John Ridout

John Ridout, still a teenager when he died in 1817, died in a duel with Samuel Jarvis.[1][2][3] Both Ridout and Jarvis were from the small circle of privileged insiders called upon by the Lieutenant Governors of Upper Canada, to fill administrative posts, and sinecures, that William Lyon Mackenzie would later brand the Family Compact. Ridout's father, Thomas Ridout, was Upper Canada's Surveyor General.[4] Jarvis's father, William Jarvis, had been appointed Upper Canada's provincial secretary and registrar.

During the War of 1812 Ridout served as a "confidential clerk" to his elder brother Thomas Gibbs Ridout, in the Army's Commissary Department.[5][6] Ridout was studying law at the time of his death.

According to Mike Filey, the author of a long-running local history column in the Toronto Sun, this was the last duel in York, the capital of Upper Canada.[7]

Jarvis, then 24, had owed debts to multiple individuals, including Ridout's father.[6] When Ridout visited Jarvis to collect, blows were exchanged. Jarvis challenged Ridout to a duel, at dawn, on July 12, 1817. The rules for this particular duel were that Ridout and Jarvis would face away from one another, then each stride 8 paces, turn around, wait out a count of three, then fire. Ridout fired early, at two - but missed. This turned out to be a wrinkle the duelists seconds hadn't anticipated. However, they agreed that Ridout would now have to stand, unarmed, while Jarvis took his shot.

While Ridout's autopsy would conclude that Ridout was killed immediately by a shot to his jugular and windpipe, Jarvis and the seconds told authorities that Ridout had lived long enough to forgive Jarvis and absolve him of responsibility.[6][8] Jarvis was initially charged with murder. His charges were later reduced to manslaughter. He was acquitted. Twentieth Century commentators characterize Jarvis's acquittal as typical hypocrisy of privileged individuals, closing ranks to protect their peers.

References
  1. "mean streets". The Rational Post. 2005-06-05. Archived from the original on 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  2. "A MODEL CITY". Town of York Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-03-27. Samuel Peters Jarvis (1792-1857) spent his life battling with debt(1). His duel with John Ridout [site 37] was not so much because John was his enemy, but because Ridout was a reminder of his father’s debts and unlike a slip of parchment, Ridout was a living, breathing target. The money which Jarvis owed Ridout was one of many debts which for any aristocratic family lead to slander and dishonour.
  3. William Renwick Riddell (July 1915). "The Duel in Early Upper Canada". Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology. Northwestern University. 6 (2): 165–176. doi:10.2307/1132814. JSTOR 1132814.
  4. Douglas Leighton, Robert J. Burns. "Jarvis, Samuel Peters, militia officer, office holder, and lawyer". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  5. "Ridout, Thomas Gibbs, banker". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-03-27. Following the examples of nepotism set by his own father and other members of the small government clique at York, Ridout, within a month of his own appointment, procured as confidential clerk his 14-year-old brother John.
  6. Adam Bunch (2013-02-05). "The infamous, bloody 1817 duel at the corner of Yonge & College". Spacing magazine. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-03-27. According to the autopsy, Ridout died pretty much instantly, but by the time the authorities arrived, Jarvis and the seconds were telling a different story. They claimed Ridout had lived just long enough to forgive them and absolve them of all responsibility. The ploy didn’t work: Jarvis was arrested and charged with murder.
  7. Mike Filey (2003). Toronto Sketches 7: The Way We Were. Dundurn Press. ISBN 1-55002-448-5. One other interesting fact about Samuel Peters Jarvis is that he holds the distinction of being the "winner" of Toronto's last duel.
  8. Hugh A. Halliday (2005-01-01). "Hand Me My Pistol, Please". Legion magazine. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-03-27. Ridout’s premature shot was a terrible breach of the duelling codes. He was brought back by the seconds and a conference followed. The seconds agreed that Jarvis was entitled to his shot. Ridout stood in his place; the count resumed. On the word, “Fire!”, Jarvis brought up his pistol, took deliberate aim, and shot Ridout through the jugular and windpipe.
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