The large sturdy building was the scene of many different affairs in addition to trials. It was used as both a scene for school fairs and as a polling station during elections. The Supreme Court met only twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall,so the building was available for other functions in the interim.

Besides the twice yearly Supreme Court, a Judge would come to deal with the more petty disputes of a legal nature which seemed to flourish. Some Trials were for petty criminal offences while others were more serious. The most

serious included several known instances of murder trials. The Judge would also have to deal with confusions over line fences and stealing of animals.

In 1878, the courts were held on the second Tuesday in the months of January, March, May, July, September, and November. In 1881 the county courts, Dundas being the third circuit, had George MacKenzie as Assistant Clerk and Peter MacCormack as Sheriff Bailiff. The sittings at Grand River (Dundas) were

on the Friday following the second Tuesday in March, August, October, and December.

On June 9, 1892, Walter Robertson and John Swallow were involved in a trial at Dundas. It was reported that they had a “pugilistic encounter” in which

they had tried to bust each other’s snouts. The Judge decided that each had to pay his own expenses.

Another trial in the early 1900’s was Robertson vs. Tassel. The story goes that Bill Tassell, in an attempt to stop a fleeing Hudson Robertson, tore the tail completely off of his coat. Horrified readers will be relieved to know, however, that it was just his second best coat and not his good silk lined one. Even this was not suffered in silence as Mr. Tassell was required to pay a total of seven dollars in expenses to the injured party.

These trials of a lighter nature were attended by a great many people. They were regarded as being an inexpensive and highly entertaining form of entertain-

ment. Many people recalled all the laughs they had in seeing who “bested” in the trial.

One gentleman felt he had been taken in by a neighbor in a horse sale. The buyer had been assured that the horse was an excellent and well trained piece of horse flesh. Much to his chagrin, he discovered that the seller had greatly exag- gerated the horse’s charms. It seems that Dobbin had a mind of his own and would turn in every lane he came to along the road, definitely not a desirable quality in a horse. Not receiving satisfaction by bringing the complaint to the seller, he went ahead and sued him for misrepresentation. Although the outcome

of this is not known to us, it is a good illustration of the type of trial held in the Dundas Court House.

The Dundas Court House was purchased by the Dundas Plowing Match Association in 1944 and moved to Bridgetown. Here it was placed adjacent to the cheese factory and was used as a hall for many years. Later it was moved

again, this time to the Plowing Match grounds where it sits today in the Farm Life Museum.

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