Francis Duncan CB (1836 – 16 November 1888) was a

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

officer, lawyer, historian and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician. He sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1885 to 1888.

Life

Duncan was born in Scotland, the son of John Duncan and his wife Helen. He was educated at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

(honours MA) and entered the

in 1855. He went to Canada, where he was awarded Honorary DCL from King's College in 1861. In 1864 he became a captain and in 1874 a major, receiving an Honorary LLD from the University of Aberdeen in the same year. He was an instructor at the School of Gunnery (

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

) from 1877 to 1882, becoming lieutenant-colonel in 1881, and received an Honorary DCL from the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

in 1882. While at Woolwich, Duncan, together with Surgeon-Major Peter Shepherd, a fellow graduate of Aberdeen, established the concept of teaching first aid skills to civilians. Duncan was a deeply religious man with high humanitarian values, who strongly supported the principle of battlefield ambulance transport. He was employed with the

Egyptian Army The Egyptian Army (), officially the Egyptian Ground Forces (), is the land warfare branch (and largest service branch) of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Until the declaration of the Republic and the abolishment of the monarchy on 18 June 1953, it w ...

from 1883 to 1885 (3rd Class Osmanleh) and became a colonel in 1885. He was author of several works relating to military history. At the 1885 general election, Duncan was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

. He was re-elected in the 1886 general election, but died in office in 1888. Most of his 59 interventions recorded in ''

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official printe ...

'' concerned military matters. Duncan married Mary K. Cogswell from

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. One of the original Woolwich Free Ferry vessels was named after him.

Publications

*''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery'' 1872, John Murray (London)Open Library
/ref> *''The English in Spain or the Story of the War of Succession Between 1834 and 1840'' *''A Description of the Island of St. Helena: Containing Observations on Its Singular Structure''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Francis 1836 births 1888 deaths Royal Artillery officers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 Alumni of the University of Aberdeen People from Aberdeenshire Scottish military personnel 19th-century British Army personnel