Duty in Drag: The Life of First World War Drag Star Ross Hamilton

Aly Firth

Drag is a staple of the 2SLGBTQ+ community today, however, many would not associate drag performance with the First World War, much less as an essential component for boosting morale. The rich history of drag has strong roots in Atlantic Canada; one notable example being Ross Hamilton, the famed female impersonator from the concert party troupe the Dumbells. During and following the First World War, Hamilton not only brought pride to Canada with his ability to craft the perfect illusion of womanhood, but also to Nova Scotia, as a resident of the province. Although queer desire was criminalized by the Canadian military, drag entertainment was seen as a necessity to support the flagging morale of troops.  

Drag, known as female impersonation at the time, was a popular form of wartime entertainment. Despite drag’s long association with the 2SLGBTQ+ community, during the First World War, queerness was demonized under the heteronormative mindset due to fears that it would break unit cohesion and go against the ‘norm’ of reproductive sexuality. In very specific contexts, however, drag allowed queer men to explore their identity without the threat of facing punishment for breaking with these norms. Before the war, drag was a popular form of theatrical entertainment, including the popular form of vaudeville starting in the mid-nineteenth century, which heavily featured female impersonation. Although cross-dressing was positively received on stage, it was perceived as a danger off stage, as it created doubt surrounding the individual’s birth gender, which created fears about men desiring other men. Drag was also prominent in the military, with female impersonation being a popular form of entertainment in the garrison community over two hundred years before Canadian Confederation. By the beginning of the First World War, drag was an established form of wartime entertainment. After the British Expeditionary Force refused to pay for Canadian troops’ recreation, concert parties and drag became a popular form of affordable entertainment. 

Ross Hamilton grew up in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, a small village in Cumberland County on the north shore of Nova Scotia. He was born on May 28, 1889, to James and Bertha Hamilton. Hamilton spent his childhood attending Pugwash School, expressing his patriotism for Nova Scotia with the generous donation he made to the Canadian troops serving in the Second Boer War in 1900, which was emphasized in the Halifax Evening Mail. The language incorporates the narrative of children as tools of nation-building and patriotism in Canada, and in turn, Nova Scotia. Even before becoming a drag star through his wartime service with the Dumbells, Hamilton was already noted as a patriot for Nova Scotia and Canada.

After finishing school, Hamilton stayed in Nova Scotia to work but was unsatisfied with his job. In 1912, he moved to Montreal to pursue theatre, which he had been involved with since his youth. There he met Allan Murray and Leonard Young, who would eventually become part of the Dumbells. The Dumbells were formed on May 28, 1917, led by Captain Merton Plunkett, the Captain of the YMCA (44). Plunkett sought to form a permanent concert party troupe similar to the British Expeditionary Force (52). The Dumbells were named the official concert party troupe of the 3rd Division, gaining their name from the divisional patch: the red dumbbell (53).

Despite his pursuits in the theatre world, he had no intention of becoming a female impersonator, stating in a later interview that he would have “killed” anyone who told him he would “come back to Canada as a woman” (123). As drag performances were often positioned in farce and vaudeville, it was not seen as a ‘serious’ form of acting. Serious acting was connected to performing as one’s birth gender, thus Hamilton’s reaction possibly reflects his own fears of his acting craft that he would become a symbol of humour (rather than respected for his training and talents) by performing as a woman.  

Continuing from his patriotic participation in school, Hamilton further played a nationalistic role with the outbreak of the First World War. He participated in musicals in aid of the Purple Cross Society in November 1915. Although he had not enlisted at the time, Hamilton still utilized his talents in the theatre to show support for Canada’s war, thus playing a patriotic role that was entangled with Canadian nationalism. 

Enlisting in Montreal on January 22, 1916, Hamilton embarked for France in April of that year with the No. 9 Field Ambulance. Hamilton, along with Murray and Young, were responsible for moving with combat units to provide medical care and transport wounded soldiers to casualty clearing stations.

By December Hamilton had his big break as a drag performer. Pulling inspiration from the latest shows on the London stage, ten men from the unit were relieved from duty daily to rehearse. Opening their show at the YMCA Hut in Bray on December 23, Hamilton made his drag debut as Lady Gwendelyn Vere de Vere in the show. In the context of material scarcity, Hamilton crafted his drag persona using pillow feathers, rosary beads, and tent canvas. The show was a smash hit, launching the beginning of Hamilton’s long drag career.

As morale plummeted during the Vimy offensive, there was a rise in the popularity of concert troupe entertainment. The Dumbells played their first show in Gouy-Servins at Major Beecher Gale’s Theatre in June 1917. The first show was met with instant hostility, with audiences wanting to take a bath rather than watch yet another variety show. However, as Dumbells member Jack McLaren stated, “Their anger subsided […] when the languorous and lovely Marjorie (Ross Hamilton) appeared. […] These fighting men, most of whose wives and sweethearts were an ocean away, simply accepted the illusion of six-foot Hamilton[.]” 

Hamilton was described by the soldiers he performed for as “a bathing suit beauty” and “regarded as a stunning brunette knockout by the women-hungry soldiers.” Hamilton represents a form of ‘patriotic drag,’ as his femininity could be taken on and off to suit what was needed for the war effort. Marjorie became a figure of male affection in a time where female presence was lacking; thus demonstrating how gender was fluid when justified under the realm of one’s patriotic duty.??With the necessity of wartime entertainment, the Dumbells gained considerable fame on the front, performing for allied troops throughout Belgium, France, and England, becoming a symbol of Canadian patriotism as well. Hamilton became a symbol of pride for Nova Scotia, through his ability to uplift morale for the war to continue. Moreover, these drag performances led to Hamilton’s fame during the war and solidified him as a historical Canadian 2SLGBTQ+ icon. 

After the war, Hamilton was demobilized on March 31, 1919 and returned to Colchester, Nova Scotia, where he lived with his mother. At this time he continued his career as a female impersonator, touring with the Dumbells until the troupe fell apart due to the bankruptcy of their director Merton Plunkett.  Hamilton himself began to doubt his space in the Dumbells with the introduction of women in the 1928 revue Why Worry. He vowed to never perform in a show with women, as he believed he could not compete with their beauty (141).

After the end of the Dumbells, Hamilton spent the 1930s living in Nova Scotia, until he enlisted in the Second World War. Hamilton also continued his drag act into the Second World War, as a volunteer with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps. His drag character became a middle-aged opera singer in-line with his age. During this period, Hamilton’s sexuality was exposed. While performing as a female impersonator at Camp Borden, Hamilton was caught having sexual relations with recruits in the showers. He was discharged by the medical board in August 1941 for “reasons other than medical” (71). Hamilton was able to play his role of femininity and queer masculinity when he was under the guise of morale boosting and supporting the troops, but once his sexuality came to light, he became labelled as a danger to unit cohesion and thus was no longer able to defy these roles of masculinity in an acceptable context.

Hamilton retired to Halifax and spent the rest of his life there. He passed away on September 29, 1965 at the age of 76 from heart disease. He was buried in New Annan Bell Cemetery in Colchester County. 

Despite the Dumbells fading from popular Canadian memory, Hamilton’s legacy still endures as a legacy of Atlantic queer history. In 2023, Veterans’ Affairs Canada featured Hamilton in their Veterans’ Week Special Edition of Canada Remembers Times, expanding their education to include “Serving with Pride.” The article highlights Hamilton’s service during the war and his wrongful discharge due to his sexual identity. In this article, Hamilton is not just remembered for his skills as a performer and his ability to alter his gender on the stage, but he is also remembered as a queer man. Although no apology has been made for the nature of his dismissal, Hamilton became a symbol for the rich queer history of Nova Scotia, connecting the history of drag directly to the province through his national and international significance. 

Further Resources

LGBT Purge Fund, 2sLGBTQ+ Persecution in the First World War

Wilson, Jason, Soldiers of Song: The Dumbells and other Canada concert parties of the First World War. Also available at the Toronto Public Library and Halifax Public Library.

Halifax Rainbow Encyclopedia, Ross Hamilton

Arquives, War is a Drag

CBC, “WW1 entertainers remember “young lady” Ross Hamilton in 1965,” Video 

Aly Firth is a historian of Canadian gender and sexuality who has recently completed their Master of Arts at Wilfrid Laurier University where they studied female impersonation and queer identities in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. They also work in the field of disability and queer identities, focusing on the impact of the AIDS epidemic in Canada.