In this narrated monologue, Tod Maffin recounts the July 12‑13, 1855 incident known as the Great Toronto Circus Riot. At the time Toronto was a 40,000‑person city dominated by the Protestant Orange Order, which controlled the city council, judiciary, police, and volunteer fire brigades. On July 12, a group of Orange‑affiliated firefighters celebrated at Mary Ann Armstrong’s brothel, where they encountered American circus clowns from S.B. Howe’s Star Troupe Menagerie Canadian Circus. A drunken firefighter knocked a clown’s hat off, leading to a violent clash in which the clowns beat the firefighters. The next day, a mob of Orange supporters, aided by a largely complicit police force, attacked the circus tents at St. Lawrence Market, destroying them and forcing performers to flee. The mayor intervened, calling out the militia, and the riot ended without fatalities. In the aftermath, the police claimed they could not identify rioters, only one person was convicted, and public outrage prompted provincial inquiries, a reform‑oriented mayor, and the 1859 dismissal of the entire Toronto police force—an event later cited as the birth of modern professional policing in the city. The speaker reflects on the lesson of institutional accountability, then closes with a promotional plug for his merchandise store, noting a June 30 deadline.
Chapters
Well, next month Canada celebrates one of its greatest moments in history. No, not Confederation. I'm talking, of course, about the Great Toronto Circus Riot, in which American clowns beat up firefighters at a brothel and every single police officer in the city got fired for it. It's July 12th, 1855. Toronto's got about 40,000 people or so at this point, 150 taverns, more brothels than anyone was willing to count. The city was basically run by the Orange Order. This is a Protestant fraternal organization that controlled everything in town: the city council, the judiciary, the police force, the volunteer fire brigades. Like, every cop in Toronto was an Orange Man, every firefighter was an Orange Man. And July 12th was the Order's biggest parade day of the year, so naturally some of those firefighters decided that they would celebrate at Mary Ann Armstrong's brothel on King Street. Now meanwhile, a touring American circus called S.B. Howe's Star Troupe Menagerie Canadian Circus was in town for 2 nights. The clowns had the evening off. They also went to Mary Ann Armstrong's. A partway into the evening, a drunk firefighter, only named as Fraser in the historical records, knocked the hat off of a clown and refused to pick it up. The clown objected, Fraser objected to the objection. The clowns then beat the firefighters so thoroughly that 2 of them had to be carried into the back rooms to recover. The clowns stayed and ordered another round. But the firefighters told their Orange Order friends what had happened, that circus performers had humiliated the order on their day. So the next day, Friday the 13th, a mob gathers near St. Lawrence Market, which is where the circus had pitched its tents. The police, remember, they are also part of this order, so they got tipped off. The high constable in charge sent a few men, but those officers just sort of stood around watching while the crowd threw stones, stormed the grounds with axes, tore down the tents, set fire to the wagons and some of the performers had to flee into the lake. It only ended when the mayor himself went there, reportedly grabbing an axe from a fireman about to murder a clown, and called out the militia. Surprisingly, no one was killed. But when police were asked to identify the rioters, they suffered what you might generously call mass simultaneous memory failure. They said it was too dark, too crowded, they probably weren't real rioters anyway, but the historical version of Antifa. Only one person was convicted. The public lost its mind. Inquiries were launched, the provincial government stepped in, a reform mayor was elected, and in 1859, the entire Toronto police force was fired. The Great Toronto Circus Riot is actually considered to be the start of modern professional policing in this country. At least Toronto. There is a lesson here about accountability and institutional reform. I just cannot for the life of me figure out what it is. By the way, this is your last chance to get this shirt and the Relentless Decency and I Stand with Canada shirts, as my merch store is closing on June 30th. You can find it shop.todmaffin.com.
