James Alexander Seton (1816 – 2 June 1845) was the last British person to be killed in a duel on English soil.

Early life

James Alexander Seton was born in

Fordingbridge Fordingbridge is a town and broader civil parish with a population of 6,000 on the River Avon in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England, near the Dorset and Wiltshire borders and on the edge of the New Forest, famed for its late medieva ...

, Hampshire, in 1816, the son of Colonel James Seton and Margaret Findlater. He was of Scottish descent, being a descendant of the

Earls of Dunfermline Earl of Dunfermline was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1605 for Alexander Seton, 1st Lord Fyvie, fourth son of George Seton, 7th Lord Seton (see Earl of Winton for earlier history of the family). Seton had already been cre ...

. His grandfather was Vice-Admiral James Seton, governor of St Vincent in the Caribbean. Thanks to inherited money, he was a wealthy man with no need to work for a living. Seton served briefly as a cavalry officer. In March 1837 he purchased the rank of cornet. He served until March 1838 and was attached to the 3rd,

11th 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first atteste ...

and 12th Light Dragoons. He never attained a higher rank and his short military career ended around six years before the duel. Despite this he is styled "Captain Seton" in some histories of the event. He married Anne Susannah Wakefield in May 1838 and they had one child, Marion Frances.Beardsley (2011),p. 170

The quarrel

Some time during the early 1840s James and Susannah Seton rented rooms in

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

, Portsmouth, Hampshire. In May 1845, James Seton met Isabella Hawkey, the wife of Lieutenant Henry Hawkey, an officer of the

Royal Marine The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

s. Seton began a pursuit of Isabella, visiting her at her lodgings when her husband was absent and offering gifts. Henry Hawkey heard rumours of this and forbade his wife to see Seton. On 19 May 1845, the Hawkeys and James Seton attended a ball in the King's Rooms, Southsea, a gathering that was held weekly. There, James danced with Isabella. There was an altercation in which Hawkey openly insulted Seton, calling him a "blaggard and a scoundrel".

Duel and death

Beach and Solent at Browndown - geograph

Early the next morning, Hawkey was visited in his lodgings by a

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the En ...

Beardsley (2011), p. 173 naval officer, Lieutenant Rowles. Acting as Seton's second, Rowles issued Hawkey with a formal challenge to a duel. Hawkey later visited a gunsmith's shop with a shooting gallery where he briefly practised shooting. Later, he bought a new pair of

duelling pistols A duelling pistol is a type of pistol that was manufactured in matching pairs to be used in a duel, when duels were customary. Duelling pistols are often single-shot flintlock or percussion black-powder pistols which fire a lead ball. Not all f ...

from another shop, claiming to the shopkeeper he needed them for a shooting match. In the afternoon he returned to the shooting gallery and fired three shots with them. The duel took place that evening on the beach at Browndown, near Gosport. Seton and Rowles travelled there by a small yacht, Hawkey and his second, Royal Marine Lieutenant Charles Lawes Pym, travelled separately. No other people were present even though it was customary for a doctor or surgeon to be in attendance at duels; both parties were likely anxious to keep the affair secret to avoid intervention by the authorities. After the seconds had measured out fifteen paces, the duellists took their pistols and fired. Seton's shot missed; Hawkey's pistol was

half-cock Half-cock is when the position of the hammer of a firearm is partially—but not completely—cocked. Many firearms, particularly older firearms, had a notch cut into the hammer allowing half-cock, as this position would neither allow the gun t ...

ed and failed to fire. By the rules of duelling, the affair could have honourably ended then. However, Hawkey insisted on a second exchange of shots. This time Seton was struck down by a bullet which entered his lower abdomen. The wounded man was carried onto the yacht and taken the short distance to Portsmouth by sea. He was taken to the Quebec Hotel and eventually operated on by the eminent London surgeon

Robert Liston Robert Liston (28 October 1794 – 7 December 1847) was a British surgeon. Liston was noted for his speed and skill in an era prior to anaesthetics, when speed made a difference in terms of pain and survival. He was the first Professor of Cl ...

. The surgery appeared to go well, but signs of an infection soon became apparent and Seton's condition quickly began deteriorate. He died on 2 June 1845.

Aftermath

Seton was buried next to his father at

St Mary's Church, Fordingbridge St Mary's Church, Fordingbridge is a 12th–13th-century church in Hampshire, England. It was restored in the 19th century. History A church is mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'' in 1086. It was rebuilt by the Normans around 1150 and would then ...

Beardsley (2011),p. 57 on 10 June, after his body was released by the coroner. His funeral was a significant local event, nearly all the shops in the town were closed and many of the inhabitants followed the funeral procession from Southsea to

. A memorial to James Seton was placed inside the church, where it can be still seen. An inquest began on 4 June at the Portsmouth Guildhall. It was ajourned on the 6th, and recommenced on 17 June. The inquest jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against Henry Hawkey and Charles Lawes Pym and a warrant was issued for the arrest of both men. Around nine months after the duel, in March 1846, Lieutenant Pym was charged as an accessory for murder at Winchester assizes, but was acquitted. His involvement in the duel had little apparent effect on his military career, which was long and successful. He eventually reached the rank of general. Henry Hawkey was tried for murder on 13 June 1846 at the summer session of Winchester assizes. Defended by Alexander Cockburn QC, he was found not guilty after Cockburn delivered a two-hour speech to the jury, in which he claimed Hawkey had been deeply provoked by Seton's conduct to his wife, and that Seton's death was largely caused by the medical treatment he had received. George Rowles, Seton's second in the duel, was not charged. He continued to serve in the Royal Navy until at least 1859. The last fatal duel in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

took place some seven years later, on 19 October 1852, at Priest Hill, between

Englefield Green Englefield Green is a large village in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. It is home to Royal Holloway, University of London. The village grew from a hamlet in the 19th century, when much of Egham ( ...

and

Old Windsor Old Windsor is a large village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west. Etymology The name originates from ol ...

. It was fought by two French political refugees, Lieutenant Frederic Constant Cournet and

Emmanuel Barthélemy Emmanuel Barthélemy (1823–1855) was a French revolutionary and a member of secret Blanquist societies during the reign of Louis-Phillipe, the citizen king of France in the July monarchy from 1830 until 1848. He fled to London in 1850. He is r ...

. Cournet was killed and Barthélemy was tried for murder. However, he was convicted only of manslaughter and sentenced to a few months in prison. In 1855, Barthélemy was hanged after killing his employer and another man.

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Martyn Beardsley (2011). ''A Matter of Honour''. Bookline & Thinker. {{DEFAULTSORT:Seton, James Alexander 1816 births 1845 deaths People from Fordingbridge Deaths by firearm in England 1845 in England Duelling fatalities British duellists