The problem of dueling in 19th century Trinidad. Death by mutual agreement.

A duel in the Victorian era.

In the early 1800s, two young friends, Messrs Smith and Naysmith, met at the back of an old sugar boiling house in La Brea, south Trinidad. They were bent on killing each other, as the purpose of the meeting was a duel between the two.

In attendance were the seconds, Mr. Smithson and Mr. Powell. The disagreement between Smith and Naysmith was ludicrous. The two were dinner-guests at Powell’s house when Smith joked that his family name came from a line of Blacksmiths, and playfully suggested that one of Naysmith’s ancestors was once an apprentice of one of Smith’s ancestors. The apprentice was so inept, that the blacksmith dismissed him one day with the admonishment that he will never become a blacksmith: he was “nae smith”. Naysmith took offence to the pun, and challenged his friend to a duel.

Warner Arrundell, the only doctor in the district, attended a duel for a promised fee of $100.  The temporary rivals fired three times and missed, until Arrundell’s intervention brought an end to the duel, without injury to the participants.

This was one of two duels related by Edward Lanzer Joseph, a 19^th century British author who lived in Trinidad from 1817 to 1838, in his book “Adventures of a Creole”. Joseph’s book was a compilation and condensation of notes made by a Grenadian born Creole who lived through many adventures in Europe, the West Indies, and South America. It is believed that Joseph altered the names of the protagonist of the novel, and other individuals who were alive at the time the book was published.

Dueling evolved from the middle ages in Europe as a means of using arms to settle dispute among upper class men. The further you go back in history, you will find that the meaning of the word, gentleman, had more to do with social status, than good manner and upbringing. In Victorian England, aristocrats were born gentlemen. Clergymen and army officers were also considered gentlemen. Other males often made the assertion through their career achievements and financial success, but were not considered as such.

Introduced to England from Italy near the end of the 16th century through Italian literature, the practice was frowned upon. By 1797, the year of the capitulation of Trinidad to the British, Spanish laws forbade the any form of participation in duels, even if the event did not occur. Challenging someone to a duel or arranging for one to occur, was punishable by hanging.

The belligerents in a duel were referred to as the principals. Seconds were employed by either side to handle communications and the logistics of the duel e.g. obtaining weapons, hiring a doctor, arranging the time and place. Seconds were also expected to help reconcile the differences between the opposing parties, and even to substitute for a principal in some situations.  

To escape punishment for the crime, lovers of dueling used a variety of options.

One involved waiting until the Christmas season. The “season of goodwill” was often converted to a season of ill will, when members of the Trinidad militia would renew pent up differences, and insults to have the opportunity to settle them with pistols.   Edward Lanzer Joseph, in his book, “The History of Trinidad”, recalls reports of as many as dozen incidents of dueling taking place in one season alone.

Sir Thomas Picton ruled as governor of Trinidad from 1797 to 1803. He established a local militia in a politically volatile environment when foreign invasion was a palpable threat. With only a small population, and no professional army, ordinary able-bodied men of the island served in the militia. Military training and parades happened one day per month, except in the Christmas season, when from Christmas Eve to 2^nd January, the militia was called out. Civil laws were suspended for that week, and Martial law was in force.

This arrangement was changed by Sir Ralph Woodford, governor of Trinidad from 1813 to 1828. The militia convened for the same week, but civil courts remained in power. This measure was taken, in part, to deal with the numerous duels that occurred. Woodford had duelist court-martialed. The military feared a reduction in their numbers, so participants were pardoned or received “slap on the wrist” sentences.

Woodford personally fined John Lamont, a prominent planter, $500, for planning in a duel with John Ross, who he fined $200. The showdown was to be held in Grenada, but Woodford intervened and prevented the would-be duelist from leaving Trinidad. Three other men who were involved were also fined.

Dueling was also widespread outside of the militia: coloured folk and even slaves participated. Lanzer Joseph mentioned the case of a male house-servant who asked permission to leave a dinner party, attended a duel, seriously wounded his opponent, and returned to serve at the party.

Coloured planter, Jean Baptiste Phillip, made an impassioned speech to Lord Bathurst, secretary of the colonies, in which he detailed the plight of the coloured society in Trinidad. The speech is now known by the title, “Address to Lord Bathurst, by a Free Mulatto”. In it, he points out an incident where more severe treatment was meted out to coloured duelist.

Around that time, Messrs. MacMillan and Rosemond were sentenced to eight or nine months in prison. As a result, they both lost their jobs as managers of estates, and were made to pay legal cost for their trials.

Los Patos Island indicated by the arrow on an old Spanish map.

Another method used by duelist to avoid the law, was to travel by boat to Los Patos ( aka Islas de Pato or Goose Island). Uninhabited to this day, Los Patos is an island south west of Chacachacare. It was once belonged to Trinidad, but was handed over to Venezuela in 1942 in exchange of Soldado Rock. The island has been designated part of Venezuela’s National Park system. In the early 19th century, it was a veritable “no man’s land”, claimed but ignored by both nations, and was a venue for duels both from Venezuela and Trinidad.

Edward L. Joseph, relates another duel in “Adventures of a Creole”, between Messrs Beadle and Jenkins. Jenkins played a practical joke on Beadle on their voyage to Trinidad, which resulted in Beadle being suspended by the ankle on board the ship they were travelling. They sailed from Port of Spain to Los Patos, and after simultaneously shooting each other dead, they were buried on the island by the seconds, who stealthily returned to the mainland.

If Lanzer Joseph’s accounts of the duel at La Brea and Los Patos were fictional, then they must still reflect the attitudes of the inhabitants at that time. However, the author must have based these stories on real-life incidents ,with just the names changed.

The Trinidad Militia was disbanded by Governor, Sir George F Hill in 1839. This fact alone should have reduced the menace, but it seems like the old habit died hard.

In May, 1845, Sir Henry George Mc Cleod (Lieutenant Governor of Trinidad 1840 to 1846), in a letter to the Right Honourable John Russell, Secretary of the Colonies, wrote:
“anyone who is actually not a field labourer, considers himself a gentleman, and it is not an uncommon thing to find them going through the forms of duel with firearms”.

It is clear that neither Woodford's efforts, nor the disbanding of the militia, stopped dueling. Indeed, researchers have found records of duels being held in Trinidad as late as 1844.

As the century wore on, and notions of gentlemanly behavior changed, the practice faded.