Melbourne’s worst organised pistol duel between two of city’s finest

When two of Melbourne’s finest lined up for a dawn shootout the result was a comic mess that took six hours to resolve.

Early Melbourne pastoralist and politician Peter Snodgrass. Picture: State Library Victoria.

It’s unknown what gentlemen’s tiff triggered the pistol duel between two of early Melbourne’s prominent citizens, William Ryrie and Peter Snodgrass.

But over the early hours of New Year’s Day of 1840, the duel descended into comical farce, with one foolish blunder after another.

The bizarre duel is recounted in a new episode of the free weekly In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters, with Ben Oliver, founder of Drinking History Tours:

Ryrie started Victoria’s first commercial vineyard, at Yering in the Yarra Valley, while Snodgrass was a well-known pastoralist and later politician.

It’s believed Snodgrass challenged Ryrie to the duel following a heated exchange at dinner on New Year’s Eve.

“In many respects, he was lucky to even go on to make wine given he was nearly killed in this duel,” Oliver says.

Gentlemen’s duels were not uncommon in Australia in the 1840s, soon after the city’s settlement in 1835, but the bizarre social custom had mostly ceased by the 1850s.

Oliver says it’s unclear what sparked the duel between Ryrie and Snodgrass.

But common reasons for duels included gambling debts, competition for a woman’s affection at a time when women were vastly outnumbered by men, or perceived insults.

“You could look at a man incorrectly and that was enough to challenge them to a duel,” Oliver says.

“It was pretty juvenile to be fair. Often people needed very little reason to go and do a duel.”

Oliver says the pair met at the Melbourne Club, then walked together, along with each of their two “seconds” to provide support, to the site of the planned midnight duel.

Early Melbourne pastoralist and politician Peter Snodgrass. Picture: State Library Victoria

Snodgrass later fought a duel with Redmond Barry. Picture: State Library Victoria.

The Melbourne Club was an important institution even in the city’s earliest days, and was described in that era as the “headquarters of the fastest and most hot-blooded youngsters about town”.

The four men walked from the club in Collins St to their chosen site, the western slope of Batman’s Hill, near where Southern Cross railway station stands today.

“Duels are meant to be quite serious affairs – people obviously died during duels – but this one quickly descended into absolute farce,” Oliver says.

“First of all, when they got to the location, they realised they didn’t have guns. So it’s pretty hard to have a duel if you haven’t got a duelling pistol.

“Ryrie’s ‘second’ … was sent out at midnight to find guns to have the duel. He returned with the guns.”

With pistols in hand, next the duellers realised they had no bullets.

“The only place they could get ammunition at this particular time was at the home of the military commandant for the town, on Collins St, a guy called Captain Smith,” Oliver says.

But Snodgrass’s second was reluctant to wake up Captain Smith in the middle of the night, because Smith was his boss.

Melbourne in 1841 by engraver J. Carmichael. Picture: State Library Victoria.

It was left to Ryrie’s second to take on the unenviable task.

“Apparently, Captain Smith’s wife was very upset,” Oliver says.

“But it was a matter of honour, so Captain Smith, despite everything, agreed to provide bullets.”

The next customary requirement for duels was a surgeon needed to attend.

“They knocked on the door of a guy called Dr DJ Thomas, who was living on Bourke St … so he was convinced to come out,” Oliver says.

“The duel was meant to start at midnight. By the time they actually got around to facing each other, and taking their 20 paces before drawing, the sun was now rising.

“So something like five, six hours has passed from the time they first assembled.”

Finally, Ryrie and Snodgrass took their paces and turned and faced each other.

But one final bizarre blunder was in store.

“Snodgrass by this time was so nervous and so anxious, he actually mishandled his pistol and shot himself in the toe,” Oliver says.

“The rules of a duel are you can only take one shot.

“So Snodgrass has taken his shot, he’s blown a hole in his foot, William Ryrie can now take his shot and he can take all the time he wants.

“However, Ryrie enacted what was called the gentlemen’s code, and instead of aiming at Snodgrass to take him down, he fired his pistol symbolically in the air to end the duel.

“So Ryrie wins this bout.”

The botched duel with Ryrie was not to be Snodgrass’s last.

The next year, he fought a duel with lawyer Redmond Barry, later a Supreme Court judge.

Snodgrass was again spared by chivalry, this time when he discharged his pistol early before he could take aim.

Listen to the interview about William Ryrie and the botched duel, with Ben Oliver in the In Black and White podcast on iTunes, Spotify or web.

See In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper Monday to Friday for more stories and photos from Victoria’s past.