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Sketches of Grace Marks (left) and James MacDermott from the pamphlet of their trial.

Grace Marks

This article pertains to the historical figure. For the fictional character see: Alias Grace and Alias Grace (miniseries)

Grace Marks (c. 1826 to after c. 1873) was an Irish-Canadian maid in Toronto, Ontario and surrounding area. Marks was convicted of murder in July of 1843 for the death of her employer, Thomas Kinnear, and his housekeeper, Hannah (Nancy) Montgomery.

Marks and James McDermott, Kinnear's stable hand, were both found guilty of murder. Marks was imprisoned at The Provincial Penitentiary in Kingston and McDermott was hanged.

Little is known about Grace Marks prior to her arrival in Canada between the ages of 12 and 14. What is known comes primarily from Susanna Moodie's 1853 novel Life in the Clearings Versus the Bush; upon visiting the penitentiary, Moodie met Marks and included their conversations in her book.

Her conviction, imprisonment, and time in the asylum have made her a popular discussion topic within Canadian Law and Canadian Women's Studies.

Marks' story resurfaced in popular culture the mid-1990's following the publication of Margaret Atwood's 1996 novel Alias Grace which retells and partially fictionalizes Grace Marks' life in Canada. The novel has since been adapted for stage and screen, most recently in the CBC television mini-series Alias Grace.

Early Life

Grace Marks and her family emigrated to Canada from Northern Ireland sometime between 1838 and 1840. Her father, John Marks, was a stone mason in Toronto, and she had four sisters and four brothers, of which she was the third oldest. According to her Voluntary Confession on November 17th,1843, Marks served as a maid in various houses: Alderman Dixon's, Mr. McManus', Mr. Coates', Mr. Haraghy's, and finally Mr. Kinnear's.

In June of 1843, Mark's left service to live with Thomas Watson, a Shoemaker. It was at Watson's shop that Mark's first met Nancy (Hannah) Montgomery, accompanied by James McDermott. Marks was hired in July of 1843 as a maid at the Kinnear home in Richmond Hill, Ontario (at the time, Upper Canada), with a wage of $3.00 a month. She worked as an assistant to Montgomery, the housekeeper, and alongside McDermott, the stable hand. Not long after Mark's was in employ did tensions become apparent in the house, she accounts in her confession:

"...everything went on very quietly for a fortnight except the housekeeper several times scolding McDermott for not doing his work properly, and she gave him a fortnight's warning, that when this month was up he was to leave..."

McDermott reported to Marks' that Kinnear and Montgomery had an intimate relationship. Marks was "determined to find it out" and was "convinced that they did [have an intimate relationship]" because Montgomery's bed was never slept in except when Kinnear was away. In the afterword to her novel Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood describes the sensational details of the true story and states: "...Nancy Montgomery had previously given birth to an illegitimate child and was Thomas Kinnear's mistress".

The Murders

On July 27th, 1843, Mr. Kinnear left for Toronto. Both Marks' and McDermott's confessions state that the original plot was for Montgomery to be killed that night (the 27th) and Kinnear would be killed upon his return. It wasn't until Saturday, July 29th, 1843 that both Montgomery and Kinnear were murdered.

According to Mark's confession, McDermott told her "he would kill Nancy that night [the 27th]...the way he intended to kill Nancy was to knock her on the head with the axe, and then strangle her:--and shoot Kinnear with the double-barrelled gun".

Marks' admitted that she promised to help McDermott with the murders. On Friday the 28th, McDermott "was determined to kill her that night, with the axe, when in bed", but Marks entreated him not to "as he might hit [Marks] instead of her" since the two women were sharing a bed. McDermott decided he would kill her in the morning.

In McDermott's confession, he claims: "I sat by the kitchen fire after [Montgomery and Marks] were gone, with the axe between my knees, trying to harden my heart to commit the murder", but confesses he couldn't bring himself to do it. He does not mention Marks entreating him against it, and instead claims that Marks' was the instigator of the unfortunate series of events.

McDermott claims that the morning of July 29th Marks' called him a coward for not murdering her the night before and he responded: "Go and milk the cows and you shall soon see whether I am the coward you take me for". McDermott found Montgomery at the kitchen sink and struck her with a heavy blow to the back of her head with an axe and he threw her body into the cold cellar. McDermott and Marks' confessions vary, but it is known that Montgomery was strangled with a piece of cloth (either Mark's handkerchief or a white rag) before she was considered fully dead. McDermott dismembered the body, "cut the body in four pieces", and they left the cellar.

At about eleven o'clock that same day Mr. Kinnear returned from Toronto and inquired about his housekeeper's whereabouts. Later on that evening the Kinnear was preparing to leave the house in search for Montgomery. McDermott confesses, "I perceived that it was more difficult to conceal a murder than I had imagined; that the inquiries he was about to make would around suspicion among the neighbours...The only way to prevent this was to murder him..." McDermott shot Kinnear with a double barrel gun; Marks' claims he shot him in the kitchen, while McDermott confessed he shot him "through the shoulders...through his heart" on his way to the harness house. When Marks came upon the scene she attempted to flee, however she confessed that she returned to help him open the cellar door so Kinnear's body could be kept with Montgomery's. Marks claims she was so frightened she attempted to flee again, but McDermott "came out of the front kitchen door into the yard and fired at [her]" but the bullet missed her.

After taking some money and valuables from the house, the two departed for Toronto where they planned to set sail for the United States. McDermott,dressed in Kinnear's clothes, and Mark's, dressed in Montgomery's, the boarded a boat and arrived in Lewiston, New York at about three o'clock on the 30th of July, 1843. They were not in the United States for long before they were arrested: at five o'clock the following morning, Mr. Kingsmill, the High Bailiff, captured them and brought them back to Toronto.

The Trials

Upon being arraigned, both McDermott and Marks' pleaded not-guilty. On November 3rd, 1843, the two of them were brought into Court. There was a large crowd at the Court House, the trial report states the people were "anxious to witness the proceedings in the case of extreme atrocity". Due to their different accounts, Marks and McDermott would be tried separately.

Trial of James McDermott

Many witnesses came to the stand at McDermott's trial and described what they saw in the house. Some were neighbours and people in the community, while others were detectives, officers, and members of the legal department. Despite a "powerful and eloquent speech" made by McDermott's counsel, Kenneth McKenzie, the Jury returned a verdict of guilty. His Lordship Chief of Justice announced the sentence of death and set the date of November 21st, 1843.

Trial of Grace Marks

The Trial of Grace Marks took place the following day, November 4th, 1843. Mark's primary defense was that McDermott threatened to kill her if she spoke about the murders. Her trial was much shorter and included fewer witnesses than McDermott's. Given the evidence was the same for each trial, the Jury returned a guilty verdict, but recommended mercy. Initially, a sentence of death was laid upon Marks and she was to be executed the same time as her accomplice. Marks fainted when she heard her supposed fate. The judge "held out no hope for her pardon" but said he "would forward, to the proper authorities, the recommendation of mercy by the jury."

The sentences were laid only for the murder of Thomas Kinnear. Indictments for the murder of Nancy Montgomery were considered "unnecessary".

On Tuesday November 21st, 1843, James McDermott was hanged to death in the Gaol of the City of Toronto. Grace Marks was not hanged and instead sentenced to life in prison at Kingston Penitentiary.

Life in Prison

Grace Marks began her sentence in 1843. Kingston Penitentiary is a towering, thick-walled limestone structure built to hold male and female criminals. Prisoners spent their days labouring and evenings in solitary confinement.

Susanna Moodie's Accounts

Susanna Moodie visited the penitentiary in 1850. She recounts in Life in the Clearing versus the Bush, "My chief object in visiting their department was to look at the celebrated murderess, Grace Marks". Moodie describes her as a "middle sized woman with a slight, graceful figure" who had an "air of hopeless melancholy" about her.

Moodie explains, "[Marks'] conduct during her stay in the Penitentiary was so unexceptionable that a petition was signed by all the influential gentlemen in Kingston which released her from her long imprisonment." Marks became maid for the Governor of the Penitentiary while she continued to serve her prison sentence. Her time at the governors was short lived, "...the fearful haunting of her brain terminated in madness" and she was sent to an asylum in Toronto.

"Criminal Lunatic"

The hospital card of Grace Marks when she was admitted to the Lunatic Asylum in Toronto.

Marks was one of the first Canadian prisoners to be labeled a "criminal lunatic". Nearly eight-and-a-half years into her life sentence Marks began to exhibit signs of insanity. According to the Kingston Penitentiary Medical Registry, Marks went "from being quiet, well behaved and industrious" to "noisy...and excitable". She reportedly sang, laughed, and talked rapidly when in a positive state, and would fall into "gloom and despair" soon after. She suffered "daily illusions", slept badly, and paced in her cell at night. Marks was removed to the Provincial Lunatic Asylum in Toronto (today, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) and spent 16 months there. She carried out the remainder of her sentence in the Kingston Penitentiary.

Pardoning

Marks was pardoned in 1872 and left confinement. When she was liberated, the Penitentiary asked Marks several questions about her time in prison:

Penitentiary Staff: "What in your opinion is the best means of reforming criminals?"

Grace Marks: "Kind treatment."

Penitentiary Staff: "Do you think that your imprisonment in the Penitentiary has been beneficial to you in a moral and religious point of view and that you are better qualified now than before you entered the institution?"

Grace Marks: "Doubtful."

After her release she left the country, changed her name, and nothing more is publicly known about her.