By Kate Proctor

One of the great things about living in Huron County is that there is never an opportunity to be bored. There is always so much going on – from all the amazing outdoor activities, to sports, festivals, rodeos, live theatre, and music. The list is endless. I was fortunate to be able to see two versions of the true story of Morris township resident Maggie Pollock – one at the Huron County Gaol with their “Behind the Bars” show, and the other at the Blyth Theatre, at the “Trials of Maggie Pollock”.
“Behind the Bars” is a show that runs at the Huron County Gaol in Goderich every summer on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. It gives you a chance to tour the jail where actors portray real people who were held, or worked, there. These people participated in the workings of an institution that served local residents as a place where residents went who had no other options. 
The Gaol is a unique and interesting historical building, but the stories of the people who were associated with it are even more interesting. Operating from 1841-1972, the Gaol housed people we still talk about today, as well as many people long forgotten.
One of the most surprising things I learned was that vagrancy – “the act of being poor or homeless” - was the most common reason people were committed to the Gaol. During the years that it operated, the Gaol had over 1,110 people stay for that reason, and of those, 372 were over the age of 60. In 1895, Huron county constructed the “House of Refuge” that took in some of these local people. 
“Insanity” was also considered a crime at this time. This label was applied to people who had mental health challenges as well as people with developmental disabilities who could not be cared for by their families. Some 480 such folk were included in the list of people who stayed here. While some may have eventually been transferred to the London Asylum, most remained for their sentence in Goderich. 
The Gaol presents interesting statistics about the people who served sentences there. Of all prisoners, 17.5 per cent were vagrants, 14.9 per cent were sentenced for drunkenness, 11.5 per cent had assaulted someone, including rape, indecent assault, aggravated assault and assaults on constables or tax collectors, 8.5 per cent were convicted of theft, 7.6 per cent for insanity, and 0.5 per cent for using profane language in public, especially near places of worship. People who received death sentences remained at the Gaol, while others with sentences longer than two years were transferred. There were three hangings there – William Mahone in 1861, Nicholas Melady Jr in 1869, and Edward Jardine in 1911. 
At least 316 children were also committed to stay at the Gaol for committing some crime – 27.5 per cent larceny (a form of theft), 25.9 per cent theft, 13 per cent assault, 8.9 per cent vagrancy. The remaining 24.7 per cent were there for crimes including arson, threats, truancy, violation of town bylaws, or attempts to escape. 
Maggie Pollock was one of the most interesting people to be held in the Huron County Gaol. Maggie Pollock lived and farmed with her brother in Morris township, not far from where I live. She was arrested and tried for witchcraft just over one hundred years ago. While the Salem witch trials that occurred in the 1690s are most famous, people, usually women, were accused of practicing witchcraft throughout the centuries. 
According to information on the Huron County Museum website, practicing witchcraft was forbidden even among native cultures. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy would condemn people to death who were accused of practicing witchcraft (https://www.huroncountymuseum.ca/double-double-toil-and-trouble-the-tale-of-maggie-pollock-and-the-huron-county-witch-trial/). 
Amazingly, the crime of “pretending to practice witchcraft” was only removed from the Criminal Code of Canada in 2018. Even going back to the 1700s, this was not really about actual dangers associated with witchcraft, but was more about preventing someone from taking advantage of naïve and desperate people. Two women in Ontario were charged under this law in 2018. Both the play and the museum’s coverage of this topic bring out the point that the charge was often used to prosecute women and sometimes men who were vulnerable, marginalized, or otherwise did not conform to the norms of society at the time. 
In Pollock’s case, dubbed “the seeress of Blyth”, she claimed to “be possessed with a peculiar occult gift” (Huron County Museum). Neighbours and people from across Canada and the U.S. came to her for help to solve mysteries in their lives. She was tried in Huron County for helping a farmer who asked her to find out who had stolen grain from his barn. Her information did help him find the missing grain and the thief was arrested, but so was Pollock for “telling fortunes, which was illegal under section 365 of the Canadian Criminal Code,” (Huron County Museum). Her case was appealed to Osgood Hall in Toronto in 1920.
Maggie Pollock passed away in 1931 in her 70th year and is buried near Blyth. She was able to continue using her gifts and was a respected person in her community. Learning about her story and seeing her come to life through two different interpretations gave me lots to mull over. How do we respond to things we can’t explain? How do we behave towards people who don’t fit into social norms of the day? Perhaps most importantly, while physical aspects of life can change in unimaginable ways over the course of 100 years, human nature seems remarkably consistent. ◊