Colonel Sir Duncan Alexander Johnston (25 June 1847 – 21 October 1931) was a

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

officer who became Director General of the

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

. He also played first-class cricket for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in 1882.

Life

Duncan Johnston was born at 32 Heriot Row in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 25 June 1847 the son of Henry Johnston, a surgeon in the Honourable East India Company. His brothers included Henry Johnston, Lord Johnston and the high-ranking advocate and cricketer, Sir William Campbell Johnston

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

. Duncan trained as a chartered accountant but instead chose a military career and joined the Royal Engineers. He became a lieutenant on 8 January 1868, and a captain on 24 December 1879. Earlier in 1879 he played cricket for the Royal Engineers against the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

. Johnston made his cricketing debut for Derbyshire in the 1882 season against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

in May and played in the next three matches. He was an opening batsman for Derbyshire but with the exception of 31 against

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

failed to score highly. His last game was against the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

, which the tourists won by an innings margin, with the help of a ten-wicket match haul by

Fred Spofforth Frederick Robert Spofforth (9 September 1853 – 4 June 1926), also known as "The Demon Bowler", was arguably the Australian cricket team's finest pace bowler of the nineteenth century. He was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the fi ...

. Johnston was a right-handed batsman and played 8 innings in 4 games with a top score of 31 and an average of 8.12. Johnston became a major on 18 January 1887 and lieutenant-colonel on 19 March 1894. In 1898 he was appointed Director General of the Ordnance Survey with the rank of colonel from 19 March 1898. In 1916 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

his proposers being

John Horne John Horne PRSE FRS FRSE FEGS LLD (1 January 1848 – 30 May 1928) was a Scottish geologist. He served as President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 1915 to 1919. Life Horne was born on 1 January 1848, in Campsie, Stirlingshire, the ...

John George Bartholomew John George Bartholomew (22 March 1860 – 14 April 1920) was a Scottish cartographer and geographer. As a holder of a royal warrant, he used the title "Cartographer to the King"; for this reason he was sometimes known by the epithet "the P ...

, James Currie and

Cargill Gilston Knott Cargill Gilston Knott FRS, FRSE LLD (30 June 1856 – 26 October 1922) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was a pioneer in seismological research. He spent his early career in Japan. He later became a Fellow of the Royal Society, ...

. He was a member of the

British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...

and chaired meetings in the geographical section. In addition to pamphlets for the Ordnance Survey, Johnston wrote in 1926 a reminiscence of ''The late Royal Munster fusiliers and Colonel David George Johnston, an old Glenalmond, the father of the regiment''. Johnston died at his house in the fashionable West End of Edinburgh at the age of 84. He is buried facing the southern path in the first north extension to

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and on ...

in the west of the city.

Family

Johnston's son,

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, played cricket for seventeen years for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Duncan 1847 births 1931 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Royal Engineers officers Scottish cricketers Derbyshire cricketers Burials at the Dean Cemetery