Duncan Campbell was born on April 3, 1818, in Oban, Scotland.

He was a journalist and historian. He began his career in journalism as editor of the Glasgow Argus and editorial writer for the Daily Bulletin, the first penny daily established in Scotland. In 1862, on a commission of the Glasgow Road Reform Association, he lectured throughout Scotland on the-abolition of the archaic toll system. In 1866, shortly before the confederation of Nova Scotia, Campbell conducted a large group of Scottish emigrants to Halifax and he was commissioned to survey Nova Scotia as a potential home for immigrants. The survey aroused in him a profound interest in Nova Scotia history and he wrote two books "Nova Scotia, in its Historical, Mercantile and Industrial Relations" (1873) and "History of Nova Scotia, for Schools" (1877). In 1875, he published "History of Prince Edward Island". During the two decades in which he resided in Nova Scotia, he was engaged in a variety of occupations. He worked as a reporter on the Halifax Morning Chronicle (1869-1870) and as secretary of the Halifax Industrial Commission. He also worked as a bookkeeper but eventually devoted himself to historical writing. He was also a frequent contributor to the local press of articles and letters dealing with topics of public interest. He was the author of a prize essay which was published in the Nova Scotian Journal of Agriculture.

He married Mary Stewart. He died on August 26, 1886, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.