeallegationsofrapeinearlytwentiethcenturyCanada
rarely spoke with such temerity and force. Those who suggested otherwise
were responsible for perpetrating one of the greatest mythologies embed
dedinlawSeventeenthcenturyEnglishjuristSirMahewHalehadbeen
thersttopronouncethatrapewasanaccusationeasilytobemadein
his HistoriaPlacitorumCoronaepublishedposthumouslyin
This un
substantiated dictum had come to be enshrined in the texts and judicial
decisionsofcriminaljusticesystemsthroughouttheAngloAmericanlegal
world.DespitetheendlessobeisanceconferreduponHaleshomilyitwas
common knowledge that most rape victims made no public outcry at all.
Women weighed the shame and embarrassment of public disclosure against
ナハCarnalCrimes
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
tobesmirchthecredibilityoftheprosecutrixastherapecomplainantwas
anachronisticallycharacterized What such women thought of their treat
ment is generally not recorded.
MaryAnnBurtonistheexceptionalthoughfewsawttorecognizeher
for this in her own time. The wife of a tanner, Mrs. Burton was a poorly
educatedworkingclass heavyset woman of uncerta in ageShe l ivedin
a dilapidated rental house in a rundown neighbourhood at the fork of the
ThamesRiverinLondonOntarioWorkingclassareasstuckoutlikeasore
thumbinturnofthecenturyLondontheForestCitythatprideditselfon
thewealthofitsinhabitantstheelaboratebrickandstonestructuresthat
housedmanyoftheprovinceskeynancialbusinessesandtheornateresi
dentialmansionsthatgracedtheparklikeboulevardsTheselfsatisfaction
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
toliveintheupstairsofhermodestdwellingHertwostoreyrowhouseat
DundasStreetWestbackedontothedumpAlongsideitstoodLancaster
Boat Builders, several other shambling residences, and assorted industrial
factories, including the Dennis Wire & I ron Works and the Elec tric Construc
tionCompanyTheforbiddingCityJailloomedovereverythingjustdown
the block and across the street.
MaryAnnBurtonsrapetrialwouldnotbecomealandmarklegalprec
edent, so far as lawyers and judges were concerned. The records suggest that
hereortstospeakjusticewerebetrayedbyherhusbandthephysician
whoexaminedherthefriendsandneighbourswhotestiedathertrialthe
lawyersthejudgeandthepressTherewaslileherethatwasnoteworthy
to those who parsed cases for legal ruli ngs and precedent. The decision was
notpublishedinthelawreportsItwasanordinaryrunofthemillrape
trial. The jury was never asked to deliberate on the evidence. The outcome
wasanacquialonadirectedverdictTheCrownoerednoappealThe
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
deserveouraentionthismanyyearslaterbecauseshegavevoicetowhat
so many others must have thought, but dared not express.
DontYouBullyMeJusticeIWantifThereIsJusticetoBeHad
London Room, London Public Library, PGO 66
DundasStreetWestcsshowingDundasStreetbridgeand
Dennistee l Ltd., formerly Dennis Iron Works
TheEventsofJulyMrsBurtonsNarrative
WMJulywillneverbecompletelyrecover
ablefromthesurvivingdocumentationMaryAnnBurtonsdescriptionof
theeventswaslteredthroughpoliceinvestigatorsprosecutingCrownat
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.
ItwasahotandsultryaernooninsouthwesternOntariowithanomi
nousthreatofthundershowersMrsBurtonhadbeenoutwindowshopping
withafriendandarrivedhomeattheheightofthehazymiddayheatThe
row house was quiet and empty, her husband and boarders long since de
partedforworkMrsBurtonbeganthetiresometaskofpuingthehouse
to orderShe scrubbed t he two upstairs rooms made the boarders beds
sweptoutthestairsandpassagewayandhadabiteofcolddinnerleover
fromSundayThenafriendandformermaleboarderofMrsBurtonswho
now rented just down the street, dropped over. Mrs. Burton interrupted the

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