Grave of William Cuddie, killed in a duel
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Grave of William Cuddie, killed in a duel by Natasha Ceridwen de Chroustchoff as part of the Geograph project.
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Grave of William Cuddie, killed in a duel
Image: © Natasha Ceridwen de Chroustchoff Taken: 11 Jan 2009
William Cuddie was 31 when, on 25th May 1821 he died in the garden of the house in which he was lodging, only yards from his grave. He was the popular village doctor who had fallen in love with Mary Brittlebank, daughter of a powerful local family. Her brother William challenged him to a duel, turned up at the house with loaded pistols and shot him dead on the lawn. William fled to Australia and never returned. The village was outraged and the Brittlebanks never subsequently prospered. There is speculation they sponsored the rebuilding of the church to eradicate reminders of this deed. It is sometimes alleged that this was the last duel to be fought in England, however there are several other candidates for that honour, for example one in Portsmouth in 1845 and another in Windsor in 1852. For information on the last duel to be fought in Wales see Image
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Image Location
Latitude
53.141206
Longitude
-1.64357