Prosecution for Duelling in England

by Lumpyproletarian

A quick wiki check reveals a number of duels in late18th/early19thC England which ended in fatalities. However, some seem to have resulted in prosecution (and at least one execution) and some did not.

Anyone know why?

Georgy_K_Zhukov

I wish I had the time to give this question the proper answer it deserves, but I don't at the moment, so instead will just recommend you a good source.

"A Matter of Honour" by Martyn Beardsley is a nice quick read covering the state of dueling in England during the early 19th century, concentrating primarily on the last fatal encounter (with a few qualifications) in England, fought between Charles Hawkey and James Seton. The bulk of the book deals solely with that duel, the fallout, and such, but the latter portion goes over the efforts to stamp out dueling, and does cover the issues that arose in regards to prosecution. So if it is a topic that interests you, I would definitely recommend it.