Education
Born in Dutton, Ontario, McArthur was educated in Dutton, at Queen"s University and at Osgoode Hall.
Born in Dutton, Ontario, McArthur was educated in Dutton, at Queen"s University and at Osgoode Hall.
He represented Simcoe Centre from 1940 to 1943 in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal. He worked at the Dominion Archives of Canada from 1907 to 1912. In 1915, he was called to the Ontario bar and practised law in Toronto for two years.
From 1919 to 1922, he was assistant general manager for a trust company.
In 1920, McArthur married Floy Lawson. In 1922, he joined the history department at Queen"s University, later serving as department head
In 1934, he became Ontario"s Deputy Minister of Education. McArthur was elected to the Ontario assembly by acclamation in 1940 following the death of Leonard Simpson.
He served in the Ontario cabinet as Minister of Education from 1940 to 1943.
McArthur died of a heart attack at his summer home at Grand Bend on Lake Huron at the age of 58. Cabinet positions
He was the author of several textbooks and contributed to the Cambridge History of the British Empire. Duncan McArthur Hall at Queen"s University was named in his honour, as was Duncan McArthur Public School, also in Kingston (now closed).