Sheva the Jew and his servant Dorcas in Richard Cumberland's "The Jew" (1794)
Meanwhile, J.T.'s father Benjamin struggled in business. His London firm, Benjamin Dias Fernandes & Co., dissolved in 1809. Aguilar, Dias & Son dissolved in 1811, the same year that Benjamin went to jail in Kingston, Jamaica for debt. Jamaica's 1823 slave register referred to "Benjamin Dias an Insolvent Debtor," and he possibly returned to Kingston's prison for debt in 1825. It's unclear when Benjamin died, but as he fizzled out of the historical record, J.T. returned to Jamaica.
In February 1828, J.T. advertised his dental practice in Spanish Town, and on September 20, 1828, he married a widow, Elizabeth Robbins, in an Anglican church in Kingston. They had at least two children who were baptized in Kingston: Wallace Emanuel Dias (born 1830), and Henrietta Isabell Dias (born 1837).
J.T. was playing the part of a respectable, Anglican Kingston professional, and he started to fill his nights playing other roles in amateur productions. Theater historian Errol Hill noted in his book The Jamaican Stage, 1655-1900 that "Kingston Jews were most active in promoting professional and amateur productions and in maintaining a functioning playhouse in the city." Through the stage, J. T. Dias and other Jamaican Jewish families like the de Cordovas and Tavares found their way to acceptance—and applause—from their gentile neighbors.
February 1828: J. T. Dias's ad in the Kingston Chronicle
In 1838, Kingston was in the process of replacing its worn, 30-year-old wooden theater, which had turned into "a wretched structure, small and cramped, rickety, badly ventilated, and more in the nature of a barn than a theatre," according to an 1893 article on Jamaican theater history in the Kingston Daily Gleaner. After the gallery railing collapsed and a young man fell to his death, J. T. Dias led the circulation and delivery of a petition to the City Corporation for a new theater, which was signed by "two-thirds of the community."
The problem was, the contractor for the new playhouse had never seen any theaters besides Kingston's old playhouse, let alone built one. He made obvious mistakes like installing gallery seating that was flat instead of raked, so the back rows couldn't see, and the balcony railing was so high that the front rows couldn't see. So the city turned to "John Kemble Macready Dias," recalled in accounts as "an excellent amateur actor himself," to serve as the building consultant and supervisor of the construction and interior arrangements.
John Dias likely gave an air of London sophistication as he informed city officials in January 1840 about how to furnish a theater: "Mr. Dias who has given them every information in his power as to the requisite decoration of the interior of the Theatre as well the stage as the Boxes, Pit and Gallery, and from all they can gather from that gentleman they are of opinion that such decorations will cost at the least £400..."
Drury Lane Theatre (1808), etching by Thomas Rowlandson (MetMuseum.org)
That July, J.T. was appointed the agent for the new theater, and opening night was set for September 2, 1840. The playbill for that night, which was reprinted in The Kingston Daily Gleaner in 1893, credits "The arrangement and appointments of the Stage, under the directions of Mr. J. T. Dias, Agent of the Theater, appointed by the Corporation, and Manager of the Kingston Amateur Association." Amazingly, between public domain texts and online recordings, we can mostly follow along with the evening's entertainment.
The playbill reads in part:
The Kingston Theatre,
Under the immediate Patronage of
His Honor the Mayor.
ON WEDNESDAY EVENING 2nd SEPT.
the gentlemen composing the
Kingston Amateur Society
will have the honor of appearing be-
fore the public in the much
admired play of
THE
POINT OF HONOR
and the new and popular farce
—of—
Venus in Arms
or;
The l6th Queen's Lancers
The proceeds to be handed over to Mr.
J. T. Dias as a small renumeration
for his indefatigable exertions towards
the erection of the present building.
The Evening's Entertainment will com-
mence with the National Anthem of
God Save the Queen
Sung by Gentlemen Amateurs, accom-
panied by the Amateur Orchestra and
through the kindness of the Colonel
THE FULL BAND OF HER MA JESTY’S
82nd REGIMENT
AN EXTRA VERSE
Written by a Gentlemen of this City on the
occasion of the late attempted
Assassination of our Beloved Queen,
expressly for this night will be added to the
Original Anthem.
AFTER WHICH,
The Band will execute by particular re-
quest, The Celebrated Overture to
FRA DIAVALO
To be followed by
A Poetical Opening Address
Written purposely by A. C. DALL, Esq.
and to be spoken by Mr. J. T. Dias.
The playbill reiterates that the next act is The Point of Honour performed by "Gentleman of the Amateur Association," with Mrs. Melfort played "By a Young Gentleman" and Bertha played "By Mrs. Gray, (Who has kindly tendered her Professional Services for this Evening.)"
Next, "The Band will execute a favourite overture," and then the "Gentlemen Amateurs" will perform Venus in Arms, with the "Young Gentleman" playing Lady Melville and Mrs. Gray playing Arabella Beaumont.
Dress circle and orchestra pit seats cost 10 shillings, boxes cost 6 shillings and 8 pence, and gallery seats cost 6 shillings. The doors were to open at 7 o'clock, the performances would "commence PRECISELY at 8 o'clock," and no seats would be kept after the first act of the play. The playbill ends with patriotic Latin: "VIVAT REGINA!!!"
The opening of the Kingston Theatre was a triumph, but J.T.'s story took an immediate turn to the bizarre. After the opening ceremony on a Wednesday night, that Sunday night of September 6, 1840 saw the Kingston Theatre welcome its first traveling act: Jean Davenport, an 11-year-old English girl famed for precocious performances of Shakespearean characters. Shylock, Richard III, Rob Roy—young Miss Davenport made precise imitations of the performances of Edmund Kean and other great British actors of the past generation. The grown men in the Kingston Amateur Association apparently hated that a little girl had taken over their new theater, and they responded like a bunch of drama queens, hissing and interrupting her performances.
Theater historian Marlis Schweitzer uncovered Jean Davenport's childhood scrapbooks, and among clippings on her Jamaican performances was a handwritten note saying that “A cabal & ultimately riots” were “got up by a Mr. Dias & Amateurs who wish’d the [Kingston] Theatre (crush’d).” Three anonymous "bachelor" men, calling themselves "Trio Voces in Uno," wrote to the editor of the Kingston Morning Journal that Jean's father and manager, Thomas Davenport, should "lead not the community to expect that a ‘Theatrical Star’ has visited our shores." They panned Jean's Richard III in particular, haughtily saying, “To us who have seen Kean [and] many of the first Actors of the age per[sonify] Richard, the consequence attached to the character was entirely lost.”
Thomas Davenport responded in the Journal that “a respectable portion of the audience” had hissed at Jean and the disturbances “emanated in male violence.” Another letter to the editor, siding with Jean, said, “The stage may be said, to be as yet, in its very infancy here, and will require the fostering care of a generous and enlightened public, and an absence from invidious criticisms."
The temper tantrum from J.T. and his fellow amateur actors did not stop overseas acts from stealing the spotlight, but they continued with productions of their own. Historian Errol Hill wrote that on September 20, 1853, the Amateur Roscian Association performed Edward Young's tragedy The Brothers and an original one-act farce, The Mysteries of Vegetarianism, by local reporter Charles Shanahan. The comedy takes a perennial swipe at health food crazes, portraying a health nut who publicly preaches abstaining from meat and alcohol but drinks to excess in private—and his hypocrisy is ultimately revealed. The reviewer said the farce was "deservedly applauded throughout," and J. T. Dias, manager of Kingston's theater (by then, known as the Theatre Royal) was praised for his work on the scenery and costumes, "considering the difficulty, almost impossibility, of procuring necessary materials for stage costume."
Amid the applause, J. T. Dias's story also includes a curious, almost Gothic incident that he encountered in his dentist's office.
ACT IV
The year after Jean Davenport came to Jamaica, another curious foreigner arrived at the island: William A. Garrison, a phrenologist and mesmerist who studied "magnetism," who was the cousin of famed abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. In an effort to show how mesmerism could impact medical care, Garrison mesmerized a woman and then had J. T. Dias extract her tooth, in a somewhat theatrical demonstration "before sixty or seventy gentlemen."
Here is J. T. Dias's entire letter on the incident, orginally published in the Kingston Morning Journal in October 1842. The italics are the same as an 1843 reprint:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sir,
I have deemed fit to forward for your consideration, the following unvarnished fact. If after perusal you are disposed to publish it, my consent is freely given. First, however, I must apprise you, that the science of mesmerism has ever been viewed by me with much prejudice, and I do not think I should have troubled myself to see the effect of its operation, had it not been for the occurrence which called my profession into action. As a person perfectly disinterested—who had never seen mesmerism practised, I was asked to remove a tooth for a lady while under its influence. I readily acceded, not only from the novelty of the situation, but to enable me to form my own opinion on this (latterly) all-engrossing subject. Previously to the arrival of Mr. Garrison of mesmeric celebrity, I examined the tooth on which I was to operate, and found it to be the dens sapientiæ on the right upper jaw. The tooth was carious; and although the patient had suffered much pain, yet at this moment, from my appearance, she stated herself perfectly free from toothache. Satisfied in what manner, and what instrument I should use for the operation, I prepared myself accordingly. Mr. Garrison shortly after arrived, and I think I may say, without fear of contradiction, that this singular operation was performed before sixty or seventy gentlemen, most of whom are known to possess high intellectual powers, and the respectability of whom cannot be questioned. During the few moments which Mr. Garrison occupied in placing the lady under mesmeric influence, I kept myself aloof from the patient, and not until I was informed all was ready, would I approach her. In doing so, such part of the room was selected to enable all the bystanders to witness this very singular exhibition. Mr. Garrison then manipulated, to produce a relaxation of those muscles which kept the mouth shut, and gradually effected extension—the head was somewhat elevated—the eyes perfectly closed. I immediately applied the scarificator, and not the slightest wince—not a movement of the most minute description could I detect! In the act of introducing the forceps, the mouth partly closed, and (forgetting the situation of the patient) I requested her to extend the mouth, with which she immediately complied. The tooth was instantaneously removed—the mouth remained extended—the eyes were closed—not a shrink did I observe—not a muscle did I see move, and myself and all present were left to form our own opinion. The tooth has three fangs connected together, forming one large root in a somewhat conical form—the length a little better than three quarters of an inch. As regards my opinion, when asked, at the conclusion of this singular operation, I expressed myself by no means satisfied, because at my bidding the mouth, the second time, extended, but I was immediately informed that on my desiring the extension, Mr. Garrison (who was at the back of the lady) had again acted on the muscles, and thereby had caused compliance.
What appeared to me, however, the most inexplicable, was the circumstance of the mouth retaining its original position, still extended after the removal of the tooth, which is perfectly unnatural, and which has never been witnessed by me during a practice of twenty-one years, and not until the mesmeric operator manipulated the jaws, to cause contraction, did the patient attempt to eject the blood from her mouth. One of two points—the patient must have been totally insensible to pain, or she exhibited an extreme firmness of purpose, and determination unparalleled.
Mesmerism is a subject I do not comprehend, and consequently offer no opinion. Did I understand its art, I might perhaps be foremost in the field to uphold its doctrines. As it is, I can only reveal that to which I am a witness, regretting that I do not possess mesmeric influence for the benefit of those who consult me professionally.
I am, your obedient Servant,
J. Thomas Dias, Surgeon Dentist.
92, Orange Street.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. T. Dias's letter was first reprinted in 1843 by John Elliotson, another phrenologist-mesmerist who was one of the first Western doctors to use acupuncture. The letter then appeared in a 1983 compilation, Origins of Anesthesia. J.T. captured an odd, transitional medical moment: within a decade, surgeons would stop mesmerizing patients, after ether, first used in an 1846 surgery in Boston, gained popularity. "Animal magnetism" was disproven, but pain management continued to be a valuable service.
Chloroform inhaler, 1858 illustration
ACT V
The final curtain came down on J. T. Dias by November 1855, when, according to historian Errol Hill, the Amateur Roscian Association held a benefit performance "for the orphan daughter of Dias." This was clearly 18-year-old Henrietta Isabelle Dias, who in 1856 married William John Carter, a 41-year-old widower and accountant, in Kingston's Scottish church. J.T.'s son Wallace had relocated to Bermuda by 1850, and in 1853 he became a prison guard in Sandys Parish, likely working on Bermuda's infamous convict hulks. It doesn't seem that Henrietta Carter had children, but Wallace had one surviving daughter also named Henrietta (1855-1887), whose descendants still live in Bermuda to this day.
The year that J.T. died, a curious one-act farce by Jamaican writer Philip Cohen Labatt was published: Next of Kin, or Who Is the Heir? The play dealt with claimants in London vying for the estate of a certain John Smith who died in Jamaica. Ironically, a similar situation played out in J.T.'s family: his elderly, unmarried aunt Elizabeth Cowen died in 1870 just south of London, and she was sadly uncertain of who was her next of kin. Either her brother "John Cowen" was still alive in Colombia (Juan Cohen had actually died in 1869), or John had descendants, or there were descendants of her "late nephew J__ Diaz Fernandez (the son of my late sister Mrs. Diaz Fernandez) who formerly resided in Jamaica." As late as 1875, solicitors were searching for Elizabeth's heirs, and it seems unlikely that they found anyone.
David Moses de Cordova (1806-1876), a Sephardic Jamaican and amateur actor whose extended de Cordova family included five other actors, succeeded J.T. as the agent of the Theatre Royal. After nearly 60 years of service, the aging Theatre Royal was demolished in 1897 and replaced by another Theatre Royal that collapsed in an earthquake in 1907. The Ward Theatre, a replacement venue that opened in 1912, is now Kingston's oldest surviving theater. While the Ward Theatre has been closed for over 15 years and a long-delayed renovation has brought little results, hopefully Jamaicans can enjoy their historical performance venue in the not-too-distant future.
SOURCES (partial):
Elliotson, John. Numerous Cases of Surgical Operations Without Pain in the Mesmeric State.
Endelman, Todd. The Jews of Georgian England, 1714-1830: Tradition and Change in a Liberal Society.
Faber, Eli. Jews, Slaves and the Slave Trade: Setting the Record Straight.
Hoberman, Michael, Laura Leibman, Hilit Surowitz-Israel (eds.) Jews in the Americas, 1776-1826.
Hill, Errol. The Jamaican Stage, 1655-1900: Profile of a Colonial Theatre.
Kingston Daily Gleaner, via NewspaperArchive.com.
Legacies of British Slavery.
Schweitzer, Marlis. "An 'Unmanly and Insidious Attack': Child Actress Jean Davenport and the Performance of Masculinity in 1840s Jamaica and Newfoundland."
Yogev, Gedalia. Diamonds and Coral: Anglo-Dutch Jews and Eighteenth-Century Trade.
Questions? Comments? Please email me at ruedafingerhut (at) gmail.com.
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