John Duncan Tate was born in Lee, Kent, England in 1880 and was articled to James Edmeston (1823?-1898) and Edward Gabriel (?-1928) of Edmeston & Gabriel from 1898 to 1901. He then worked as assistant to James Edwin Forbes (1876-1955) of Forbes & Charles in Birmingham in 1901-02, and to C. E. MacPherson from 1902 to 1905. In 1905 he commenced independent practice in London and was in partnership with Forbes from 1905.
Tate was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1910 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1915. He died in London on 28 November 1930.
Architectural projects by Tate during his partnership with Forbes included Pollard's Wood House, Nightingale Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire (1906); The Sheiling, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire (1907); Pollards Park, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire (1907); Pollards Wood Grange, Nightingale Road, Buckinghamshire (c.1909); enlargement to Little Pednor [now Pednor House], near Chartridge, Buckinghamshire (1910-12); Brantfell, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire (c.1911); 40 Parkway, Gidea Park, Romford, Essex (c.1911); The Pillars, Northwood, London (c.1911); Paddock House, West Common, Gerrard's Cross, Buckinghamshire (c.1913); loggia addition to Baylins Farmhouse, Penn Road, Knotty Green, Buckinghamshire (1919); restoration of Barrington Court, Barrington, Somerset (1921-25); a house in Chalfont Road, Amersham, Buckinghamshire (1928). He also designed The Pollards, Brown Cottage and Widenham House in Gerrards Cross [dates not known]
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 139, 5 December 1930 p. 968