[1] Philip Duncan was born in 1772 at South Warnborough, Hampshire, England, where his father was rector.

Among the school and college friends with whom he continued contact were Archbishop William Howley, Bishop Richard Mant, and Sydney Smith.

[1] In 1826, Philip Duncan was made keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, in succession to his elder brother, John Shute Duncan, author of Hints to the Bearers of Walking Sticks and Umbrella, anonymous, 3rd edition 1809; Botano Theology, 1825; and Analogies of Organised Beings, 1831.

Duncan advocated the claims of physical science and mathematics to a prominent place in Oxford studies.

[1] Among Duncan's other publications were:[1] A painting of Philip Bury Shute by William Smith (active 1813–1859) is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum.