Duncan Cameron

Who was Duncan Cameron?

Duncan Cameron was a Scottish businessman, owner of The Oban Times newspaper and the inventor of the "Waverley" pen nib.

Duncan Cameron, along with his brothers John and Donald Cameron, were the owners of the Edinburgh-based printing and stationery firm of Macniven and Cameron. Duncan Cameron joined the firm in 1850, and in 1865 received a patent for the "Waverley" nib for the company. The popular "Waverley" was unique in design with a narrow waist and an upturned tip. The tip's design made the ink flow more smoothly on the paper. The "Waverley" was named after the Waverley novels of Sir Walter Scott, which were still hugely popular at the time.

In 1882, Cameron purchased The Oban Times newspaper for £4,000 following the death of its founder, James Miller. Cameron appointed his twenty-one year old son, also named Duncan Cameron, as the editor. The senior Cameron's oldest daughter, Flora Macaulay, became the paper's editor when her brother Duncan left for Edinburgh to join the family's stationery business and another brother, Waverley, drowned at Lismore. Flora stayed involved with The Oban Times until her death at 99 in 1958. She was succeeded as editor by her nephew, Alan Cameron.