George Smith Duncan (11 July 1852 – 4 September 1930) was a

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

way and

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

engineer best known for his work on cable trams, and for his work in the

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

mining industry. Duncan was born on 11 July 1852New Zealand Birth Index: 1852/3139 in the city of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, the third son of George and Elspet Duncan, recent Scottish immigrants. He was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

near

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and at both the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

in New Zealand. He was subsequently appointed engineer for the District of Otago. On 1 September 1876, with John Reid and James W. Duncan, the partnership, 'Reid and Duncans', Surveyors, Civil Engineers, Land Agents, and Share and Money Brokers was formed, with offices at

Moray Place, Dunedin Moray Place is an octagonal street which surrounds the city centre of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. The street is intersected by Stuart Street, Dunedin, Stuart Street (to the east and west), Princes Street, Dunedin, Princes Street (to the sout ...

.'Public Notices'
''Otago Daily Times'' , Issue 4537, 1 September 1876, p.3, col.1 Between 1879 and 1883, Duncan was responsible for the development of the

Dunedin cable tramway system The Dunedin cable tramway system was a group of cable tramway lines in the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is significant as Dunedin was the second city in the world to adopt the cable car (the first being San Francisco). History The first ...

. He was then appointed consulting engineer (and subsequently engineer) for the development of the

Melbourne cable tramway system The Melbourne cable tramway system was a cable car public transport system, which operated between 1885 and 1940 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The first line, from Spencer Street to the end of Bridge Road Richmond via Flinders Street, ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, a post he held until 1892, being largely responsible for the development of over 44 miles of cable tram route. Shortly after leaving his post in Melbourne, Duncan travelled to both America and Europe. Whilst in London he was elected a Member of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

for his efforts on the Melbourne cable tramway system. However what he saw on his travels lead him to question the future of cable tramways, and on his return to Australia he advised

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

against adopting such a system in favour of

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

traction. From 1894, Duncan became involved in the gold mining industry of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, introducing the

cyanide process Gold cyanidation (also known as the cyanide process or the MacArthur-Forrest process) is a hydrometallurgical technique for extracting gold from low-grade ore by converting the gold to a water-soluble coordination complex. It is the most commonly ...

for extracting gold from

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

and mine

tailings In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlie ...

, and founding the firm of Duncan, Noyes & Co. He later became involved in experiments to extract gold from

seawater Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has appro ...

, and achieved this in 1912 from the waters of

Port Phillip Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...

. He continued to experiment until shortly before his death, but failed in his aim of making the process economically viable. He died at "Sunnyside", Black Rock,

on 4 September 1930.'Mr. George Duncan Dead'
''The Argus'' (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848-1954) Monday 8 September 1930 p.8

References

External links

(from the website of the Friends of Hawthorn Tram Depot)

Sources

* Web page ''http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/duncan.htm'', as retrieved 12:00 GMT, 28 September 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, George Smith People educated at Clifton College 1852 births 1930 deaths Engineers from Dunedin New Zealand people of Scottish descent Engineers from Melbourne Alumni of the University of Edinburgh University of Otago alumni 19th-century New Zealand engineers 20th-century New Zealand engineers