The BC Penitentiary in 1938, view of building from inside the yard. Photograph courtesy of New Westminster Public Library (view similar photos at NWPL's Historical Photographs Database).

Wardens of the British Columbia Penitentiary: 1912 - 1968

The British Columbia Penitentiary was governed by nineteen different wardens (later "Directors") during its one hundred and two year history. The first of these was Arthur H. McBride (whose tenure lasted from 1878 - 1894), and the last was Herb Reynett (warden from 1977 until the penitentiary's closure in 1980). Eleven of these wardens served during the period 1912 - 1968, when the BC Penitentiary Cemetery was in use.

During the first decades of the twentieth century, appointments to the higher posts in the penitentiary service tended to be based on political patronage. However federal policy also gave preference to former military officers with good wartime records. During the period 1912 - 1968 an exception to these trends was the 1921 appointment of William Archibald Patchell, the first warden in the history of the BC Penitentiary to rise from the ranks.

The warden's duties at the penitentiary were primarily administrative, but -- especially earlier in the 20th century -- he also played a significant role in the day to day lives of penitentiary inmates, amongst other things presiding over wardens' courts (a precursor to the modern disciplinary board). The warden also played a role in the case of an inmate's death, testifying at the mandatory Coroner's inquest (held following the death of any individual incarcerated in a jail or penitentiary), and signing as informant on the death certificate.

N.B. The list below is not a comprehensive list of BC Penitentiary wardens, and includes only those wardens in charge of the penitentiary during the period 1912 - 1968, when the BC Penitentiary Cemetery was in use.

  • John Cunningham Brown - 1907 - 1921
  • Walter Archibald Patchell - 1921 - 1923
  • Herbert Walters Cooper - 1923 - 1928/1932 - 1935
  • Inspector Jackson - 1928 - 1929
  • Charles Edgar Edgett - 1929 - 1931
  • William Meighen - 1936 - 1945)
(This list was first derived from "BC Pen Wardens", part of a penitentiary supplement compiled by Norman Provencher with thanks to the New Westminster Public Library, City Curator Archie Miller and the Retired Prison Guards Association, the New Westminster Columbian, May 9, 1980, p. D1. A similar list appeared in "British Columbia Penitentiary 1878 - 1980", a commemorative brochure produced by the Correctional Service of Canada.)

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