Object: Photo Archive
Date: 19th century
Description : James Duncan 1796-1874
This gravestone can be seen in the graveyard in High Street and is the last resting place of James Duncan who was born at Ardnahoe Farm on the 16 January 1796, but left the island in the 1820s to go to Valparaiso, Chile where he made his fortune as a copper merchant. Although never married he had a son, Hilarion, to a local Chilean women, in October 1856. James and Hilarion moved to San Francisco, California shortly after but in 1860 James retired from business and moved to London, though he retained his properties in Chile and California. He visited Rothesay where he had a house at 6 Mount Stuart Road once a year to visit friends and had visited the island only three weeks prior to his death in London from bronchitis, on the 21 October 1874. There was a wonderful story at the time that he had died in Valparaiso and that his body had been brought home pickled in a barrel of rum, which had been broached by sailors on the way home. He was buried in the graveyard at Rothesay and later the copper effigy showing him wearing an Inverness cloak and balmoral, by George Ewing of Glasgow, was added. How closely this effigy resembles James Duncan is unknown as the artist never actually saw his subject. James was very generous to the people of Bute, leaving many legacies including:- £2000 to be invested and the interest used to support ten old women belonging to Rothesay; £2000 to be invested and the interest used for the education of Rothesay young men in the form of bursaries; £250 to the Bute Benevolent Fund; £100 to the Certified Industrial School; £100 to the School of Industry and £100 to the Infants School and £100 to the Poor’s School. Commerce was certainly in the blood as his grand-daughter Marion Duncan Robinson became a commercial begonia grower and world expert. (P10-0102, A11.108)