Charles Duncan
Not to be confused with Charles Gilbert Duncan Sandison.
Charles Gilbert Duncan (b. 1816, Lerwick, d. 11 November 1884, Lerwick) was the eldest son of Gilbert Duncan (b. 1787), a solicitor in the town, and Elizabeth Ogilvy, daughter of a prosperous merchant. Charles became an apprentice to a writer to the signet in Edinburgh, and eventually began to practise the law in his native town. He became a popular solicitor for ordinary people. In the 1850s he was appointed Procurator Fiscal. After his death Sheriff Charles Rampini referred to his 'acute mind, his singularly lucid judgment, his profound knowledge of law, and the keen interest which he took in all pertaining to the functions of the Procurator Fiscal's office'.
Duncan eventually became a town councillor in 1850, spending 3 years as junior Baillie, between 1856 to 1862 and 1865 to 1874 as senior Baillie. In those offices he became a reformer.
He and his supporters introduced a water and drainage system in the town, against opposition from some ratepayers. He set up a competent police force and improved Lerwick's Hillhead with pavements and grass. It is also said by some that it was Duncan's influence that was behind journalist Donald Stephen moving to Shetland in 1872 and founding The Shetland Times.
Duncan was knighted by the King of Belgium and the King of Holland for services rendered to visitors from those countries. He died in Lerwick in November 1884 of asthma.
His father Gilbert and uncle Andrew were also Lerwick Town Councillors.
Political Career
- Lerwick Town Council Election September 1850
- Lerwick Town Council Election September 1853
- Lerwick Town Council Election September 1856
- Lerwick Town Council Election September 1859
- Lerwick Town Council Election September 1862
- Lerwick Town Council Election September 1865
- Lerwick Town Council Election September 1868
- Lerwick Town Council Election September 1871
External links
| Provosts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Sievwright Snr |
Senior Bailie for Lerwick Town Council 1856-1862 |
Succeeded by Joseph Leask |
| Preceded by Joseph Leask |
Senior Bailie for Lerwick Town Council 1865-1874 |
Succeeded by William Sievwright 
|
| Leaders of the Lerwick Town Council | ||
|---|---|---|
| Councillors | Arthur Edmondston (1818-1823) • Charles Ogilvy Snr (1823-1827) • William Spence (1827-1832) • Charles Ogilvy Jr (1832-1844) • Joseph Leask (1844-1847) • William Sievwright Snr (1847-1856) • Charles Duncan (1856-1862) • Joseph Leask (1862-1865) • Charles Duncan (1865-1874) • William Sievwright Jr (1874-1876) • Thomas Cameron (1876-1883) • John Robertson (1883-1890) • Charles Robertson (1890-1895) • John Leisk (1895-1904) • James Goudie (1904-1907) • Arthur Porteous (1907-1910) • Arthur Laing (1910-1913) • Robert Stout (1913-1915) • Peter Goodlad (1915-1920) • Robert D. Ganson (1920-1924) • James Laing (1924-1927) • John Sinclair (1927-1930) • William Sinclair (1930-1933) • Robert Ollason (1933-1936) • James A. Smith (1936-1941) • Magnus Shearer (1941-1946) • James Aitken (1946-1950) • Robert A. Anderson (1950-1953) • George Burgess (1953-1956) • William Conochie (1956-1959) • Robert Blance (1959-1962) • Harry Gray (1962-1965) • Andrew Nicolson (1965-1967) • Eric Gray (1967-1971) • Bill Smith (1971-1974) • James Taylor (1974-1975) | |
