Robert Lyon (30 December 1812 – 13 June 1833), the son of a British officer, was said to be the last fatality in Canadian duelling history, shot by a fellow law student, John Wilson in 1833. Lyon was born in

Inverurie Inverurie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Uraidh'' or ''Inbhir Uaraidh'', 'mouth of the River Ury') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at the confluence of the rivers Ury and Don, about north-west of Aberdeen. Geography Inverurie is in the va ...

, Scotland in 1812 and came to Canada along with his family in 1829. Initiated by the 20-year-old Lyon at the urging of his eventual "second" Henri Lelievre, the duel was held over the love of local schoolteacher Elizabeth Hughes, and occurred above the

Tay Canal The Tay Canal is the portion of the Tay River (Ontario), Tay River in the eastern Ontario region, providing a connection between the town of Perth, Ontario, Perth and the Rideau Canal at Beveridge Bay on Lower Rideau Lake. The canal is in length ...

outside

Perth, Ontario Perth is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Tay River, southwest of Ottawa, and is the seat of Lanark County. History The town was established as a military settlement in 1816, shortly after the War of 1812. The settleme ...

. After Lyon's death, Wilson and his second Samuel Robertson were both charged with murder in Brockville, Ontario, though acquitted. Two years later he married Elizabeth Hughes and they had three children together; he went on to become a judge and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

before dying in 1869. The lawyer Wilson had studied under, James Boulton, left Perth after locals began claiming that he had goaded his understudy to push Lyon into the duel, since he was the understudy of Boulton's rival Thomas Radenhurst. Lyon's second, Henri Lelievre, fled the country fearing that some also considered him responsible for the duel, since he had encouraged a second round after both had missed their first shot. He is believed to have died in Australia. In 1996, Susan Code wrote ''A Matter of Honour'' , and a year later two students of

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology) is a public polytechnic institute of technology located in the west- Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Founded i ...

oversaw the production of an independent film by the same name, telling the story of the duel. On his 1973 album ''Stompin' Tom and the Hockey Song'', Stompin' Tom Connors released the song "The Last Fatal Duel," written by Freddy Dixon, detailing the battle (though accidentally referring to Lyon as ''William'', not ''Robert''). Lyon's tombstone in the Anglican cemetery in Perth reads ::''Friendship Offering,'' ::''Dedicated'' ::''To the Memory of'' ::''ROBERT LYON,'' ::''(Student-at-law)'' ::''He fell'' ::''in mortal combat'' ::''13 June 1833'' ::''in the 20th year'' ::''of his Age'' ::''Requieseat in Pace.'' Other sources, however, agree that it was the last duel in Ontario which was then known as

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of 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 th ...

, but not the last fatal duel in what is now the country of Canada. For example,

Radio Canada International Radio Canada International (RCI) is the international broadcasting service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Prior to 1970, RCI was known as the CBC International Service. The broadcasting service was also previously referred to as ...

and the

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

refer to documents that state that the last fatal duel occurred on 22 May 1838, in Quebec, then known as

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

, between British officer Major Henry Warde and lawyer Robert Sweeney; Warde was wounded and subsequently died.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, Robert 1812 births 1833 deaths Canadian Anglicans Duelling fatalities Pre-Confederation Ontario people Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Deaths by firearm in Ontario People murdered in Ontario People from Inverurie Immigrants to Upper Canada 1833 in Upper Canada 1833 in Canada Canadian duellists 1833 murders in Canada

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