George Duncan (politician)
Encyclopedia
George Duncan was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

.
Born in Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...

 of humble parents, William Duncan and Amelia Guthrie, he attended Dundee Academy
High School of Dundee
The High School of Dundee is an independent, co-educational, day school in the city of Dundee, Scotland which provides both primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils...

, and was then apprenticed to a draper in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. He started his own draper and silk mercer business in Dundee, and became very wealthy.

He married, on 18 November 1823, Hester Eliza Wheeler, who was about 11 years his junior and the daughter of
an officer in the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

. She died 27 May 1834, aged 32, after a childless marriage.

He retired soon after, aged 45, from the drapery business. He became a Director of several companies including the Dundee, Perth and London Shipping Company, and the Forfarshire and Perthshire Fire Insurance Company.

He built himself a small mansion, "The Vine", in Magdelene Yard Road, Dundee.

George Duncan was elected to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 in 1841 as a Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) being the third Member for Dundee
Dundee (UK Parliament constituency)
Dundee was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1950, when it was split into Dundee East and Dundee West....

 after the 1832 Reform Act
Reform Act
In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is a generic term used for legislation concerning electoral matters. It is most commonly used for laws passed to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the British House of Commons...

. He retired from Parliament in 1857 after serving Dundee for 16 years.

He died childless on 6 January 1878 and was buried at the Howff
The Howff
The Howff is a burial ground in the city of Dundee, Scotland. Established in 1564, it has one of the most important collections of tombstones in Scotland, and is protected as a category A listed building.-History:...

, Dundee.

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