Forgotten º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøis a new weekly series delving into strange and forgotten moments from Toronto’s past. This week, we explore a circus visit gone horribly wrongÌý— and how it changed º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøpolicing.
WhenÌýS.B. Howes’sÌýStar Troupe Menagerie and Circus came to town in 1855, residents expected a good deal of clowning around. But when entertainers descended into town that night, it soon became no laughing matter.
It was the eve of July 12, and a gang of clowns were ready to sample Toronto’s nightlife. They’d already performed shows that afternoon and evening and were looking to unwind atÌýa so-called “house of ill fame”Ìý(read: a brothel), according toÌýlocal news reports from the time.
Now, these weren’t your average clowns. These were rough-and-tumble, ill-mannered, muscle-bound clowns who performed hard labour when they weren’t on stage, responsible for setting up and tearing down the circus as it roamed from town to town. They wereÌýwhat the Globe (now The Globe and Mail)Ìýcalled “a very dissolute set of men.”
Unfortunately, these men chose the wrong brothel.
An old timey fire wagon with a hose and water tank, circa 1910.
City of º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøArchivesA brawl at the brothel
The house of Mary Ann Armstrong near the corner of King and John streets wasn’t only known for cheap drinks and illicit sex. It was also a hangout for men from the local volunteer fire brigade: the notorious Hook and Ladder firefighting company.
These men took the “fighting” part of firefighting very seriously. At that time, there was no centralized firefighting service; instead, nearby companies would compete to combat blazes.
Just two weeks earlier, the Hook and LadderÌýcompany arrived at a fire at the same time as another brigade. Fisticuffs escalated into an all-out riot. Firefighters began looting the homes they were meant to protect while the building burned down. When the police arrived, the officers were also pulled into the brawl.
The battle would become known as the Firemen’s Riot, but that’s a story for another time.
Back in the brothel, tensions were simmering. It’s unclear how the brawl startedÌý— some reports say a drunken fireman knocked the hat off a clown’s head, while others say the circus workers cut in line. But we do know how it ended: with an oversized clown shoe imprinted on the firemen’s rears.
TheÌýHook and Ladder companyÌýwere soundly defeated, with at least two firefighters seriously injured. While the brigade licked their wounds, the clowns (save for one who immediately fled the scene) enjoyed a relaxing night on the town.
That peace wouldn’t last.
The Orange Order seeks revenge
The clowns had unknowingly made a powerful enemy, said historian and author Adam Bunch, who . These firefighters, like most men working in public service at the time, belonged to the Orange Order.
From clown riots to a man roaming the streets in a Batman costume, the Star narrowed down the weirdest moments in Toronto’s history.
From clown riots to a man roaming the streets in a Batman costume, the Star narrowed down the weirdest moments in Toronto’s history.
The order was a ProtestantÌýfraternity founded in Northern Ireland that was very powerful in º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøat the time.
“In Toronto, to get to be a firefighter, to be a police officer, to be mayor or city councillor, you pretty much had to be a member of the Orange Order,”ÌýBunch said.Ìý“º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøat the time was a deeply Irish and deeply Protestant city.”
“So, by picking a fight with these firefighters, the clowns were kind of picking a fight with the whole power structure of Toronto.”
In an absurd coincidence, they did it on the worst night of the year, too — July 12 is the biggest day in the Orange calendar, marking the anniversary of Protestant King William of Orange’s victory over Catholic King James II in 1690.
The Orange Order wasÌýseeing red.
The very next nightÌý— on Friday the 13thÌý— an Orange mob descended on the circus, set up just blocks away from St. Lawrence Market on the waterfront.
In 1855, a group of clowns beat º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøfirefighters in a fight at a brothel.ÌýThe next day, the firefighters came back with an angry mob. Find out what happened next.
Fire bells sounded and a Hook and Ladder firefighting carriage rushed to the scene, where crews immediately got to work tearing down the main tent. People threw rocks,Ìýtorched wagons and threatened to tear out the clowns’ livers.
“The circus men were forced to flee for their lives, some of them even taking refuge in the water, their trunks were broken open and the contents scattered, burnt and torn, and one of the waggons (sic) was dragged down to the bank and overturned,” the Globe reported at the time.
When police arrived,Ìýthey didn’t do much to help on account of nearly all of the firefightersÌýbelonging to the Orange Order, Bunch said. Eventually, the mayor had to personally step in and call in the militia to calm things down.
“Thankfully, no one’s killed and the circus gets run out of town, but it was this huge scandal and there are investigations launched and outrage in the papers,” Bunch said.
A tipping point for Toronto
Of the 17 people charged in the riot, only one would be convicted.ÌýThe police officers at the scene claimedÌýthey couldn’t remember any of the Orangemen presentÌý— just as they had during the Firemen’s Riot weeks earlier.
The obvious coverup, in addition to the “dozens and dozens” of street battles involving the Orange Order throughout the late 1800s, marked a tipping point for the city, Bunch said. People and the papers were furious, and that fury eventually precipitated into a city council investigation into the city’s police force.
A U.S. circus troupe was attacked by an enraged mob of locals during a Friday night show at Toronto’s fair green.
A U.S. circus troupe was attacked by an enraged mob of locals during a Friday night show at Toronto’s fair green.
The scathing investigation revealed deep issues with policing, from constables being appointed at the whim of city councillors to a near-total lack of training: ”(An officer) receives a batonÌýthe next day, but no instruction whatever accompanying it,” a Globe report from the time reads.
Four years after the circus riots, the city would fire its entire police force and restructure the regime, installing regulations resembling what we have today. But the city would remain firmly Orange for another century.
It wouldn’t be until after the Second World War that Toronto’s demographics would shift. It eventuallyÌýculminated in the election of Nathan Phillips, Toronto’s first non-Protestant mayor, as well as the first who wasn’t a member of the Orange Order sinceÌý1836.
“Nathan Phillips, who was Jewish, ran on a platform promising to be a mayor for all the peopleÌý—Ìýagainst a deeply Orange candidate who was running as an Orange Order member for, as he saw it, a Protestant city,” Bunch said.
“The circus riots tie into all of that history and power and how the city worked for over a century.”
What moment in º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøhistory would you like to see us cover next? Send me your ideas at kjiang@thestar.ca or comment below.
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