Black Donnellys

The "Black Donnellys" were an Irish family who emigrated to Ontario. Five of the family were murdered by an armed mob in the township of Biddulph in February 1880 and their farm was burned down, the culmination of long-standing conflict between the family and other residents. No one was ever convicted of the murders, despite two inconclusive trials.

(Dates in bold mark those killed in the massacre)

The Biddulph feud preceded the emigration of the Donnelly family from Ireland and continued for some 17 years after their deaths. However, from about 1857, the Donnelly family was inextricably bound up with the feud. The Biddulph feud had its origins in Ireland, and had begun almost two centuries before the elder James Donnelly's birth. It so happened through an accident of history, that Biddulph Township collected just the right concentration and distribution of Whiteboys, Blackfeet and Orangemen, to cause the feud to be rekindled.

Like many communities in Ontario in the nineteenth century Biddulph and Lucan commonly dealt with numerous crimes ranging from the frivolous (using abusive language), to the more serious (robbery, assault), to the most grave crime of all—murder. But bringing criminals to justice was not easy. The majority of constables were untrained and others were, quite simply, criminals themselves. For a variety of reasons, the courts did not always hand out reasonable punishments.

James (Jim) and Johannah (or Judith/Judy as she was also known) married in Ireland in 1840. Not long after their union, James Jr was born. The Donnellys hoped to establish a prosperous homestead for themselves and the seven children who were born in Canada. The problem was that the property they chose to settle on did not legally belong to James, who had squatted on the land. It was originally owned by the Canada Company, and was granted to James Grace. A number of disputes ensued in which other settlers such as Michael Maher and Patrick Farrell became embroiled. This culminated at a neighbourhood logging bee in 1857, when Donnelly killed Farrell in a fight.

There was an attempt to remove the Donnellys through the legal system:

[Court of Common Pleas, Ejectment Notice for James Donnelly from John Grace, 1856]

In the Court of Common Pleas

County of Huron

To Wit

The Twenty Sixth day of May A D 1856

A Writ of Summons in Ejectment for John Grace of the city Township of London in the County of Middlesex against James Donnelly of the Township of Biddulph in the County of Huron to recover Possession of the North half of Lot number Eighteen in the sixth concession of the Township of Biddulph in the County of Huron one of the United Counties of Huron and Bruce

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