Romulus and Ritual in the Beverly Swamp: A Freemason Dreams of Theatre in Pre-confederation Ontario
Abstract
During the 1820s and 1830s, Henry Lamb, a pioneer settler of Upper Canada (now Southern Ontario), mapped out a city called Romulus, which he intended to build in Beverly Township, a region best known for its dangerous swampland. In an advertisement calling for immigrant settlers, he promised a range of buildings, including “a first-class theatre.” This essay assesses the related documents: accounts of settlers identifying the location for un-built cathedrals; a description of an exaggerated town plan, laid out on a stump; and the newspaper advertisement. It places Lamb’s plans within the broader history of Ontario settlement, illustrated by comparison with fellow founder John Galt. The inclusion of a theatrical venue in a town plan was unusual for the time and region; there is a strong possibility that the plans for Romulus were informed by Lamb’s devotion to the secretive, and theatre-friendly, Freemasonic movement. The Freemasons were bastions of both enlightenment radicalism, and then of British imperialism; as such, they encouraged Lamb to build a prosperous life as a self-made man in a hostile environment, to dream of building a city in the wilderness—and to misjudge his intended community. Settlers at this time were more at ease with and in need of a popular performance culture, of outdoor rituals and kitchen parties, tavern songs and mechanics institute meetings, and not (or not yet) a theatre. This essay considers the plight of a man intent on the orderly, architectural administration of society in a world of improvised spaces.Published
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