James Elmslie Duncan
English Chartist poet, editor, writer, and activist (1822–1854) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Elmslie Duncan[note 1] (7 March 1822 – 21 May 1854), was an English Chartist poet, editor, writer, and activist for social and moral reform, as well as vegetarianism and temperance. He was also a phrenologist and shorthand tutor.[2]
James Elmslie Duncan | |
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Born | (1822-03-07)7 March 1822 London, England |
Died | 21 May 1854(1854-05-21) (aged 32) London, England |
Other names | James Elmzlie Duncan |
Occupation(s) | Poet, editor, writer, activist |
Years active | 1844–1851 |
Duncan was born in London in 1822. He edited the Morning Star and later The Sunbeam, contributed to various publications, and wrote the praised Defence of a Vegetable Diet. Duncan was active in the Chartist movement, facing police intervention and arrest in 1848. His literary works included Flowers and Fruits and the novel Edward Noble. Despite his fervent activism, he was criticised by contemporaries for his eccentricity and perceived mental instability. After being declared insane in 1851, Duncan was admitted to Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, where he died from epilepsy in 1854 at the age of 32.