Читать книгу Drop Dead - Lorna Poplak - Страница 6

F or the names of people and places in this book, I have generally followed the spelling found in Persons Sentenced to Death in Canada, 1867–1976: An Inventory of Case Files in the Fonds of the Department of Justice , Government Archives Division, National Archives of Canada, 1994. I do deviate from this rule, however, when other reputable sources point to a different option.

Another word on spelling: John Robert Radclive was a prominent Canadian hangman in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Some sources give his last name as Radcliffe or Ratcliff, but the name is spelled Radclive in this book.

The terms “gaol” and “jail” are variants of the same word, signifying a prison for the detention of people awaiting trial or with sentences of less than two years. Whether a specific prison is named a gaol or a jail depends on generally accepted usage: for example, Ottawa has its Carleton County Gaol as opposed to Toronto’s Don Jail.

I plowed through many statutes and other government documents in my search for materials for this book. Fortunately, I came across a medley of more exciting sources as well. Archival newspapers, for one. In earlier times, both before and after the advent of newer media such as radio and television, people depended on print media, particularly newspapers, for reports on local and world events. These papers, many of which are now available online, serve as a mine of information for modern researchers. Tucked into the reams of virtual newsprint, I found glittering nuggets of information, such as the description of a notorious hangman who snored like a “traction engine” the night before a hanging, or the fact that an axe killer was possibly insane but generally all right, except when he had been drinking, or the poignant details of a condemned person’s last meal. I am also hugely indebted to the wealth of secondary sources — books, articles, and visual and audio materials — I consulted in my efforts to provide a nuanced view of the people, places, and events that featured in the history of hanging in Canada.