Murderer.
Born in England, she was sent to Manitoba by an English benevolent society. She became a domestic servant to the Lane family of Brandon and in 1899 shot Mrs. Lane with a pistol, claiming she was jealous of the mother’s relationship with her children. Tried for murder, she was convicted in five minutes and sentenced to be hanged. Amelia Yeomans began a movement for clemency, which insisted Blake was “morally degenerate” and suffered from “moral insanity.” Blake was hanged on 27 December 1899, the last woman executed in Manitoba.
More information:
Walk Towards the Gallows: The Tragedy of Hilda Blake, Hanged 1899 by Reinhold Kramer and Tom Mitchell, University of Toronto Press, 2007.
Hilda Blake, RearView Manitoba, Archives of Manitoba
Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.
Page revised: 10 February 2010
Memorable Manitobans
This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.
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