1 Rev. Richard Pollard

Born in England in 1753 and trained in law, Richard Pollard emigrated to the province of Quebec in 1775. He made a living doing legal work and trading goods with Aboriginals in Catarqui (Kingston) and Detroit. By 1792, Pollard had relocated to Essex County, where he immersed himself in civic affairs. Although a laymen, Pollard conducted Church of England services in Sandwich (Windsor) because there were no clerics in the region. He was made a deacon in 1802 and appointed chaplain to the garrison at Amherstburg. In 1804, he was ordained a priest and assigned to Sandwich. There, he raised the money to build St. John’s Church in 1807. The log structure was the only Anglican church in Upper Canada west of Niagara. During the War of 1812, Pollard and his parishioners suffered greatly. In 1813, the invading Americans burned St. John’s Church to the ground, destroyed Pollard’s house and took him prisoner. After the war, Pollard received financial help from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospels to rebuild St. John's and to build other churches in Amherstburg (1819), Chatham (1820) and Colchester (1821) – all called Christ Church. Although based at Sandwich, Pollard visited these churches regularly until his death in 1824.

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