By Edward Brown
When it comes to discussing his genealogy, Paul Traviss of East Gwillimbury enthusiastically shares details about his ancestry, however, there’s a dark subject he’s hesitant to broach for reasons one wouldn’t suspect.
Paul Traviss is a descendant of John Traviss, who at 21 was convicted of slaying a prominent member of the East Gwillimbury community in 1871.
Like Paul Traviss, descendants of the murder victim still reside nearby, and Traviss will go to any lengths to avoid stirring up ill feelings among neighbours.
As the family archivist, Paul Traviss possesses family Bibles dating back generations, old photographs, marriage and death certificates, but he only recently learned about his connection to the historical slaying upon the publication of The Way of Transgressors (Tidewater Press, 2025), a novel that opens with a description of the homicide that occurred around present-day Warden Avenue and Queensville Sideroad.
Paul Traviss and author Edward Brown recently visited the 154-year-old murder scene, and from certain vantage points, looking across rolling, snow-covered fields, it’s easy to feel transported back in time.
Historical records reveal that on the morning of November 23, 1871, John Traviss shot a man dead while the pair rode in a sleigh bound for Queensville. Immediately after the slaying, Traviss got out of the sleigh, walking to his married sister’s nearby home. The perpetrator was quickly arrested without incident and confessed to the arresting constable.
Within months, Traviss was tried and convicted in a Toronto courtroom. At trial, he stated he sought revenge after the victim had tarnished his reputation with a local girl he fancied.
At the time in Canadian history, the sentence for first-degree murder was death by hanging, and while the jury pleaded for mercy, the judge in the case sentenced Traviss accordingly.
On the morning of February 21, 1872, Traviss went to the gallows, the first of an estimated 34 convicted killers eventually hanged at Toronto’s Don Jail over a 90-year period.
Today, Paul Traviss is willing to shed light on this dark chapter of his ancestry, so long as it doesn’t offend present members of his community.
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