John Ridout


John Ridout, still a teenager when he died in 1817, died in a duel with Samuel Jarvis. 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. 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. 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.
Jarvis, then 24, had owed debts to multiple individuals, including Ridout's father. 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. 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.