Ambrose Small
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Ambrose Joseph Small (born January 11, 1863 in Bradford, Ontario) was a Canadian theatre magnate, owning seven theatres in Ontario including the Toronto Grand Opera House and the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, considered by some to be his favorite theatre. More notably, he is a famous Canadian missing person.
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The Disappearance
On December 1 of 1919, Ambrose sold all his theatrical holdings, at a profit of $1.7 million (CDN). On December 2, Small met with lawyer F. W. M. Flock in Small's office at the Grand Opera House. Flock left at 5:30 pm and was the last person to see Small alive.
That night, Small disappeared from his office. No one who testified for the police claims to have seen him leave his office, or in the Adelaide and Yonge Street area, outside the building. A newsstand operator, Ralph Savein claimed to have seen Small buying a paper at his stand, however this claim was later rebuked by police as an attempt by Savein to get fame from the case.
Small had no motive to disappear; the millionaire didn't take his money with him, nor was there any ransom note, let alone evidence of kidnapping. At fifty-three years old, Ambrose owned theatres in seven Ontario cities, was the controller of six-two other buildings, in all a self-made millionaire at the height of his career.
The investigation
Original leads
The police launched an extensive investigation on the disappearance of Ambrose Small. The case remained unsolved, until being officially closed in 1960.
The week of his disappearance, Ambrose's Opera House was playing Revelations of a Wife, a show that reportedly attracted full houses. Police analysised the plot and its themes, to no leads; Small had not chosen this play to provide cryptic hints.
Theresa Small, his wife, suggested that Small had fallen into the hands of a "designing woman"; police found no candidates.
Along with his office, "Amby" had a "private secret room", with its own entrance. The room is said to have been for assignations and the settling of gambling debts. The rooms was scoured for leads, albeit unsuccessfully.
Holmes to solve case
Toronto reporters contacted Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about the case, when the author was on a New York visit. Doyle showed interest in the case, bringing the headline "World's Greatest Detective to Solve Small Case". In the end, the headline proved to be rather ironic; Doyle decided not to pursue the case.
Use of mystics
Spirit mediums got involved with the case, contacting him or his spirit. They offered a diverse lot of reasons for his disappearance. Among their explanations:
- was a victim of amnesia; this would not explain how he got out of his office, and the lack of any early stage of this malady until then.
- had started his life over again in a foreign country; why then would he have not taken the money from his theatre sales, and why would he pursue this, when his career showed no visible or financial weaknesses?
- was abducted by his private secretary; why did she kidnap Ambrose, and why would she not get him to cash in on his $1.7 million?
- he was murdered by gamblers; again, they'd want the money before they killed him, and would have to be quite odd to kill him until he complied.
- he was murdered by gangsters; again, they'd want the money before they killed him.
- was burning or burnt in a house in Montreal; this was according to psychic Max A. Langsner of Vienna, who used "thought waves" to "solve" the case in 1928. However, if anyone were to burn the remains of Small's body, why would they wait until nine years later to do so?
Other contact stories
- Magician Harry Blackstone signed an affidavit reading "On April 8th, 1920, I saw Amby playing roulette in a gambling casino in Juarez, Mexico."
- Ambrose was taken prisoner, and left in the lime-kilns near Brampton, Ontario
- A man in Wisconsin phoned the police, claiming he was Ambrose; instead, he was an escaped lunatic.
Hauntings
- Ambrose is believed to haunt the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, and the Tivoli Theatre in Hamilton, Ontario.
References
- Ambrose Small, The Ghost of the Grand Theatre (http://www.dotydocs.com/Archives/yesterday/small.htm)
- Ambrose Small: Among the Missing (http://www.prairieghosts.com/ambrose.html)
- Ambrose Small: Case Closed! (http://www.russianbooks.org/small.htm)
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online (http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=41831)
- Haunted Hamilton (http://www.hauntedhamilton.com/gotw_ambrosesmall.html)