Thomas Hamblin

Thomas Hamblin (1800-1853)

Photo Credit: Tho. S. Hamblin [graphic] / W.L. Ormsby, New York [sculp.].

[New York, NY.? : s.n., 18--] Ormsby, W.L. (Waterman Lilly),

1809-1883, printmaker. Folger Shakespeare Library Call #:

Art File H199 no. 1 (size XS). Used by permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library.

SHALL WE THREE: A Ghost Light’s Tale, my upcoming YA Historical fiction book, set in the haunted Bowery Theatre in New York City during the tumultuous year of 1849, sent me on a journey, Combing Through Research.

Thomas Hamblin, an actor, director, womanizer, and suspected murderer, took over the management of New York City’s Bowery Theatre in 1830. (Yes, I said suspected murderer!) He began his career as an actor in England, then immigrated to America in 1825. During his tenure at the Bowery, Hamblin became highly successful, producing the kind of entertainment that working-class, mostly male audiences loved. Offerings included farce, equestrian plays, circus acts, and a little Shakespeare thrown in. The most popular entertainment was his spectacular melodramas, which came to be known as “Blood and Thunder” plays for their depiction of violent onstage battle scenes. Hamblin championed American talent, including Frank Chanfrau (Mose the Fireman), Edwin Forrest, Louisa Medina, and Louisa Missouri Miller.

Although a successful businessman, Hamblin’s personal life and volatile personality clouded his reputation. With several failed marriages, blatant public affairs with young actresses (some of whom he plucked from brothels) and an arrest for assaulting The New York Herald’s editor for taking his ex-wife’s side in their divorce, Thomas Hamblin remains one of the most influential and colorful theatrical figures of the 19th Century.

Sources:

Lueger, Michael. “Playing Around with Nineteenth-Century Theatre in Dr. Robert Davis’s Broadway 1849.” The Theatre History Podcast. Episode 65. Howlround.com. July 25, 2018. https://howlround.com/playing-around-nineteenth-century-theatre-dr-robert-daviss-broadway-1849