John Ridout (1799-1817), still a teenager when he died in 1817, died in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

with Samuel Jarvis. Both Ridout and Jarvis were from the small circle of privileged insiders called upon by the

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

s of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

, to fill administrative posts, and sinecures, that

William Lyon Mackenzie William Lyon Mackenzie (March12, 1795 August28, 1861) was a Scottish-born Canadian-American journalist and politician. He founded newspapers critical of the Family Compact, a term used to identify the establishment of Upper Canada. He represe ...

would later brand the

Family Compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today's Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...

. Ridout's father, Thomas Ridout, was Upper Canada's Surveyor General. Jarvis's father, William Jarvis, had been appointed Upper Canada's provincial secretary and registrar.

Early life and military career

Ridout attended the District School, the first public school in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, in 1807. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

Ridout enlisted as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

on the

Provincial Marine The Provincial Marine or Marine Department was a coastal protection service in charge of the waters in the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River and parts of Lake Champlain under British control. While ships of the Provincial Marine were design ...

sloop Royal George. He was also a ''"confidential clerk"'' to his elder brother Thomas Gibbs Ridout, in the Army's Commissary Department.

Duel and death

On July 5, 1817, Ridout was working at his brother's law office. Ridout visited the office of Samuel Jarvis where they entered an argument. The next Tuesday, Ridout and Jarvis met on the streets on York and had another argument. The next day Ridout attacked Jarvis with a bludgeon and they physically fought each other until it was stopped by the militia. In the following days, Ridout and Jarvis agreed to a duel. The two men met at dawn, on July 12, 1817, at Elmsley's Farm north of York. The two were instructed to stand eight paces away from each other and fire on the count of three. Ridout fired early at two accidentally and missed. He approached Jarvis to apologise but was sent back to his place. It was agreed that Jarvis would fire a shot at an unarmed Ridout, which hit Ridout. Ridout exclaimed that the shot was foul play but then forgave Jarvis for killing him and fainted. Jarvis and two others left him where he was while Ridout vomited blood. George Playter found Ridout who again exclaimed that he was shot in foul play. Ridout was taken to James Macaulay to seek medical attention but died outside Macaulay's home. His last words were reported to forgive Jarvis again, a plea for his mother not to grieve and a desire to meet his sister in heaven. Ridout's autopsy concluded that Ridout was killed immediately by a shot to his shoulder, neck,

jugular The jugular veins () are veins that take blood from the head back to the heart via the superior vena cava. The internal jugular vein descends next to the internal carotid artery and continues posteriorly to the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Struc ...

and

windpipe The trachea (: tracheae or tracheas), also known as the windpipe, is a cartilaginous tube that connects the larynx to the bronchi of the lungs, allowing the passage of air, and so is present in almost all animals' lungs. The trachea extends from ...

. According to

Mike Filey Mike Filey (October 11, 1941 – July 30, 2022) was a Canadian historian, radio host, journalist and author. He was awarded the Jean Hibbert Memorial Award in 2009 for promoting the city of Toronto and its history. Early life Born in 1941 in ...

this was the last duel in

, the capital of Upper Canada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridout, John Upper Canada people 1817 deaths Duelling fatalities Canadian duellists 1799 births