© Will Pearson

Duels in Hyde Park
Hyde Park has a long history as a duelling ground, and in the 18th century it saw plenty of bloodshed in the name of honour. Some of the better known conflicts resolved (after a fashion) in this famous Royal Park include:

Lord Mohun, who had been tried for murder twice and taken part in many duels was eventually killed at an early morning duel with the 4th Duke of Hamilton in Hyde Park. The row was over an estate in Cheshire, and became renowned as a violently bloody duel in which both protagonists died (Lord Mohun was killed by the Duke, who was then himself stabbed in the stomach by Lord Mohun’s second). Lady Mohun (who herself was said to have a ‘diabolical temper’) was so little moved by her husband’s death that when his body was returned, only expressed her displeasure that his corpse had been laid out on the state bed, bloodying the bedlinen!

In 1792, a rather unusual duel, which came to be termed The ‘Petticoat Duel’ was fought here. Lady Almeria Braddock had tea with Mrs Elphinstone. Some remark about Lady Braddock’s age caused great offence, and Mrs Elphinstone was ‘called out’ (common parlance meaning to challenge someone to a duel). The ladies met at Hyde Park, along with their ’seconds’ (a right hand man.. or woman!) and Mrs Elphinstone was first to strike, with a pistol shot which blew off Lady Braddock’s hat. Under the rules of duelling, if both parties fired and no-one was hit, the challenger could declare himself (or in this case, herself) satisfied and both parties could quit with honour. Thus her second urged Lady Braddock to halt the duel but to no avail. A sword fight ensued and Lady Braddock, despite the earlier shock of the bullet whizzing over her head, was able to draw blood, wounding Mrs Elphinstone in the arm. The latter agreed to write a letter of apology to Lady Braddock and both ladies left the field, a little worse for wear, but with honour satisfied.

The Irish playwright, Sheridan, went to duel in Hyde Park, after his wife was insulted by another man. Finding the park too crowded, the men fought instead at Covent Garden. Sheridan won this duel (through wounding rather than killing his opponent) though they were later to duel again - in a dispute over the first duel!

By the mid 19th century, duelling was frowned-upon by the authorities, and so Hyde Park’s dawns were gradually greeted with birdsong rather than the crack of pistols or the clash of steel. It’s all a far cry from todays’ squabbles in the park, which tend to be confined to the ducks. But it’s something to consider as you walk around London’s biggest park, imagining the ghosts of past conflicts being resolved with the pistol and the sword in these pastoral surroundings.

You can view fullscreen virtual tours of Hyde Park here (Lancaster Gate) and here (Serpentine Pavilion).

Source: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45205

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Tags: duel, hyde park, hyde park virtual tour, lancaster gate, london parks, petticoat duel, royal parks, serpentine pavilion, sheridan

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 9:27 am and is filed under London Virtual Tours, The Royal Parks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.