Lieutenant-Colonel Angus Colin Duncan-Johnstone was born in 1889 and educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond; in Germany, and at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He served in the Colonial Administrative Service in the Gold Coast from 1913 to 1942, except for a period during World War I (1915-1917) when he was attached to the Gold Coast Regiment. During these 29 years, Duncan-Johnstone was Assistant District Commissioner (1913); District Commissioner (1922); Provincial Commissioner of Eastern Province (1928), and Commissioner of Southern Province (1929). He also held, in addition to his normal duties, a number of special appointments. He was Officer in Charge of Military Police and Prisons in Togoland (now Togo) (1915); Officer in Charge of ex-King Prempeh's repatriation from the Seychelles (1924); Staff Officer for Ashanti for the visit of HRH the Prince of Wales (1925), and acting Chief Commissioner in the Northern Territories (December 1929 to January 1930, June-October 1932). He was awarded the Gold Coast Local Forces Efficiency Decoration in 1939.