1884-05-24 Queen's Birthday

The Queen’s Birthday, May 24^th,  was a long-anticipated holiday in Hamilton and throughout the British Empire when Victoria reigned as Queen.

However due to the recent death of her cousin, the Queen sent word out that the 1884 celebrations of her birthday be postponed while she and her family were in mourning.

However, for Hamiltonians, the wishes of the Queen in this instance were not followed :

 “Despite the proclamation issued by Lord Landsdowne, Governor-General of Canada, requesting the observance of the Queen’s Birthday on June 28, on account of the recent death of Prince Leopold, people generally throughout the Dominion observed it on Saturday, and they could hardly have been expected to do otherwise.

“All arrangements were made for the 24^th. Grounds were engaged, demonstrations, picnics and excursions advertised and a great deal of money would have been lost had the gala day been postponed to June 28^. Canadian people are not lack in respect to Her Majesty, but it would have been extremely foolish to upset all arrangements for the sake of a mere sentiment.”¹

¹ ““The Queen’s Birthday : And How It Loyal Canadians Celebrated It”

Hamilton Spectator. May 26, 1884.

The biggest event scheduled for May 24^th, 1884 was to be held at Dundurn Park under the auspices of the St. George’s Benevolent Society.

The then still-private grounds of Dundurn Park were surrounded by a high fence.  On occasions, the property was leased for the day and admission would be charged for entry. In return for the admission price, a wide array of events were scheduled to take place.

The weather for May 24, 1884 seemed uncertain as the day began:

“The weather was not regulation ‘Queen’s weather.’ The sun, which, in the memory of the oldest inhabitant, has always shone bravely forth on May 24, was obscured by banks on banks of ominous-looking storm clouds,that lowered and lowered and took it out in the lowering.

“ ‘It will rain’ the prophets said in the morning, but the rain failed to fall. As a matter of fact it was pleasanter without the sun than with it. The air was warm, and the sun’s absence made the day most enjoyable.”¹

It was usually the case that on holidays, when men did not have to go to work that many of them would take the opportunity to drink heavily and instances of public drunkenness were frequent.

However, that matter was not as bad for the 1884 Queen’s Birthday:

 “One thing was worthy of note – the comparative absence of drunkenness. Here and there, a weary man staggered along the street, or slept the sleep of the truly drunk, in some quiet corner; here and there a brawling idiot shouted himself hoarse, or smiled inanely at everything and everybody, but the majority of the people spent the day quietly and soberly and enjoyed themselves all the better for it.”¹

Many Hamiltonians used the free time to travel out of the city on special train excursions on May 24, 1884 but for those who remained in the city, Dundurn park was the place to go.

To kick off the day, and draw morning attendees to the park, the scarlet-tuniced military band of the 13^th battalion band gathered at Gore Park, and then, their music filled the air as they marched off to Dundurn, followed by an immense crowd.

The first major attraction of the day was a baseball game played on that park’s diamond:

“At Dundurn, the principal morning attraction was a championship game between the Primroses and the Clippers of the junior league. The game was advertised to commence at 10 o’clock sharp, but, owing to the non-arrival of some of the players, it was 10:30 before it commenced.

“There were nearly 1,500 people on the grounds when the baseball match commenced. The diamond field was roped and the players had a good show, for the crowd was kept rigidly outside the ropes by patrolling policemen. The baseball match was one of the best ever seen in this city.

“In the meantime, a lacrosse match had been started in another part of the grounds between two junior clubs, the Actives and the Maple Leafs. It attracted only small attention.”¹

Both the lacrosse and baseball games ended between 12 and 1 o’clock. At that point, a huge portion of the morning crowd left the grounds, many getting a ticket at the gate which allowed them to re-enter the park without paying later in the day.

Although many left, the actual size of the crowd at Dundurn did not diminish as just as many, or more arrived for the first time:

“The upcoming street cars were all well-filled and discharged their loads at the gates, while a string of people wended their way along on foot.”¹

In the afternoon, the major event was the display of military marching by both Hamilton’s 13^th battalion and 350 of Toronto’s Royal Grenadiers, who came by train for the event:

The train was late, and it was after 12 o’clock when the Grenadiers arrived 350 strong. With the Thirteenth at their head, they marched to the drill shed, where they lunched. After lunch, they paraded to Dundurn.

“From the gate to the rope-enclosed square where the drilling took place, the way was lined on either side by a dense throng of people, young men and maidens, boys and girls and old folks, too. The park looked particularly beautiful, trees and sward looking cool and refreshing in all their wealth of gorgeous spring clothing; and the army of noble red men that marched up the walk to the inspiring strains from both bands, forming a vivid contrast to the luxurious verdure, produced a very fine effect.”¹

There was tremendous excitement as the soldiers from both units arrived, and there was a scramble to get the best location to watch the marching :

“The crowd closed in behind them and followed in a body to the drilling square, where they quickly ranged themselves in position against the ropes that marked it off. Some got over to the west and watched the proceedings with exasperating coolness and laziness from the terrace, while others sought vantage in adjacent trees.

“At the conclusion of the trooping of the colors, the men were dismissed and they scattered around the grounds, hunting up friends and sweethearts and making them where they had none.

“The grounds were alive with a vast throng of humanity of all colors, ages and sexes. The scarlet uniforms and the gay dresses of the ladies gleamed vividly everywhere, and contrasted with the dark browns and blacks of the more soberly clothed section. ”¹

After the marching displays, a number of games were scheduled including a tug-of-war, foot races and a greased pole with a $1 bill on top of it.

While the games were in progress, there was dancing in one area of the park, and a band concert in another :

“The bands had gone down to the amphitheatre and their exquisite music floated all over the grounds, mingled with harsh and flying notes from the energetically scraped violins and contra-bass at the dancing platform.”¹

The evening programme at Dundurn on the 24^th of May 1884 was the most heavily attended of the day. Before the sun went down, the music and the throng of citizens and soldiers mingling in the park was beautiful:

“The 13^th band occupied the stage at the amphitheatre, and the seats in front were filled until they could hold no more. Over on the dancing platform a surging throng tripped merrily round and round again to music furnished by Meakins’ String Band.

“The volunteers of both the Hamilton and Toronto regiments were on strong ‘on the mash’ and their red coats seemed to be an additional attraction, augmenting their many ones of face and manner, in the eyes of countless girls who wandered where they listed over the green.”¹

After darkness fell, it was time for a massive fireworks display by Hamilton’s own Hand and Company:

“The display of fireworks by Prof. Hand and Co., was particularly fine and displayed an almost endless variety of set pieces, with any amount of rockets, bombs and snakes, and occasional balloons and pigs and elephants by way of variety.”

When the last of the fireworks died away, it was time for the big crowd to leave Dundurn and return to their homes. It was also time for members of the St. George Benevolent Society to gather up the money from the gate and get return to total up the profits for the day.

In the end, it was announced that the society had made more than $1,000 in profits. Over 8,000 tickets were sold at the gate. When the volunteers who helped run the programmes throughout the day, plus all the soldiers from the two battalions, it was estimated that about 10,000 people had gone to Dundurn park on the 24^th of May 1884.