Back

The Court of Appeal Building, formerly known as the Union Bank Building, is on the site of the first prison in St. John’s. The building, at that time, was located east of the present courthouse and between the Clouston Building on Water Street and the Supreme Court offices on Duckworth Street. It was used as a jail and courtroom. At first it was a wooden structure but was destroyed by fire in the late 1820's. It was rebuilt as stone in 1829 and lasted until 1848 when it was again destroyed by fire. Four hangings took place there between 1832 and 1834 - Tobias Mandeville, Arthur Springer, Catherine Snow and Peter Downing.

On April 23, 1863 a lease was signed between the Union Bank of Newfoundland and the Newfoundland Government for land east of the court house. In December 1864 the bank moved into it’s newly constructed building on this site which was known as “The Banking House”. It was a fine brick building, trimmed with sandstone. A particular feature of its construction was the built-in roller type iron shutters, similar to the old fashioned roll-top desk, which were fitted to all the windows. Because of this, it was the only building in the area which survived intact in the Great Fire of 1892.

The bank maintained its presence at this site until the bank crash of December 10, 1894, when it closed its doors. After the crash the building was taken over by the Newfoundland Government and it housed various Government departments until 1975 when the building was earmarked to provide accommodation for the appeal division, one of the divisions into which the Supreme Court was then being divided. Renovations were completed in early 1976 and the Court of Appeal has occupied the space ever since. Apart from an addition onto the back of the building sometime shortly after the fire of 1892 and a new roof and windows installed in the early 1980's, the building still stands today as it was when built.