Grace Marks

Grace Marks (c. July 1828 – after c. 1873) was an Irish-Canadian maid who was involved in the 1843 murder of her Richmond Hill, Ontario, employer Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery. Her conviction for the murder of Kinnear was controversial and sparked much debate about whether Marks was actually instrumental in the murder or merely an unwitting accessory.

Marks was born and raised in Ulster in Ireland and had eleven siblings, three of whom were stillborn. The Marks' father, John, was a stonemason and an abusive alcoholic. The family immigrated to Canada in 1840 when Grace was twelve. Her mother died on the ship en route to Canada and was buried at sea.

Marks was employed as a maid in the house of Yonge Street farmer Thomas Kinnear, who was in a sexual relationship with his housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery. On July 18, 1843, Kinnear and Montgomery were murdered by a servant. Kinnear was shot and Montgomery, who was pregnant at the time of her death, was hit on the head with an axe and subsequently strangled before being dismembered and hidden under a large tub. Under the alias "Mary Whitney", Marks and the servant, James McDermott, fled together to the U.S., but were apprehended in Lewiston, New York and deported to Toronto. It remains unclear whether Marks had actually taken part in the double murder.

Marks was tried with McDermott for the murder of Kinnear. A trial for Montgomery's murder was to follow, but was deemed unnecessary as both defendants were convicted of Kinnear's murder and sentenced to death. McDermott was hanged, but Marks's sentence was commuted to life in prison which she served in Kingston Penitentiary. At one period (May 4, 1852 – August 18, 1853) she was committed to an asylum but was later returned to Kingston Penitentiary. In 1872, after almost thirty years of incarceration, Marks was pardoned and moved to northern New York. After that she disappeared.

What is known of Marks on the historical record comes primarily from Susanna Moodie's book Life in the Clearings Versus the Bush. She is the subject of Margaret Atwood's historical fiction novel Alias Grace and played by Sarah Gadon in the 2017 television adaptation directed by Mary Harron. Alias Grace was adapted for the stage by Jennifer Blackmer and premiered at the Rivendell Theater in Chicago on September 1, 2017.