Huron Historic Gaol

infobox Museum
name= Huron Historic Gaol


established= 1842
location= Goderich, Ontario, Canada
director= Beth Ross
website= [http://www.huroncounty.ca/museum www.huroncounty.ca/museum]

The Huron Historic Gaol was established as the jail for Upper Canada's Huron District. Clearing of the land began in Goderich, Ontario in 1839 and the jail was constructed between 1839 and 1842 using stone from the Maitland River Valley and from Michigan. The octagonal jail was designed by Thomas Young, modelled after Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon design for prison construction, common in mid-19th century Britain and North America.

A temporary courtroom and Council Chambers were set up on the jail’s third floor. It was in this makeshift Council Chamber that the first Huron District Council meeting was held on February 8, 1842. The third floor was also used for church services and other public gatherings before proper buildings were available. The building served the dual purpose of jail and courthouse until the construction of the county courthouse was completed in 1856, in the centre of Goderich’s Market Square.

The site ceased functioning as a jail serving Huron County in 1972 and inmates were then transferred to Walkerton and Stratford jails.

Hangings

Three inmates were hanged at the jail and two were conducted publicly. On December 18 1861 William Mahone was hanged outside the jail walls. An exterior wall of the jail was the location of the last public execution that occurred in Canada, when on December 7, 1869, Nicholas Melady was hanged for the murder of his father and step-mother. Edward Jardine was hanged privately on June 16 1911.

Steven Truscott awaited execution in the Huron County Gaol from September 30, 1959, when he was convicted of murder, until his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on January 22, 1960. [ [http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/truscott/ CBC News In Depth: Steven Truscott] ] There are accounts of Truscott repeating stories of his time in the Goderich Gaol.Fact|date=July 2008 For example, he was once invited to watch television in the attached governor's house with Governor Bell.Fact|date=July 2008

Museum

The jail and adjoining governor's house opened to the public as a museum on Saturday June 29 1974. The museum is open to the public as a division of the Huron County Museum. The jail has been refurbished to its approximate state in Victorian times. There is a gift shop selling souvenirs of the jail and Huron county. The jail is open from May 3rd to October 24th and admission is charged.

See also

* Correctional facilities of Ontario, Canada

References

ources

[http://www.huroncounty.ca/museum www.huroncounty.ca/museum]

Melady, John (2005). Double Tr

Sher, Julian (2002). "Until You Are Dead": Steven Truscott's Long Ride Into History. Vintage Canada. ISBN 0-67697-381-7.