The Donnelly album: The complete and authentic account illustrated with photographs of Canada's famous feuding family

A tight and unmarked copy-" Softcover. A lot of people in Canada know at least one version of the brutal slaying of 5 members of the Donnelly family on the night of February 3, 1880. The author tells in compelling detail, the story of the Donnelly's - James and Johannah and their 7 sons and 1 daughter. Arriving in Canada from Tipperary, Ireland, in the 1840s the family settled in the boisterous Irish pioneer community in Biddulph Township near London, Ontario. For the next 30yrs, their activities gained wide notoriety in the surrounding district. The father was once convicted of murder but escaped the gallows. The sons grew up to be handsome, reckless, enterprising in business, and dangerous in combat. Largely because of their presence, Lucan, the village nearest their farm home, became known as "the wildest town in Canada". What is it about the Donnellys that has fascinated so many people for so many years? Were they really as wicked as their enemies have portrayed them? Why was no one ever convicted of the murders? What happened to the surviving Donnellys? Why do local people still feel so strongly, both pro and con, about the family? After 15yrs of exhaustive research, the author has produced the definitive account of the famous feud and its tragic consequences. He has also collected an astonishing treasure trove of old photographs, contemporary drawings, maps, and documents - of the Donnelly's, their murderers, and the sites and people involved in the events. This unique combination of narrative and illustration recreates not just an epic tragedy but an entire segment of Canadian frontier life. Illus., Notes and Index. 311pp. 4to softcover."-some shelf wear.