View source for George Chalmers (antiquarian)

{{Short description|Scottish antiquarian and political writer}}
{{for|other people with the same or a similar name|George Chalmers (disambiguation)}}

{{One source|date=February 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}

'''George Chalmers''' (December 1742 – 31 May 1825) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[antiquarian]] and political writer.
[[File:George Chalmers Tannock.jpg|thumb|Chalmers, 1824 portrait by [[James Tannock]]]]

==Biography==
Chalmers was born at [[Fochabers]], [[Moray]], the second son of the local postmaster, James Chalmers (who was a grandson of George Chalmers of Pittensear in [[Lhanbryde]]) and his wife Isabella.<ref name=DLB>Fleming, Thomas. "George Chalmers (December 1742-31 May 1825)," in Clyde N. Wilson (ed.), ''American Historians, 1607-1865'', [[Dictionary of Literary Biography]] Vol. 30, Detroit: Gale Research, 1984, 52.</ref>  After completing a course at [[King's College, Aberdeen]], he studied [[Scots law|law]] at the [[University of Edinburgh]] for several years.<ref name="EB1911">{{cite EB1911 |last=Macdonald |first=James |wstitle=Chalmers, George}}</ref>

Two uncles on the father's side had settled in [[British North America]], and Chalmers visited [[Maryland]] in 1763, apparently to assist in recovering a tract of land about which a dispute had arisen. He began practising as a [[lawyer]] at [[Baltimore]]. As a Loyalist, however, at the outbreak of the [[American War of Independence]], he abandoned his professional prospects and returned to Great Britain. Several years then passed before he found adequate employment.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In August 1786, Chalmers was appointed chief clerk to the [[Board of Trade|committee of Privy Council on matters relating to trade]], following its re-establishment. He retained this position for the rest of his life. It left him time to write.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Chalmers was a fellow of the [[Royal Society]] and the [[Society of Antiquaries of London]], an honorary member of the Antiquarian Society of Scotland, and a member of other learned societies. His library was left to his nephew, at whose death in 1841 it was sold and dispersed.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Controversialist==
A dogmatic writer, Chalmers became involved in numerous literary controversies. Among his avowed opponents were [[Edmond Malone]] and [[George Steevens]], the Shakespeare editors; [[Thomas James Mathias]], the author of the ''Pursuits of Literature''; Dr [[John Jamieson]], the Scottish [[lexicographer]]; [[John Pinkerton]], the historian; [[David Irving (librarian)|David Irving]], the biographer of the Scottish poets; and [[James Currie (physician)|James Currie]] of Liverpool.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Works==

===''Caledonia''===
Chalmers's major work was his ''Caledonia'', which he left incomplete. The first volume appeared in 1807, and is introductory to the others. It is divided into four books, treating successively of the [[Roman Empire|Roman]], the [[Picts|Pictish]], the Scottish and the Scoto-Saxon periods, from 80 to 1306 AD. The books present, in a condensed form, with an account of the people, the language and the civil and ecclesiastical history, as well as the agricultural and commercial state of Scotland during the first thirteen centuries of the Common Era. The chapters on the Roman period are marred by the author's having accepted as genuine [[Charles Bertram]]'s forgery ''[[De Situ Britanniae]]''.<ref name="EB1911"/>

The second volume, published in 1810, gives an account of the seven southeastern counties of Scotland – [[Roxburghshire|Roxburgh]], [[Berwickshire|Berwick]], [[East Lothian|East Lothian ("Haddington")]], [[Edinburgh]]/[[Midlothian]] (all as "Edinburgh"), [[West Lothian (historic)|West Lothian ("Linlithgow")]], [[Peebles-shire|Peebles]] and [[Selkirkshire|Selkirk]] – each covered by name, situation and extent, natural objects, antiquities, establishment as shires, civil history, agriculture, manufactures and trade, and ecclesiastical history.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1824 the third volume appeared, giving, under the same headings, a description of the seven south-western counties – [[Dumfriesshire|Dumfries]], [[Kirkcudbrightshire|Kirkcudbright]], [[Wigtownshire|Wigtown]], [[Ayrshire|Ayr]], [[Lanarkshire|Lanark]], [[Renfrewshire|Renfrew]] and [[Dumbartonshire|Dumbarton]]. In the preface to this volume the author stated that the materials for the history of the central and northern counties were collected.<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Early works (1776–1786)===
Before his Privy Council appointment, Chalmers applied himself to investigating the history and establishment of the [[English colonies in North America]], based on his access to the state papers and other documents of what were then termed the plantation records. His work, ''Political Annals of the present United Colonies from their Settlement to the Peace of 1763'', (1780), was to have formed two volumes; but the second, for the period between 1688 and 1763, never appeared. The first volume traces the original settlement of the different American colonies, and the changes in their constitutions and forms of government, as affected by British politics.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Chalmers next wrote ''An Estimate of the Comparative Strength of Britain during the Present and Four Preceding Reigns'' (1782), which passed through several editions.<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Mature works (1786–1824)===
Chalmers wrote biographical sketches of [[Daniel Defoe]], [[John Davies (poet, born 1569)|Sir John Davies]], [[Allan Ramsay (1686–1758)|Allan Ramsay]], [[David Lyndsay|Sir David Lyndsay]], [[Thomas Churchyard]] and others, for editions of their works. The British government also paid Chalmers £500 to write a hostile biography of [[Thomas Paine]];<ref>Gregory Claeys, Thomas Paine: Social and Political Thought (New York: Routledge, 2002) 20</ref> he published it under the assumed name of Francis Oldys, A.M., of the University of Pennsylvania.<ref name="EB1911"/> A life of [[Thomas Ruddiman]], whom he admired, combined praise for the subject with an attack on the reputation of his contemporary [[James Anderson (lawyer)|James Anderson]].<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=5028|title=Chalmers, George|first=Alexander|last=Du Toit}}</ref>

In 1818 Chalmers published a life of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], based on a manuscript left by [[John Whitaker (historian)|John Whitaker]], but rewritten. Mary's history occupied much of his attention, and his last work, ''A Detection of the Love Letters lately attributed in Hugh Campbell's work to Mary Queen of Scots'', is an exposure of an attempt to represent as genuine some fictitious letters said to have passed between Mary and Bothwell. He had also prepared for the press a detailed history of the life and reign of [[David I of Scotland]]. In his later researches he was assisted by his nephew James, son of Alexander Chalmers, writer in [[Elgin, Moray|Elgin]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

''Apology for the Believers in the Shakespeare Papers which were exhibited in Norfolk Street'', appeared in 1797, followed by other tracts by Chalmers on the same subject, relating to the [[Ireland Shakespeare forgeries]]. He also took part in the controversy on the [[identity of Junius]], and in ''The Author of Junius Ascertained, from a Concatenation of Circumstances amounting to Moral Demonstration'' (1817) asserted that the Junius letters were written by [[Hugh Boyd (essayist)|Hugh Boyd]]. In 1824 he published ''The Poetical Remains of some of the Scottish Kings'', now first collected; and in the same year he edited, for the [[Bannatyne Club]], ''Robene and Makyne and the Testament of Cresseid'', by [[Robert Henryson]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

Political writings by Chalmers included:<ref name="EB1911"/>

*''Collection of Treaties between Great Britain and other Powers'' (1790); 
*''Vindication of the Privileges of the People in respect to the Constitutional Right of Free Discussion, etc.'' (1796), published anonymously; 
*''A Chronological Account of Commerce and Coinage in Great Britain from the Restoration till 1850'' (1810); 
*''Opinions of Eminent Lawyers on various points of English Jurisprudence, chiefly concerning the Colonies, Fisheries, and Commerce of Great Britain'' (1814); 
*''Comparative Views of the State of Great Britain before and since the War'' (1817).

==Chalmers' works online==
* ''[https://archive.org/details/politicalannalso00chaluoft Political annals of the present United Colonies: ...]'' (1779) 
* ''[https://archive.org/details/anestimatecompa01chalgoog An Estimate of the Comparative Strength of Britain during the Present and Four Preceding Reigns]'' (1782) 
* ''[https://archive.org/details/lifethomasruddi00chalgoog The Life of Thomas Ruddiman]'' (1794)
* ''[https://archive.org/details/anapologyforbel00unkngoog An Apology for the Believers in the Shakespeare Papers which were exhibited in Norfolk Street]'' (1797)
* ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=gYdmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP15 The Life of Mary, Queen of Scots, Derived from State Papers]'' Volume 1  [https://archive.org/details/lifemaryqueensc03chalgoog Volume 2] (1818)
* ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=SaU_AAAAYAAJ A supplemental apology for the believers in the Shakspear papers]'' (1799)
* ''Caledonia'' (1888-1894 republication): Vols 3-7 ([https://digital.nls.uk/chalmers-caledonia/archive/74466563 NLS]), corresponding to the original books 2 and 3.

==References==
*{{EB1911 |last=Macdonald |first=James |wstitle=Chalmers, George}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Gutenberg author | id=40770| name=George Chalmers}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=George Chalmers |birth=1742 |death=1825}}
* [http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/chalmers_george.htm "Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen"]
* {{NPG name}}
* {{UK National Archives ID}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chalmers, George}}
[[Category:1742 births]]
[[Category:1825 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Fochabers]]
[[Category:Scottish antiquarians]]
[[Category:Scottish biographers]]
[[Category:Scottish economists]]
[[Category:Scottish lawyers]]
[[Category:Scottish statisticians]]
[[Category:Scottish political writers]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Aberdeen]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]