Female Prisoners and the Mercer Reformatory

A history of the female prisoners sent to the Mercer Reformatory in Toronto, Ontario.

By Liz Dommasch, County Archivist

Opened in 1880, The Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women was the first women’s only prison in Canada. Located on King Street West in Toronto, the objective of the Reformatory was to create a home-like atmosphere for its female inmates, where they would be instilled with Victorian feminine virtues of modesty, domesticity, servility and obedience. Inmates performed the usual household tasks such as cooking baking, sewing and knitting in hopes that such learned skills would help them gain lawful employment once their sentences came to an end.

Inmates sentenced to the Reformatory were over sixteen years of age and their sentences varied from thirty days to two years, depending on the nature of the “crime” committed. Often such crimes constituted undesirable social behaviours such as vagrancy, drunkenness, and foul language, as well as offences such as larceny, prostitution, and having a child out of wedlock (promiscuity).

Between 1869 and 1925, approximately 12 women from the County Gaol were sent to the Reformatory. The Archives has no history of what became of these women, though a few were repeat offenders that spent time at the County Gaol. In September 1880, Melvina Crawford was charged with keeping a disorderly house (ie. brothel) in Woodstock, along with her husband George. Before information could be laid against her, she quickly left town, only to be found a few weeks later in Beachville running the same business. She was found guilty and sentenced to six months at the Reformatory. Elizabeth Doosling, an inmate of the house, was also found guilty of her crimes and would receive the same sentence.

In 1887, sisters Bertha and Carrie Crendall, of Ingersoll, were deemed to be “hard characters” and were sentenced to the Reformatory on the offence of vagrancy. Bertha was sentenced to one year at the Reformatory, while Carrie received the sentence of two years less one day.

In August 1893, Mary Fell, of Woodstock was also convicted of the charge of vagrancy and received a 23-month sentence at the Reformatory. At the time of her sentence, the Woodstock Sentinel-Review classified her as a “demi-monde”, essentially being of a class of women considered to be of doubtful morality and social standing.

Despite its promising beginnings, the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women would become wrought with controversy with allegations of unhospitable living conditions, beatings and even experimental drug use and medical procedures. In early 1969 the institution was closed and replaced by the Vanier Centre for Women, in Brampton. It would be demolished later that year and is now the site of Lamport Stadium.

For those interested in learning more about the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women, I highly suggest checking the online resources of the Toronto Public Library and the Archives of Ontario. For those interested in learning more about the Oxford County Gaol and its inmates, I invite you to explore our new online exhibit on the Gaol that includes a searchable index of inmates, by name as well as offence.

Image available from Library and Archives Canada: Reproduction Reference #e003894555 and MIKAN ID #3592998.