Duncan pictured around the time of his mission to Russia in 1917
James Duncan was born in Portlethen in 1857. His grandfather hailed from Edinburgh and his grandmother was born in Dunnottar, Kincardineshire. In 1827 they gave birth to David who married Mary Forbes in Banchory in 1854. David is described as a crofter on the birth certificate of his son James, who was born at Hillside, a farm which no longer exists.
Although the area was mainly agricultural at this time, blue granite could be found in the region where Duncan grew up, and indeed, granite from nearby Aberdeen was used to build the terraces of the Houses of Parliament and Waterloo bridge in London. It was this trade that was to precipitate James Duncan’s decision to move overseas.