Born at Mount Forest, Ontario on 4 October 1866, he came to Winnipeg and spent 40 years as a building contractor until retirement about 1933. On 8 May 1895, he married Elizabeth Jane Ledgerwood (c1872-1971) at Winnipeg and they had two daughters: Ethel May Duncan (1900-1959, wife of Charles Hafft) and Maude Louise Duncan (1902-1999, wife of William Lyle Wallace). He died at his Winnipeg home, 491 Sherbrook Street, on 14 January 1943 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.
Some of the Manitoba buildings that he constructed:
Building
Location
Year
Status
1408-1410 Main Street / 210 Atlantic Avenue, Winnipeg
1912
Demolished (September 2026)
Marriage registration [Robert R Duncan, Elizabeth J Ledjerwood], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Birth registrations [Ethel May Duncan, Maude Louise Duncan], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Marriage registration [Maude Louise Duncan, William Lyle Wallace], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Death registration [Robert Ralph Duncan], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary, Winnipeg Tribune, 15 January 1943, page 15.
Obituary [Elizabeth Jane Duncan], Winnipeg Free Press, 30 March 1971, page 36.
Obituary [Maude Louise Wallace], Winnipeg Free Press, 18 November 1999, page 44.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 7 September 2026
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