NOTES: Jean Cololère, a drummer in the colonial troops at Québec, was imprisoned for duelling in 1751. In the cell next to his was Françoise Laurent, who had been sentenced to hang for stealing. Except for letters of pardon, the only way at the time for someone under sentence of death to escape hanging was, for a man, to become a hangman, or, for a woman, to marry one. Françoise persuaded Cololère to apply for the vacant (and undesirable) post of executioner, and also to marry her. -Condensed from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Volume III, 1741-1770.
Margaret AtwoodRelated topics
biography canadian cell colonial death dictionary drummer escape executioner hanging hang hangman jean man next pardon post sentence stealing time under volume way woman letters iii someone duelling troops undesirable notes quebecRelated quotes
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