Kingston Penitentiary is a prison located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, between King Street West and Lake Ontario.
History
Kingston Penitentiary is the oldest prison in Canada. It was constructed in 1833 and opened its doors for the first time on June 1, 1835, immediately accepting six prisoners and will become the most notorious maximum security prison in the Canada.
In 1835, the new prison, then named the Provincial Penitentiary of the Province of Upper Canada, was not yet open for business, and so the new inmates from Toronto had to be held at the county jail for five days. By 1850, there were 410 inmates, including 24 women and girls (until 1934). Women were incarcerated there during the prison's first century. The male inmates of Kingston Penitentiary were occupied either as rope or shoe-makers, carpenters, blacksmiths, or tailors, and the female inmates in needlework.
The rules and regulations of the institution, published October 22, 1836, had a stipulation for inmates to “preserve unbroken silence,” meaning they “must not exchange a word with one another under any pretence whatever.” They also could not “exchange looks, wink, laugh, nod or gesticulate to each other.” For any disobience meant “Corporal punishment will be instantly inflicted.”
The original facility was a single, large limestone cell-block with 154 cells in five tiers. Those cells were 74 by 244 cm in width and 200 cm in height. The three other wings of the main building were completed by the 1850s and the dome that connects the four cell-blocks was added in 1861. It was then the largest public building in Upper Canada.
Charles Dickens had visited the prison in 1842 and made mention of it in American Notes, inexplicably writing, "There is an admirable gaol here, well and wisely governed, and excellently regulated in every respect."
Kingston Penitentiary officially closed on September 30, 2013.
Appearances and Mentions
Rigid Silence
Mr. Murdoch's Neighbourhood (mention)
- Former warden of Kingston Penitentiary, Cameron Smith is interviewed during the investigation by Murdoch.
A Midnight Train to Kingston (inference)
- Escorting "this piece of lowlife scum" to his hanging, from Toronto to Kingston.
Victoria Cross (mention)
- The Inspector to a suspect: "Something to contemplate while you're breaking stone in Kingston Penitentiary."
Murdoch in Toyland (mention)
- When the body of Robert Perry is discovered, Murdoch asks George to look into the status of James Gillies at Kingston Penitentiary.