On April 6, 1869, more than 1,500 Islanders crowded into Connaught Square in Charlottetown to witness what would become one of the most gruesome events in Prince Edward Island history.
George Dowie, a sailor by trade, had been convicted of murdering John Cullen during a drunken altercation over a woman he frequently visited while in Charlottetown. After admitting to stabbing Cullen, Dowie was found guilty and sentenced to hang.
At the time, Charlottetown had a population of only about 7,000 people, meaning more than one in five residents attended the execution. It had been nearly fifty years since the colony’s previous public hanging, and many were curious to witness the spectacle.
Dowie spent his final days in jail at what was known as Harvey’s Brig, located near the present-day stone apartment building at 41 Richmond Street. While awaiting execution, he underwent a religious conversion and became deeply repentant.
On the day of his execution, Dowie addressed the crowd for forty-five minutes. He confessed that “there was no sin of which I was not guilty,” urged those gathered to avoid alcohol and evil habits, and recited a seventeen-verse poem dedicated to his wife and mother. At one point, he became so exhausted that a chair was brought for him to rest before continuing.
When his speech finally ended, the noose was placed around his neck and he stepped onto the trap door.
Then disaster struck.
As the trap door swung open, Dowie dropped nearly fifteen feet before the rope snapped, sending him crashing to the ground unconscious.
Bruised and dazed, he was carried back to jail to recover. When he awoke, Dowie briefly believed he had been granted clemency. Instead, he was informed that preparations were already underway for a second attempt.
About an hour later, Dowie once again climbed the scaffold.
This time, the rope held.
Unfortunately, the cleat securing the rope to the scaffold did not.
As the trap door opened for a second time, the hardware failed and Dowie crashed to the ground yet again.
Some in the crowd began to wonder if fate itself was intervening.
The executioner had other ideas.
With a third attempt deemed necessary, Dowie was hoisted into the air by the rope still around his neck and held suspended for fifteen minutes until a doctor finally declared him dead.
The crowd reportedly booed the executioners.
The horrifying scene convinced many Islanders that public executions had no place in civilized society. George Dowie’s hanging became the last public execution ever held on Prince Edward Island and one of the last public executions in all of Canada.
Today, visitors walking through Connaught Square might never suspect that the quiet green space once held a gallows, a crowd of thousands, and one of the most botched executions in Canadian history.