Findlay Mcleod Sr.

Findlay Mcleod Sr., prisoner intake photo

Findlay McLeod Sr. (Findley) (November 27, 1878 – March 25, 1956) was a Canadian mail robber active in Toronto in the 1920s who later became a prison reform advocate.

Criminal career

McLeod Sr. was arrested in 1923 in connection with the theft of approximately $100,000 in Victory Bonds from the Canada Mail Service.[1] He was convicted in part due to the testimony of his son, 17 year-old Findlay McLeod Jr., who was also arrested.[2] McLeod Sr. was sentenced to five years in Kingston Penitentiary and released in May 1928.[3]

On June 19, 1928, guards at the Toronto Rail Yard were overpowered and held at gunpoint by four men. The men proceeded to rob a mail train headed to Chicago and Detroit of $300,000 in cash and bonds.[3][4] At the time, it was the largest mail robbery in Canadian history.[3] Toronto Police immediately suspected the recently released McLeod Sr. and were able to match his fingerprints from a milk bottle left at the scene of the crime.[5][6] He was put under surveillance and subsequently arrested when he met with confederates to split the robbery proceeds.[6]

McLeod Sr. was convicted, again in part on testimony from his son, McLeod Jr., was sentenced to 15 years and sent back to Kingston Penitentiary[7][8][9] McLeod Jr. was convicted as an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to probation.[3]

Prison reform efforts

During his second incarceration, McLeod Sr. led an effort to change the harsh prison conditions then existing at Kingston Penitentiary, including calling for an end to the Silent System and changes to the strict rules of conduct and system of prison labor.[10] The harsh prison conditions continued, culminating in the Kingston Penitentiary Riots of 1932 after which many of the efforts that McLeod Sr. spearheaded were instituted.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "$96,000 Bond Loot Found; 4 Arrested". The Border Cities Star. May 4, 1923. p. 1. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Boy Cries In Dock. Youth, 17, Implicates Parents in $100,000 Mail Theft At Toronto". The Border Cities Star. May 23, 1923. p. 21. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Butts, Edward (2008). Running With Dillinger: The Story of Red Hamilton and other Forgotten Canadian Outlaws. Dundurn Press. pp. 90–98. ISBN 978-1-55002-683-2.
  4. ↑ "TORailwayMuseum". Facebook. June 19, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Toronto Arrests 8 for $150,000 Theft". The New York Times. July 12, 1928.
  6. 1 2 Lapointe, Ernest (1928). Report of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for the year ended September 30, 1928. Ottawa: F.A. Ackland. p. 44.
  7. ↑ "Finley M'Leod Sr., Found Guilty of Mail Theft". The Windsor Star. November 1, 1928. p. 25. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Finley Mcleod Sr., Testifies". The Border Cities Star. October 31, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Ray Boven Given 10 Years in Cell, Windsor Man's Previous Good Record Aids Him as Others get 15 for Mail Robbery". The Windsor Star. November 17, 1928. p. 10. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Prison Shops Suggested: Findlay McLeod, Sr. Urges Industry in Prison". The Windsor Star. March 21, 1929. p. 15. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  11. ↑ Willis, Cameron (2022). "If You Want Anything, You Have to Fight for It: Prisoner Strikes at Kingston Penitentiary, 1932-1935". Labour/Le Travail, Journal of Canadian Labour Studies. 89.
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