Charles Reginald Sanders "Reginald" Rumball

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• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/132964020
• Name: Reginald Rumball
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-216143
• Residence: 1871, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England
• Residence: 1897, Brunel Township, Muskoka District, Ontario, Canada

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• Birth: , England
• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/226025637
• Occupation: Stephenson Twp., Muskoka Dist., Ontario; Township Clerk
• Residence: Muskoka District, Ontario
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-217446
• Immigration: 1844, , Canada
• Occupation: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Gentleman
• Residence: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Anglican
• Residence: 1863, London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1871, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England

Notes:

RUMBALL, Chas. - An old friend of the Tyes in England. He came to Canada in 1844, making his home with Daniel Tye for the first three years, joining his half-sister, Mary Ann, who was already attached to the Tye household. In 1852 at Port Talbot he married Miss Saunders, an old friend of his host and an aunt of Judge McBeth. He shortly afterwards moved to Muskoka, near Port Sydney, where he died. He was a man of many artistic gifts, being a first-class amateur actor, a rare narrator, a splendid cartoonist and an author of some local repute. These gifts are not much in demand in a pioneer community and his lack of business ability caused loss of fortune. The family is rather a distinguished one in England, and at their Country Seat, Friday Hall, Clingford, had in days gone by often entertained King Charles II., The Merry Monarch. The story goes that on one of these visits the King returning from a hunt in Epping Forest to the Rumball's, noticed a huge and tempting hot loin of beef on the table. He drew his sword and knighted the cut, dubbing it Sir Loin, a name which still clings to this portion of the carcass. The Misses Tye, of Pomona Grove, Haysville, have an old oil painting of the Virgin and Child and two family portraits on ivory, the work of Miss Mary Ann Rumball, the half sister referred to above and whose remains are interred at Nith Grove. Another sister, after living with Mr. Daniel Tye for some years, returned to England and there married Sir John Hersey, a distinguished English General who afterwards lived at Holland House, the London residence of the Right Honourable Charles James Fox.

Church of England, An Historical Sketch of the Parish of Wilmot 1828-1913, Diocese of Huron, Ontario, New Hamburg, Canada by Charles James Fox, Sep 1913

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The master of Hilarity Hall

By Huntsville Forester

MUSKOKA - In 1883, biographer J.E. Collins wrote that there was "very little to be said" about authors in English Canada during Sir John A. MacDonald's lifetime. There were, he allowed, "three or four exceptions." One of them was a Port Sydney settler named Charles Rumball.

Charles was a man of many artistic gifts: a notable author and playwright, a splendid artist and cartoonist, singer, a rare narrator and a first-class amateur actor. His passion, humour and love of the arts helped make Port Sydney the cultural centre of Muskoka in the 1870s and 1880s.

Most early Muskoka villages had the essentials: a school, store, church, blacksmith, a handful of houses. Port Sydney had the Music Hall, a theatre where elaborate plays and concerts took place.

Furthermore, Port Sydney had the talent \emdash singers, musicians, actors \emdash and at the heart of this merry company of creative amateurs was Charles Rumball.

"My father was a great singer and theatrical performer," wrote his son Reg. "There was a large town hall in Port Sydney and he used it for theatrical performances and concerts. My father was the principal actor. It was he, who managed it all."

Charles authored novels under his pen name, Charles Delorme Esq. Two novels are known. The Pedlar, a Tale of Emigration, published in 1857 and reprinted in 2010 is a story about the immigration of two British families into Upper Canada during the 1837 Rebellion.

The Marvellous and Incredible Adventures of Charles Thunderbolt, in the Moon was published in 1851 and reprinted 2009. A children's novel, it is an astonishing science-fiction adventure that features winged carriages and a steam-driven spaceship that saves the hero's life as he battles countless strange and hideous creatures. The purpose of this book, Charles wrote, was to make people laugh. An original copy with illustrations is in the British Museum.

Like many artists of his day, Charles learned to sketch by copying the works of notable painters and illustrators. One surviving drawing that displays his talent is a pen and ink replica of Henry Edward Corbould's watercolour of Lady Godiva. The story goes that before he left England, Charles entered art exhibitions in London and won a first prize for Godiva, presumably in a student art competition.

Charles was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France in 1825, the son of British parents. He never knew his father Thomas Rumball, a wealthy London merchant, cabinetmaker, auctioneer, appraiser and amateur classical violinist who died when he was only two and a half years old. Charles had a younger sister Emma \emdash who would go on to marry General Sir John Bennett Hearsey \emdash and three half-siblings from his father's first marriage.

Charles received a classical education, leaving school, he said, crammed with Greek, Latin, French and English. Along with his artistic gifts, he had a desire for an active life and a longing to see everything he read and heard about. In 1842, at the age of 16, he got his wish. His mother let him go on his first adventure overseas, travelling alone to visit friends from England and his two half-sisters. Sailing first class, he was met in New York by one half-sister, and then travelled to visit the other in Haysville, Canada West, a bustling village between Hamilton and Goderich.

Charles returned to England after three years, but in 1851-52, age 26, he returned to Haysville. He lived there for the next 10 years, teaching school, writing The Pedlar and engaging in other artistic pursuits. It is here that he became friends with John Sydney-Smith whose son Albert Sydney-Smith would found the village of Port Sydney in 1874.

In 1863, Charles married Catherine Sanders. The wedding took place at her family's home in Port Talbot, on the shores of Lake Erie \emdash her wealthy parents lived in the former residence of Colonel Thomas Talbot, personal secretary to Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe.

In the fall of 1871, Albert Sydney-Smith acquired the abandoned mill at Mary Lake. He informed his friend Charles about the free land grants that were available and in December that year, Charles, Kate and their four children arrived on the shores of Mary Lake.

Charles was financially independent, orphaned in 1845 at age 20, inheriting from the Rumball estate. He would seem an unlikely person to leave an established settlement in southwestern Ontario to venture off into the Muskoka bush, even though he had farming experience. When he got there, he was smitten. In awe of Muskoka's natural beauty, Charles and Kate named their first child born in the village Kate Eva Muskoka.

Charles took up four lots of free grant lands and one for an island \emdash three in Newholm, Brunel Township, a spot known afterwards as Rumball's Corners, and a fourth on the shores of Mary Lake. He would later build a farmhouse on the northeast corner of the Newholm lots, a building which still stands across from Holy Trinity Anglican Church. The homestead, though, was on Mary Lake overlooking Rumball's Island, now known as Forrest Island. He and Kate aptly dubbed their property Grandview and set about planting their specialties \emdash strawberries and watermelons.

Port Sydney was a vibrant little place. Another settler, Mildred Hoth, wrote, "We were like one big family and had many jolly parties. We would go around the lake in the winter on these parties. We drove on sleighs taking big loads of happy people. We danced, played games and sang."

Clearly, the Rumballs were on the party circuit. In fact, the settlers soon dubbed the Rumball homestead Hilarity Hall. One can just picture this sophisticated, highly cultivated lot, dressed up in their Victorian garb, sipping claret in front of the hearth, discussing important matters of the day or kicking up their heels and singing foot-stomping renditions of their favourite tunes.

When the Rumballs arrived, the hamlet consisted of only a store, the mill and a few houses, but it grew quickly. Charles became a prominent figure in Muskoka, promoting the growth and development of Port Sydney as a tourist area. In 1873, he was among the founding benefactors of Christ Anglican Church. In 1876, needing a place to display the village talent, he initiated the construction of the Music Hall. To finance the project, he encouraged settlers to buy shares.

In the 1879 Guide Book & Atlas of Muskoka and Parry Sound Districts, Charles wrote that Port Sydney has "a large public hall, in which amateur dramatic performances are got up regardless of expense." He didn't mention that he was the principal actor, producer and director of these popular performances.

In 1878, Charles lost his dear wife Kate at the age of just 43, leaving him with very young children. Charles would marry again \emdash to Florence Moody from Utterson. But tragedy struck the family again in July and August of 1887, when Florence and two of his 11 children died of diphtheria. (Two other infants had died earlier.) The residents of Port Sydney were very kind to the Rumballs during this heartbreaking time, providing them with food and supplies.

After the tragic deaths, a dreadful pall had fallen over the once happy abode known as Hilarity Hall. Charles was so distraught that he could no longer live there, and promptly moved to his farmhouse at Newholm. In 1891, loggers using the house in the winter accidentally burned the place down and Hilarity Hall was no more.

Charles died suddenly of a stroke December 26, 1894, age 69. At the time, he was the town clerk for Brunel Township, a position he held for four years. He is buried in the churchyard of Christ Anglican Church, Port Sydney, overlooking his beloved Mary Lake.

Judy Laberge is the great-granddaughter of Charles Rumball, and has recently completed writing a history of "The Charles Rumball Family" available in the Bracebridge, Huntsville and Sudbury public libraries.

https://www.muskokaregion.com/life/the-master-of-hilarity-hall/article_b4b95265-cf54-5bc4-8ba9-f6405aa07603.html?

Charles married Catherine "Kate" Sanders 17 Feb 1863, Port Talbot, Elgin Co., Ontario, Canada. Catherine was born 18 Nov 1834, Staines, , Middlesex, England; died 13 Apr 1878, Port Sydney, Muskoka District, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Christ Anglican Church Cemetery, Port Sydney, Muskoka District, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

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• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/226025638
• Name: Catherine "Kate" Rumball
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-216121
• Residence: 1863, Port Talbot, Elgin Co., Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1871, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Church of England

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• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-368509

Thomas — Mary Ann Rogers. Mary was born 2 Jan 1800, London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada; died 1 Jul 1845, West Ham, , Essex, England. [Group Sheet]

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• Name: Mary Ann Rumball
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-369982