Adam Duncan (1731-1704) was born and educated in Dundee. His father was the Lord Provost Alexander Duncan. He was clever and after joining the Royal Navy, rose quickly through the ranks to lieutenant then to Admiral and Commander-in-Chief.
He is remembered mainly for defeating the far larger Dutch fleet in a battle off Kamperduin, north of Haarlem in 1797, thus thwarting a future French invasion. For this he received a peerage as Viscount Duncan of Camperdown, and the freedom of the cities of London & Dundee as well as Admiral Nelson’s admiration.
Camperdown House in Camperdown Park in the north of Dundee was built with the fortune he was rewarded with. In 1820, his son Robert, 2nd Viscount Duncan, built a new house in the Greek Revival style. The earlier house was demolished, and the new house was completed in 1828. Lord Duncan renamed the house and estate Camperdown in memory of his father’s victory.
The plaque on the wall behind the statue mentions Adam Duncan, but also has mention of William Wallace, who was educated in Dundee and there is also mention of “The Chevalier de St George”, who stayed in Dundee in January 1716. The Chevalier de St George was James Francis Edward Stuart, also known as The Old Pretender. Some further reading about James Francis Edward Stuart: James Francis Edward Stuart – Wikipedia. He was raised in Continental Europe and after his father’s death in 1701, he claimed the English, Scottish & Irish crowns as James III of England & Ireland and James VIII of Scotland, with the support of his Jacobite followers and his cousin Louis XIV of France. He unsuccessfully attempted to gain the British and Irish thrones during the Jacobite rising of 1715. His elder son Charles Edward Stuart, made a further unsuccessful attempt at rebellion in the Jacobite rising of 1745.
Walking Route Instructions: We now make our way up Commercial Street and when we see the McManus Galleries, we are going to go to the right side of the building and look at the Royal Exchange Building on the junction of Panmure Street, Meadowside and Albert Square. The Brewdog Pub was occupying the bottom part of the Royal Exchange building when this walk was created.
