Duncan Campbell

Family

He married twice.

In 1792 he married the Hon Eleanor Fraser, daughter of George Fraser, 14th Baron Saltoun, and widow of Sir George Ramsay, 6th Baronet of Banff. They divorced in 1808. He then married Augusta Murray, daughter of Sir William Murray, 5th Baronet of Ochtertyre and sister of George Murray, a fellow army officer.

He had no children by either marriage.

Politics

Campbell was elected unopposed as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayr Burghs at a by-election in 1809. At this time, elections in the Ayr Burghs were determined by an alliance between Duke of Argyll and his ally the Earl of Bute, who between them controlled three of the five Burghs; the other two burghs, being outnumbered, acquiesced in the choices of Argyll and Bute.

The 1809 vacancy had been caused by the death aged 39 of the previous MP John Campbell of Shawfield and Islay, and Whig leaders had taken the opportunity to press Argyll to support a candidate of their choice. The Earl of Lauderdale proposed Sir William Cunynghame, 4th Baronet, but Argyll preferred a clansman, even though Duncan Campbell was not a close relative.

Campbell voted reliably as a Whig, but reportedly did not enjoy the Commons.

Nonetheless, when Argyll was persuaded at the 1818 general election to support Bute's candidate Thomas Francis Kennedy, Campbell stood aside in the Ayr Burghs, but did not retire voluntarily. Instead he contested Berwick upon Tweed, where he was defeated by a margin of more than 2:1.