Toronto’s last fatal duel took place near the present-day intersection of Bay and Grosvenor Streets — an area that was farmland at the time.
In March 1817, John Ridout and Samuel Jarvis met there at dawn to settle a dispute through a pistol duel. Standing back to back, the two men fired after taking their paces. Ridout missed. Jarvis did not. Ridout died from a gunshot wound to the chest, and the event quickly became one of the most infamous incidents in early Toronto history.
Today, it’s difficult to imagine a deadly duel taking place in the middle of downtown Toronto, but the story reveals just how different the city once was.