Peter Matthews and Samuel Lount
Section C, Lot 19
Toronto Necropolis
Following the suppression of Mackenzie’s rebellious forces in a brief, almost comical skirmish near the present Yonge and Carleton intersection, many of the rebels attempted to leave the province to avoid capture. Two who were unable to escape were Peter Matthews and Samuel Lount. The government decided to make an example of them. Peter Matthews, 1789 - April 12, 1838 was a farmer and soldier who participated in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, for which he was hanged. Samuel Lount, September 24, 1791 – April 12, 1838, was a blacksmith, farmer, magistrate and member of the Legislative Assembly in the province of Upper Canada for Simcoe County from 1834 to 1836. He was an organiser of the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, for which he was hanged. His execution made him a martyr to the Upper Canadian Reform Movement. The pair were tried and convicted of treason and, though petitions for clemency were addressed to the Lieutenant-Governor, Lount and Matthews were sentenced to death. Their public hangings on April 12, 1838 took place in the Court House Square near the King and Church Streets intersection, following which their lifeless bodies were interred in the old Potter’s Field a few miles north of the city. Several years later with the imminent closing of Potter’s Field, the pair were removed and re-interred in the Necropolis. In 1893, an elegant headstone was erected on the lot by appreciative citizens. On June 9, 1846, the two men were pardoned by Queen Victoria… the families did not receive the documents until 1848! Exactly 100 years after the monument was erected on the two men’s grave, a bronze marker entitled “Patriots of 1837” was unveiled on the site. In attendance were a number of descendants of the Matthews and Lount families.