Samuel Jarvis

Samuel Peters Jarvis (November 15, 1792 – September 6, 1857) was a Canadian government official in the nineteenth century. He was the Chief Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Upper Canada (1837-1845), and he was a member of the Family Compact.

Jarvis was born to William Jarvis and Hannah Owens Peters in Newark, Upper Canada. He moved with his family to York, (Toronto) Upper Canada in 1798. For a time he attended the school of John Strachan in Cornwall, Ontario.

Jarvis was a member of the 3rd Regiment of York Militia during the War of 1812, seeing action at the Battle of Detroit and the Battle of Queenston Heights under Isaac Brock, and later action in the Battle of Stoney Creek and Battle of Lundy's Lane. In 1814 he received two positions in the government of Upper Canada, Assistant Secretary, and Registrar of Upper Canada.

Jarvis was also appointed as a Clerk of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. Having studied law before the war, he was called to the bar in 1815. In 1817 he was named Clerk of the Crown in Chancery.

In 1817 Jarvis killed John Ridout in a duel. John was the son of Upper Canada's Surveyor General, Thomas Ridout. The Jarvis and Ridout families carried a longstanding enmity; in 1817 John Ridout had been ejected from Jarvis' office, and a few days later a chance encounter led to a fistfight between the pair. They agreed to a duel, meeting on July 12 at daybreak. The pair stood back to back, then took 8 steps, turned to face each other, after which Jarvis' second counted to three. The count of three was the signal permitting them to shoot. Ridout shot on the count of two but missed. Jarvis was livid at this violation of the agreement. Their seconds conferred, giving Ridout a second gun, then taking it away and allowing Jarvis to take his shot. He did, killing Ridout. Jarvis was charged with murder, but the charge was reduced to manslaughter before trial. Jarvis was acquitted, as all the formalities of a duel had been met, and the unspoken practice of the day was to acquit duellers. It was the last such quasi-legal duel in Toronto.

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