Mary Osborn

Mary London (better known as Mary Osborn, also Osburn and Osborne; c. 1773 – 17 August 1801) was the first woman to be executed in Upper Canada for the murder of her partner, Bartholomew London.

Early life Osborn was originally from Bedford, Pennsylvania. By her own account, her upbringing had been uneventful. According to her later co-accused, she claimed to have killed her first husband by poisoning him with hellebore. This will instructed Osborn to provide for her sons, Nathaniel and William Osborn, as well as Hannah in the event of his death. ''), to work on his farm. An affair began between Osborn and Nemiers, Hamilton Public Library recognizes this event as the first recorded murder in the city of Hamilton.

Suspicion arose after physicians, including Dr. Oliver Tiffany, examined London's body and concluded he had been poisoned. before Judge Henry Allcock and Associate Justice William Dickinson, with Attorney General Thomas Scott leading the prosecution. 14 witnesses testified, including Robert Nelles, and presenters of unanimous medical evidence that London had not died from the fractured skull sustained some weeks before, but from poisoning. They were also the first of Upper Canada's convicts to have their bodies donated to medical science, in a practice that would continue until around 1830.

Aftermath London's daughter from his first marriage, Mehitable Whitsell, raised Hannah, Osborn's daughter with London. and may have been raised by another member of the London family. William, Osborn's son from her first marriage, fought for Canada in the War of 1812.