John Hunter-Duvar was born John Hunter in 1821 in Newburgh, Scotland, to John MacKenzie Hunter, an officer of excise, and Agnes Strickland. In 1848 he married Anne Carter in Royal Leamington Spa, England. They had four children. His early career in journalism took him to Halifax and Charlottetown in 1849. He is credited with founding Halifax’s first building society. He was a correspondent for the New York Associated Press during the Crimean War. In 1857 the Hunter family left England. By 1860 Hunter had acquired 700 acres in western PEI which he called “Hernewood”, where he operated a farm and a saw mill. In 1860 he also became active in the local Militia. Hunter had his name changed legally to Hunter-Duvar in 1861. The family spent 1863 to 1868 in Halifax with Hunter-Duvar serving in the Halifax Artillery where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1868 they returned to PEI and he became a Justice of the Peace. From 1875 to 1879 Hunter-Duvar was editor of the Summerside Progress. He left the newspaper to become Dominion Inspector of Fisheries for Prince Edward Island; an influential position which he held until 1889.

Hunter-Duvar’s primary occupation was writer. Maritime newspapers begin publishing his poems in the 1870s. He produced approximately 120 works, in many genres including poetry, short stories, reviews, essays, literary criticism, history and novels. Seventy-five of Hunter-Duvar’s works were published including “The enamardo” in 1879, “DeRoberval, a drama” in 1888, and “Annals of the Court of Oberon” in 1895. John Hunter-Duvar died at “Hernewood” in 1899. For additional information regarding John Hunter-Duvar see Campbell, S.C. “Hunter-Duvar, John” Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. XII, p.458-460 and Campbell, Steven. “John Hunter-Duvar” Masters thesis, Universite de Moncton. PARO Acc2961 (microfilm).