John Shute Duncan

{{short description|British museum curator (1768–1844)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}} {{Use British English|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = John Shute Duncan | image = J. S. Duncan, L.L.D. (BM 1858,1009.324).jpg  | alt = Portrait | caption = Portrait of J. S. Duncan | birth_date = 19 December 1768 | birth_place = [[South Warnborough]], [[Hampshire]], England | death_date = 1844 | death_place = | other_names = | known_for = Keeper of the [[Ashmolean Museum]] | father = John Shute DD | relatives = [[Philip Bury Duncan]] (brother) | education = [[Winchester College]]<br/>[[New College, Oxford]] | employer = [[New College, Oxford]]<br/>[[Ashmolean Museum]] | occupation = Museum keeper }} '''John Shute Duncan''' [[LLD]] (19 December 1768 – 1844) was an English academic, writer, and [[museum curator]]. He was [[Curator|Keeper]] (head) of the [[Ashmolean Museum]] at the [[University of Oxford]].<ref name="odnb">{{cite ODNB| chapter=Duncan, John Shute (1768–1844) | first=Alan | last=Bell | title=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] | date=10 August 2023 | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/8223 }}</ref>

==Life== John Duncan was born in 1768 at [[South Warnborough]], [[Hampshire]], England, the eldest son of John Duncan [[Doctor of Divinity|DD]], [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of South Warnborough.<ref name="nannau">{{cite web| url=https://nannau.wales/art/nannau-1804-john-shute-duncan/ | title=Nannau by John Shute Duncan (1804) | website=nannau.wales | publisher=[[Nannau, Wales|Nannau]] | location=Wales | accessdate=2 November 2024 }}</ref> He was educated at [[Winchester College]] and at [[New College, Oxford]], of which he became a [[Fellow#In ancient universities|Fellow]] in 1791.<ref name="artuk">{{cite web| url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/john-shute-duncan-142236 | title=John Shute Duncan | website=[[ArtUK]] | accessdate=2 November 2024 }}</ref> He was awarded a [[BA degree]] in 1791 and later an [[LLD degree]].<ref name="britishmuseum">{{cite web| url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG137656 | title=John Shute Duncan | publisher=[[British Museum]] | accessdate=2 November 2024 }}</ref> In 1823, John Duncan was appointed Keeper of the [[Ashmolean Museum]] in [[Oxford]]. He was succeeded by his younger brother [[Philip Bury Duncan]] in 1826. His time at the Ashmolean Museum saw the start of significant changes in the [[natural history]] displays, based on "[[natural theology]]", as propounded by [[William Paley]] (1743–1805), the [[Archdeacon of Carlisle]].<ref name="eup">{{cite journal| journal=[[Archives of Natural History]] | volume=27 | issue=3 | pages=369–406 | title=Re-inventing the Ashmolean. Natural history and natural theology at Oxford in the 1820s to 1850s | first1=Arthur | last1=MacGregor | first2=Abigail | last2=Headon | url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/anh.2000.27.3.369 | doi=10.3366/anh.2000.27.3.369 | publisher=The Society for the History of Natural History | date=2000 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Selected works== [[File:DUNCAN; Hints to the bearers of walking-stic Wellcome L0032583.jpg|thumb|left|''Hints to the bearers of walking-sticks and umbrellas'' (1809). Book illustration.]] [[File:DV 77 No.19 Crossing the Towey.png|thumb|''Crossing the [[River Towy|Towey]]'' (1804). Sketch by John Shute Duncan during a tour of [[Wales]].]] John Shute Duncan wrote the following:<ref name="upenn">{{cite web| url=https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Duncan%2C%20John%20Shute%2C%201769%2D1844 | title=Online Books by John Shute Duncan | work=The Online Books Page | publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]] | accessdate=2 November 2024 }}</ref>

* ''Botanical Theology; or, Evidences of the existence and attributes of the deity, collected from the appearances of nature'' (Vincent, 1826), also by William Paley * ''Collections Relative to Systematic Relief of the Poor, at different periods, and in different countries: with observations on charity, its proper objects and conduct, and its influence on the welfare of nations'' (printed by R. Cruttwell and sold by Murray, 1815) * ''Hints to the bearers of walking-sticks and umbrellas'' (J. Murray, 3rd edition, 1809) * ''Botano Theology'' (1825) * ''Analogies of Organised Beings'' (1831)

==Legacy== A painting of John Shute Shute by Thomas Kirby (1775–c.1848) is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum.<ref name="artuk" /> The [[Bodleian Library]] archives include a memorial of the life and character of John Shute Duncan by his brother Philip Bury Duncan.<ref name="bodleian">{{cite web| url=https://archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repositories/2/resources/12095 | title=Memorial of the life and character of John Shute Duncan by his brother Philip Bury Duncan | work=Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts | number=MS. Top. Oxon. e. 697 | publisher=[[Bodleian Library]] | location=UK | accessdate=2 November 2024 }}</ref> The [[Magdalen College, Oxford|Magdalen College]] archives include letters from John Shute Duncan and his younger brother Philip Bury Duncan.<ref name="magd">{{cite web| url=https://archive-cat.magd.ox.ac.uk/records/PR30/1/C4/8-Fols.-58-60 | title=Letters from John Shute Duncan (1769–1844) and Philip Bury Duncan (1772–1863), both museum curators and Fellows of New College (Philip was Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum 1826–54), 1824–1835 | work=Archives catalogue | publisher=[[Magdalen College, Oxford]] | location=UK | accessdate=2 November 2024 }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{commons category-inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, John Shute}} [[Category:1768 births]] [[Category:1844 deaths]] [[Category:People from Hampshire]] [[Category:People educated at Winchester College]] [[Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford]] [[Category:Fellows of New College, Oxford]] [[Category:English curators]] [[Category:19th-century English writers]] [[Category:Keepers and directors of the Ashmolean Museum]]