Eleanor Power (? - 1754)

29. Continue left along Water Street to the tall Royal on Water Building at #139.

Eleanor Power earned the distinction of being the first non-native woman hanged in English Canada, on October 11, 1754. She was convicted, along with nine men, of participating in the robbery and murder of Magistrate William Keen, justice of the peace in St. John's, Newfoundland. Keen employed Power as a washerwoman or maid-of-all work so she knew Keen's house.

The Royal on Water Building

The Royal on Water Building at 139 Water Street stands on the site where the first woman was hanged in English Canada.

Photo by Linda Cullum. © 2023.

The resulting robbery netted only some bottles of liquor and silver spoons, not the money they sought. The noise of the robbery awakened William Keen and he was murdered in his bedroom by two of the men.

St. John's, ca. 1750

Photo from a painting owned by the late former premier J. R. Smallwood. It shows fish flakes in foreground and St. John's in background.

Courtesy of Archives and Special Collections (Geography Collection 137, Photo 467), Queen Elizabeth II Library, Memorial University, St. John's, NL.

Eleanor Power deserted the group when their actions became more violent but was found equally guilty of Keen's murder. Nine people who participated in the robbery were sentenced to hang on Magistrate Keen's wharf. The tenth man gave evidence against the others and so was not tried.

Eleanor and her husband Robert were hanged together on 11 October 1754. Five of the ten robbers were imprisoned in St. John's but were pardoned some years later.

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