Association; within 18 months, he owned a majority. When the Bowery Theatre burnt down in 1836, it was the most popular playhouse in New York City. Hamblin bought out the remaining shares and rented the property to W. E. Dinneford and Thomas Flynn. They oversaw the theatre's reconstruction while Hamblin acted in various venues and took care of his debts. Hamblin rebuilt yet again after a fire in 1838 and returned to active management with a bigger Bowery in May 1839. In the 1840s, increased competition in New York City prompted Hamblin to stage even more spectacular melodramas and to book more variety entertainment such as minstrel shows and circus acts. After a fire in 1845, Hamblin tried to build a new theatre on Broadway, but local residents opposed the plan. Instead, he rebuilt the Bowery once more. Tastes were becoming more upscale, and Hamblin turned over active management to A. W. Jackson. He faced health problems, and his acting career stalled as his style became outmoded. The Albion reported that The dignity, the finished and elaborated elocution, and the high artistical execution of that school were occasionally brought most vividly to our remembrance in Mr. HAMBLIN's delineation of Hamlet, weakened however at times . . . by a dash of the melo-dramatic style and the laboured pompousness he has acquired by long practice of his art at the Bowery. He attempted to extend his revenues by buying the lease to the Park Theatre in the summer of 1848. He renovated the building and reopened in September to mixed reviews. The building burnt down in December. Personal life Hamblin's personal life was controversial. Although he was "noted for his correct business habits, promptitude, and open-heartedness", he was a well-known philanderer. Newspapers and rumours alleged that he had many sexual affairs. In 1831, his wife filed for divorce after returning from a tour in Europe; this was finalised in 1834 with the condition that Hamblin was not to remarry as long as his ex-wife lived. Hamblin continued his womanising undaunted; he saw a young actress named Naomi Vincent for a time, and she even came to be known as "Mrs. Hamblin". When she died in childbirth in July 1835, Hamblin entered a relationship with playwright Louisa Medina. He also pugnaciously brooked no opposition. He got into a barroom brawl in October 1834 and once assaulted the editor of the New York