A well known local historian J R D Campbell who has written a range of books on Largs and Millport has passed away at the age of 90.
James Robert Duncan Campbell was born on 13 April 1925 in Edinburgh. His father James and mother Beatrice lived in the school house in Mid Calder where his father was the headmaster. His sister Trixie was born three years later .
Duncan remained at his father’s school until he was ten, before moving to the Royal High School in Edinburgh. 
During World War II Duncan acted as a messenger on his motor cycle going round the various organisations. In the early 1940s he started training in his father’s ATC unit as an RAF aircraft pilot.
Duncan achieved both his accounting and law qualifications, and his first job was with the “Hydro Board” in the late 1940s.
Love was to blossom as Duncan was engaged to long time partner Betty in 1956, and they were married in Alnwick.
In preparation for the birth of their first daughter (Judy) in 1960, Duncan and Betty bought a plot of land in Longniddry, East Lothian and built a house. They then had a son Angus in 1963, and another daughter Christine in 1966.
Duncan and his family moved to Nessbank, Millport in 1971 to take on the challenge of a council with significant record arrears after questions had been raised in parliament in 1970 about their condition.
As Town Clerk, Duncan, and the council accounts auditor managed to resolve a number of tricky issues.
Among his many tasks on the Town Council included redevelopment of the Millport golf clubhouse, the establishment of Cumbrae Holiday Lettings Company self-catering accommodation and new council housing at Ferry Road. Duncan and Betty were later to move to Largs and enjoyed a golden wedding celebration in 2006 at the Brisbane House Hotel.
His first book, about the history of Millport, published in 1975, was the start of quite a prolific writing career which has seen him research and write ten books on various historical themes. These included the history of places like Millport, Largs and the Wee Cumbrae, to his parents and grandparents home towns of Mid Calder and Helmsdale, onto topics such as smuggling in the Clyde, and the exploits of the wartime ‘ships pilots’ on the Clyde.
In 1997 he became a grandfather for the first time, with the birth of his granddaughter Catriona. This was followed by further grandsons; in 2000 with Innes, and following the marriage of Christine to Gordon Smith in 2004 with Callum in 2005 and Dougie in 2009.
Following the death of his beloved wife Betty in August 2012, Duncan’s mobility decreased, resulting in him moving into Abbotsford Nursing home in Ardrossan toward the end of 2013, and enjoyed a 90th birthday celebration with family and friends last April.
After a short illness, Duncan passed away on 27 January.