Is the Crown Reduced to This?

BLYTH, Nov. 2 — In an effort to locate the two missing desperadoes, Edward Harlton and Frank Martion, who escaped from the Middlesex jail a month ago and left no trail, three officers of the Crown from London consulted Miss Margaret Pollock of this village yesterday, famed throughout Ontario as a clairvoyant.

The officers were Crown Attorney Judd, High Constable Wharton, and Provincial Constable Mennie. Miss Pollock, after a séance, was able, it is understood, to give the officers several tangible facts about the whereabouts of the missing men.

Fame Is Spreading

High Constable A. J. Wharton, of London, paid a visit the other day to Miss Margaret Pollock, the well-known Blyth medium, to seek information regarding Harlton, the alleged murderer, and Martron, who are still at large following their escape from London jail.

The police officers refuse to tell any part of the story related by Miss Pollock, but according to unofficial reports of the meeting, she is said to have told the officers that she had valuable information as to the movements of the wanted pair. She is said to have declared that the escaped men were moving about rapidly, though their exact whereabouts could not be determined.

Wharton was accompanied on his inquiry by A. N. Judd, Crown Attorney of Middlesex, and Lloyd Mennie, Provincial officer. The trio did not go to Blyth for the purpose of visiting the woman, but happened to be in the vicinity investigating a number of criminal cases.

“Maggie” Pollock’s fame indeed must be spreading. Lost or stolen livestock, cars, jewelry, suits of clothes, and what not, have been the subject of anxious enquiries of Miss Pollock for years; she receives phone messages from all over this section of Ontario and her visitors are numerous, but it is doubtful if she has ever been called upon for information about runaway jailbirds by the authorities before.

Miss Pollock is one prophet who has honor in her own country, because her neighbors have always had the utmost faith in her and can relate scores of interesting stories.

Stolen Watch Returned to Owner

Two weeks ago there appeared in the Times-Advocate an item stating that Mr. Trueman Elliott had had his watch stolen from his pocket the previous Saturday under circumstances that are most peculiar.

On the Saturday evening in question, while working in his store, Mr. Elliott heard the town clock strike nine and he took out his watch to compare the time. About twenty minutes to ten someone was in the store and asked him the time, and he felt for his watch and it was gone.

The watch is a handsome gold, open face, and he was sorry to lose it. Hearing a number of stories of the work of Miss Pollock, clairvoyant, near Blyth, Mr. Elliott decided to visit her, and a few evenings after losing his watch he motored to her home. Several cars were ahead of him, and it was getting late when his turn came for an interview.

Mr. Elliott stated that he lost his watch. Reclining in an easy chair, the lady pictured to Mr. Elliott the interior of his store and a description of his watch. Mr. Elliott had not mentioned anything about being in business, but she pictured to him some of his actions and transactions during the evening and stated that while he was reaching for something from among his ready-mades, the watch was there. She was not sure that he would find it.

The next morning, when Mr. Elliott came down to open up the store, he found the door open and a suit of clothes belonging to Mr. B. W. F. Beavers lying on the counter. Going over to Mr. Beavers, he jokingly remarked that he must have been strong that morning to have forced his lock. Mr. Beavers remarked that the door was partly open when he took the clothes in. On returning, Mr. Elliott found that the lock had been forced and, remembering what Miss Pollock had said about finding the watch among the ready-mades, he started in search for it and went through everything on the counters.

Mr. D. R. Hopper came in and assisted him in the search. They were about to give up when Mr. Elliott decided to search the suits that were hanging on a rack at the rear of the store. In one of the pockets, he found his watch.

Another story is told in connection with the work of Miss Pollock that comes close to home. A little dog belonging to a merchant in town was ill and was taken to a veterinary for treatment and was left with him for a few days. While in the care of the veterinary, the dog disappeared and a lost ad was inserted in the Times-Advocate. Thinking of the numerous dogs that have been poisoned recently in Exeter, the veterinary had an interview with Miss Pollock. She described the dog and said that it had been sick but that it was better, and that in a few days it would return to its home. A few days after, the dog was found by its owner sitting on their back verandah.

This article also appears:

Sep 21. 1928 | The Huron Expositor P.3

Seeress May Furnish Key to Rumbold, Perri Cases

Maggie Pollock of Blyth, Able to Find Lost Articles and Unravel Police Puzzles, Suggested to Solve Murder Mysteries

Maggie Pollock, spinster seeress of Blyth, may figure shortly in the unraveling of the Rumbold and Perri murder mysteries if the Provincial Police can be persuaded to accept her assistance.

"I know Miss Pollock," a Queen’s Park official told The Globe yesterday. "I have seen examples of what she can do, and it simply amazes you. I think—and there will be a lot of people who will agree with me—that she could put Mrs. Perri’s mind at rest.”

Her reputation has spread about the county and beyond the boundaries of the Province. People now motor from far and wide to seek her advice, hoping to learn what the future holds in store for them.

Statements readily supplied by her mysterious powers show that Maggie’s a wondrous woman. She has been instrumental in naming lost or missing stock. A brief visit to Miss Pollock’s home, and the owner is apprised as to where his horses or cattle, as the case may be, can be picked up, and whether they have merely strayed or been stolen.

In one recent case, a horse had disappeared, and the countryside was scoured for it, but to no avail. Miss Pollock, when consulted, promptly named an out-of-the-way sink-hole. The horse was recovered there.

"In a score of other ways," says the Queen’s Park man, "the Blyth woman has displayed her ability to ‘read the future’ and single-handedly solve problems that have confounded the whole neighborhood. Police of the immediate district are said to have relied in several instances on her uncanny prophecies.

"She does her best work," The Globe was told, "when she has some direct link with a case to examine. What I mean is this: Let her see the rope or the shotguns involved, and I am confident the authorities would soon have the solution for which they are now struggling."

Blyth – Death of Miss Maggie Pollock

On Wednesday last, August 26th, the death occurred at Mrs. Cook’s nursing home of a well-known and highly respected resident of Morris Township in the person of Miss Maggie Pollock, in her 70th year.

On the 17th of January this year, Miss Pollock entered Grace Hospital in Detroit for treatment, and later was at Fort Erie for a while, returning home on May 7th. For the past three weeks she was nursed in Blyth, where she passed peacefully away on Wednesday morning. She was born on the farm on which she spent her lifetime, daughter of the late James Pollock, who died in 1914, aged 92 years. Surviving are a sister and a brother, Mrs. Wren of Hagersville, and Mr. William Pollock, for whom she kept house.

Miss Pollock was known all over Ontario as a clairvoyant. From her school years she first became aware of her powers when she saw visions while in a trance, although at that time she was unable to distinguish objects as clearly as in later years. So successful did she seem in locating lost or stolen objects and seeing into the future that even the skeptical admitted she must possess an acute, analytical mind, much above the average.

Some very remarkable instances are told of her having described accurately where to look for missing bodies of drowned persons on several occasions. One time, a boy who was playing on the bank of the river at Wincham was drowned when he went in after his dog. When frantic efforts to locate his body failed, Miss Pollock was called by telephone. Her reply was that it was difficult for her to see over water, but she could see a tree overhanging the river bank. The searchers looked in the water opposite such tree and soon located the boy's body.

Another time she received a phone call from New Hamburg regarding a man having broken through the ice and drowned. She told them where to look, but her instructions were not followed for some time because a man was trying a divining rod without success. 

Afterwards, the body was located at the spot indicated by Miss Pollock.

Perhaps her greatest fame took place about ten years ago when a man from Perth County consulted her regarding some stolen grain. The description she gave exactly fitted a man in the neighborhood of the robbery; court proceedings were taken against Miss Pollock as a sorceress. The case attracted widespread interest in Canada and the United States. While officially the law frowned on the practice, as Miss Pollock never charged a fee for her services—any remuneration being voluntary gifts—she was allowed to continue without further interference after the case had been tried at Clinton, then Goderich, and finally Toronto. The judge declared that she was at perfect liberty to use her natural powers.

Moreover, it is stated that on several occasions officers of the law consulted her regarding their problems, whether believing she had occult powers or that she possessed the gift of solving human problems by plain common sense. Her home on the farm on the 8th line of Morris became a Mecca for anyone with a difficulty or who wanted to learn the future, people coming from all parts of the county, the province, and across the border. Scarcely a day passed that she did not receive numerous visitors and also letters by mail. Since her last illness and death, letters have arrived from Florida, Texas, Missouri, Nebraska, California, and Vancouver, B.C., all of which were returned to the senders, but which bespeak the faith the public had in Miss Pollock’s powers.

The funeral on Friday afternoon was one of the largest held in this district for a long time. The service was conducted at her late residence Presbyterian Church. The abundance of beautiful flowers testified to the esteem in which the deceased was held in the community. Pallbearers were Messrs. Wm. Laidlaw, James Laidlaw, David Laidlaw, James Richmond, John Nesbitt, and Robert Nesbitt.

Among those from a distance who attended the funeral were: Mr. Ken Netberian, Robert Fracket of Tiddowell; Mr. and Mrs. Peachy and daughter of Stratford; William J. Smith and A. E. Smith, Fort Erie; Mrs. S. J. Smith, secretary (died 1924); Mrs. Wren of Hagersville; and many others from Stratford, Goderich, Clinton, and Brussels.

Noted Clairvoyant of Blyth Passes

Miss Margaret Pollock, known throughout virtually the whole province as a noted clairvoyant, passed away at a nursing home at Blyth on Wednesday of last week at the age of 70 years.

For years, persons have come from many miles around to consult Miss Pollock regarding lost articles, missing relatives, or matters pertaining to the future. In cases of drowning where, for days, the body had not been recovered, this aged lady was consulted. Her faculty of mental sight seemed uncanny, and there are many persons who can testify to the correctness of her predictions.

Miss Pollock was born on the 8th concession of Morris Township, where she resided nearly all her life with her brother William. One sister, Mrs. J. Wren, of Hagersville, also survives.

The deceased woman was possessed of many admirable qualities and was highly regarded in the community.

The funeral took place Friday afternoon.

Clairvoyant of Morris Passes

Miss Margaret Pollock, known throughout much of Ontario as a noted clairvoyant, passed away at a nursing home in Blyth at the age of 70. For many years, people traveled long distances to consult her regarding lost items, missing relatives, or matters of the future. In cases of drownings where the body had not been recovered for days, she was consulted, and her mental “sight” was widely regarded as accurate.

Born on the eighth concession of Morris Township, she lived nearly all her life with her brother, William. She is survived by him and her sister, Mrs. J. Wren of Hagersville.

Her funeral was held on Saturday, conducted by Rev. G. W. Goodwill, pastor of the Presbyterian Church. It was one of the largest services in the area in many years, with a large display of flowers, reflecting the respect and esteem she held in the community. Despite her fame as a clairvoyant, she was described as having a quiet disposition.