Walter Hughes Duncan

He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1896 to 1906, representing the electorates of Onkaparinga (1896-1902) and Murray (1902-1906).

Duncan was born the second son of (sea) Captain John Duncan (died 24 April 1880) in Anstruther, Fifeshire, Scotland, and came out to South Australia with his parents in 1854; his father was a partner with his brother-in-law Sir Walter W. Hughes, who was running sheep and cattle at Hoyle's Plains and on Yorke Peninsula in the vicinity of Wallaroo and Moonta.

[1] He was educated at Stanley Grammar School, at Watervale, at St Peter's College, Adelaide, and studied for two years at Cambridge.

He was a successful pastoralist, owning "Mernowie" of 1,800 acres (730 ha) near Marrabel and shareholder in the Wallaroo and Moonta mines.

He was a councillor with Waterloo District Council for three years, then stood, unsuccessfully, for the Assembly seat of Burra in 1891, and again in 1893.