ON a misty September morning in 1842, a duel took place in a field near Tenby. Involved in the affair were Charles Cook Wells, the Mayor of the town at the time, and Captain Francis Rivers Freeling who lived at Greenhill Mansion, now Tenby Library.

The reason for the dispute is unclear, although it has been speculated that the dashing Captain had been showing rather too much interest in the Mayor’s young wife. Whatever the cause of the quarrel, the result was a challenge to ‘pistols at dawn’.

As it happened, both men lived to tell the tale as they each fired a single shot, which missed the target. Not all Pembrokeshire duellists were so lucky, however; in 1799, Samuel Fortune of Haverfordwest was fatally wounded in a duel that arose out of an argument at the Hunt Ball in Tenby.

The stories behind these dramatic events, plus a number of other notable Pembrokeshire duels, will be told by local historian Dr Simon Hancock at the October meeting of the Pembrokeshire Historical Society.  The lecture will be preceded by a short AGM.

All are welcome to the lecture which will be on Friday, October 4, at the Pembrokeshire Archives in Prendergast, Haverfordwest, 2.30pm.