James Alexander Seton

James Alexander Seton (c. 1816 – 2 June 1845) was the last British person to be killed in a duel on British soil.

Early life James Alexander Seton was born in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in 1816, the son of Colonel James Seton and Margaret Findlater. He was of Scottish descent, being a descendant of the Earls of Dunfermline. His grandfather was Vice-Admiral James Seton, governor of St Vincent in the Caribbean. Thanks to inherited money, he was a wealthy man with no need to work for a living.

Seton served briefly as a cavalry officer. In March 1837 he purchased the rank of cornet. He served until March 1838 and was attached to the 3rd, 11th and 12th Light Dragoons. He never attained a higher rank and his short military career ended around six years before the duel.

He married Anne Susannah Wakefield in May 1838 and they had one child, Marion Frances.

The quarrel Some time during the early 1840s James and Susannah Seton rented rooms in Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire. In May 1845, James Seton met Isabella Hawkey, the wife of Lieutenant Henry Hawkey, an officer of the Royal Marines.

On 19 May 1845, the Hawkeys and James Seton attended a ball in the King's Rooms, Southsea, a gathering that was held weekly. There, James danced with Isabella.

Duel and death

Early the next morning, Hawkey was visited in his lodgings by a half-pay naval officer, Lieutenant Rowles. Acting as Seton's second, Rowles issued Hawkey with a formal challenge to a duel. Hawkey later visited a gunsmith's shop with a shooting gallery where he briefly practised shooting. In the afternoon he returned to the shooting gallery and fired three shots with them.

The duel took place that evening on the beach at Browndown, near Gosport. Seton and Rowles travelled there by a small yacht, Hawkey and his second, Royal Marine Lieutenant Charles Lawes Pym, travelled separately. No other people were present even though it was customary for a doctor or surgeon to be in attendance at duels; both parties were likely anxious to keep the affair secret to avoid intervention by the authorities.

After the seconds had measured out fifteen paces, the duellists took their pistols and fired. Seton's shot missed; Hawkey's pistol was half-cocked and failed to fire. By the rules of duelling, the affair could have honourably ended then. However, Hawkey insisted on a second exchange of shots. This time Seton was struck down by a bullet which hit him in the right hip.

The wounded man was carried onto the yacht and a doctor was summoned. The inquest was ajourned on the 6th, and recommenced on 17 June. The inquest jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against Henry Hawkey and Charles Lawes Pym and a warrant was issued for the arrest of both men. on the 10 June, after a funeral procession from Southsea to Fordingbridge. His funeral was a significant local event; it passed through the town of Ringwood where nearly all the shops were closed as a mark of respect. At Fordingbridge, the shops were also closed and many of the inhabitants joined the funeral procession. A memorial to James Seton was placed inside the church, where it can be still seen.

Around nine months after the duel, in March 1846, Lieutenant Pym was charged as an accessory for murder at Winchester assizes, but was acquitted. His involvement in the duel had little apparent effect on his military career, which was long and successful. He eventually reached the rank of general.

George Rowles, Seton's second in the duel, was not charged. He continued to serve in the Royal Navy until at least 1859.