Freedom Through the Courts

No, to Extradition

Source : Toronto Public Library


Osgoode Hall Elevation, 1855

Osgoode Hall was built for the Law Society of Upper Canada (now Law Society of Ontario) in 1832 and named after William Osgoode, the first Chief Justice of the Province. It has housed the Superior Courts of Justice of the province since 1846 to today.

Source: Wikimedia Commons


John Anderson, 1863

Jack Burrows changed his name to John Anderson to keep his identity a secret. 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Text version of the audio

Osgoode Hall is a site of importance for Black history in Toronto and Ontario. Several legal challenges to American Slavery happened in Osgoode Hall courts. The building represents the role of the Ontario Justice System in protecting freedom seekers and challenging American slavery. 

Extradition of John Anderson

The extradition hearing for freedom seeker John Anderson was held there in 1861. Anderson was ordered returned by Chief Justice John Beverley Robinson. Black community members from near and far protested in front of Osgoode Hall. However, Britain’s Privy Council and Toronto's Court of Common Pleas reversed the decision due to a technicality and Anderson was acquitted. This was the last extradition case of a freedom seeker in Ontario.

Freedom seeker Thornton Blackburn worked as a waiter in Osgoode Hall, waiting on lawyers before he established his taxi company, the first taxi company in Toronto in 1837. Known as The City, their horse-drawn taxi was painted red with yellow trim, and collected passengers from the cabstand at Church Street, just north of King. The Blackburns were the subject of the first extradition case of freedom seekers in the province in 1833. The government refused to return Lucy and Thornton Blackburn to enslavement in the United States, setting a legal precedent. 

The couple was very involved in the Underground Railroad movement. They helped other freedom seekers find affordable accommodation and employment in the city. There is a national plaque at Inglenook Community School, the site of the Blackburn homestead, recognizing them as persons of national historical significance. 

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Tracing Mary Ann Shadd Cary's Footsteps in Mid-19th C. Black Toronto

Tracing Mary Ann Shadd Cary's Footsteps in Mid-19th C. Black Toronto image circuit

Présenté par : Dr. Natasha Henry-Dixon, York University
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