[1][2][3] Both Ridout and Jarvis were from the small circle of privileged insiders called upon by the Lieutenant Governors of Upper Canada, to fill administrative posts, and sinecures, that William Lyon Mackenzie would later brand the Family Compact.
[5] During the War of 1812 Ridout enlisted as a midshipman on the Provincial Marine sloop Royal George.
[5] He was also a "confidential clerk" to his elder brother Thomas Gibbs Ridout, in the Army's Commissary Department.
The next day Ridout attacked Jarvis with a bludgeon and they physically fought each other until it was stopped by the militia.
His last words were reported to forgive Jarvis again, a plea for his mother not to grieve and a desire to meet his sister in heaven.