![Peter Williamson, otherwise known as](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Peter_Williamson%2C_otherwise_known_as_%22Indian_Peter%22.jpg)
Peter Williamson (1730 – 19 January 1799), also known as "Indian Peter", was a Scottish memoirist who was part-showman, part-entrepreneur and inventor. Born in a
croft
Croft may refer to:
Occupations
* Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling
* Crofting, small-scale food production
* Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft
Locations In the Uni ...
in Aberdeenshire, he was forcibly taken to North America at an early age, but succeeded in returning to Scotland where he eventually became a well-known character in 18th century
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. He adopted the pseudonym "Indian Peter" due to his time spent with
native Americans and his self-exploitation of this in an autobiography and by touring Scotland and England in the guise of a "Red Indian".
Early life
Williamson was born the son of James Williamson in a
croft
Croft may refer to:
Occupations
* Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling
* Crofting, small-scale food production
* Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft
Locations In the Uni ...
in Hirnlay near
Aboyne
Aboyne ( sco, Abyne, gd, Abèidh) is a village on the edge of the Highlands in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the River Dee, approximately west of Aberdeen. It has a swimming pool at Aboyne Academy, all-weather tennis courts, a bowling green and ...
. He described his parents as "reputable though not rich" and at an early age was sent to live with a maiden aunt in
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
.
[J K Gillon, Eccentric Edinburgh, Moubray House, Edinburgh 1990, p.30]
Though little acknowledged in history, there was in those days a thriving trade in stolen children and others. Those engaged in kidnapping were called "spirits", and many of those who were spirited away were taken to North America. In January 1743, Williamson fell victim to the trade when he was kidnapped while playing on the quay at Aberdeen. His autobiography gives his age as eight at the time. Some of the Aberdeen
bailies
A bailie or baillie is a civic officer in the local government of Scotland. The position arose in the burghs, where bailies formerly held a post similar to that of an alderman or magistrate (see bailiff). Baillies appointed the High Constables of ...
were suspected of colluding with the traffickers; an estimated 600 children disappeared from the port when the trade was at its height between 1740 and 1746.
The Plantation
Williamson was taken to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and sold for £16
as an
indentured servant
Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an " indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment ...
for a period of seven years to a fellow Scot, Hugh Wilson. Wilson had himself been kidnapped as a boy and sold into indentured servitude, but, like many indentured servants, had earned his freedom. He may have therefore sympathised with Peter's situation.
Williamson said Wilson treated him kindly, and when the latter died in 1750, just before the end of the indenture, he bequeathed the boy £120 plus his best horse and saddle and all his clothes.
This helped bring about a change in Peter's fortunes.
Continuing life in America
At the age of 24, Williamson married the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner and was given a dowry of 200 acres of land close to the frontier of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, where he settled down to live as a farmer.
On the night of 2 October 1754 his farm was attacked by
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
Indians and he was taken prisoner. The house was plundered and burned to the ground. Williamson related that he was forced to march many miles acting as a pack-mule for the Cherokees and that, whilst with them, he witnessed many murders and
scalping
Scalping is the act of cutting or tearing a part of the human scalp, with hair attached, from the head, and generally occurred in warfare with the scalp being a trophy. Scalp-taking is considered part of the broader cultural practice of the tak ...
s.
After several months he escaped and made his way back to his father-in-law's home, where he learnt that his wife had died in his absence.
He was called before the State Assembly in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
to pass on any information he had acquired during his captivity. Whilst there, he enlisted in an army regiment raised to combat in the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
. In the following two years he rose to the rank of lieutenant.
Third capture/return to Scotland
![French and Indian Cruelty title page](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/French_and_Indian_Cruelty_title_page.jpg)
In a now repeating pattern he was captured by French troops and marched to
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. He was then granted status as an "exchange prisoner" and sent on a ship to
Plymouth in England where he arrived in November 1756. Having a damaged left hand from being wounded, he was discharged from the army as unfit and given a small
gratuity
A gratuity (often called a tip) is a sum of money customarily given by a customer to certain service sector workers such as hospitality for the service they have performed, in addition to the basic price of the service.
Tips and their amount ...
of six shillings to help him.
He set off to walk from Plymouth back to Aberdeen (almost exactly 1000 km). Arriving penniless in
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
his stories aroused the interest of some "honourable and influential men" who encouraged him to write about his exploits. With their backing he published his account under the title ''French and Indian Cruelty, exemplified in the Life and various Vicissitudes of Fortune of Peter Williamson, who was carried off from Aberdeen in his Infancy and sold as a slave in Pennsylvania''.
A thousand copies of the book were sold, earning Williamson a profit of £30, which allowed him to continue his journey to Scotland in comparative ease.
Return to Scotland
![Mercat Cross, High Street, Edinburgh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Mercat_Cross%2C_High_Street%2C_Edinburgh.jpg)
As he travelled northwards, Williamson took to dressing as a "
Red Indian
The Native American name controversy is an ongoing discussion about the changing terminology used by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas to describe themselves, as well as how they prefer to be referred to by others. Preferred terms vary pri ...
" and giving displays of Indian life, e.g. demonstrating war-cries and dancing, to help sell further copies of his book which he carried around with him. In June 1758 he finally returned to Aberdeen, some 15 years after his kidnapping.
While he was selling copies of his book in Aberdeen, the authorities charged Williamson with
libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
in relation to his accusations of their involvement in his original kidnapping. Since the same magistrates he was accusing were also judging him, a guilty verdict was perhaps inevitable. Surplus copies of his book were seized and burned publicly at the
mercat cross by the common hangman. Williamson was made to sign a statement stating that his claims were false, fined five shillings and banished from Aberdeen as a
vagrant
Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...
.
Edinburgh
Williamson then headed for
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
where he settled for the remainder of his life. Here he opened a coffee house under
Parliament House
Parliament House may refer to:
Australia
* Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia
* Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia
* Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland
* Parliament House, Darwin, Parliame ...
which became a favourite resort of Edinburgh lawyers and their clients.
Robert Fergusson
Robert Fergusson (5 September 1750 – 16 October 1774) was a Scottish poet. After formal education at the University of St Andrews, Fergusson led a bohemian life in Edinburgh, the city of his birth, then at the height of intellectual and c ...
devoted a verse of his poem ''The Rising of the Session'' to this popular establishment:
This vacance acationis a heavy doom
On Indian Peter's coffee-room
For a' his china pigs are toom ottles are empty Nor do we see
In wine the soukar biskets soom ugar biscuits swim As light's a flee
Having read his book, some of the lawyers encouraged him to sue the Aberdeen magistrates. The case was heard in the
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...
in Edinburgh and the judges found unanimously in Williamson's favour. The
Provost of Aberdeen
The Lord Provost of Aberdeen is the convener of the Aberdeen City local authority in Scotland.
They are elected by the city council and serve not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city. They are equivalent in m ...
, four
bailies
A bailie or baillie is a civic officer in the local government of Scotland. The position arose in the burghs, where bailies formerly held a post similar to that of an alderman or magistrate (see bailiff). Baillies appointed the High Constables of ...
and the
Dean of Guild
A Dean of Guild, under Scots law, was one of a group of burgh magistrates who, in later years, had the care of buildings. The leader of the group was known as Lord Dean of Guild.
Originally, the post was held by the head of the Guild brethren o ...
were forced to pay him £100 in compensation.
Emboldened by this success, Williamson decided further to sue Bailie William Fordyce and others, who he believed were personally responsible for his kidnapping. The case went before James Forbes, Sheriff-Substitute of Aberdeenshire, acting as arbiter. It seems that the defendants wined and dined Forbes generously ahead of his final deliberations and he
exonerate
Exoneration occurs when the conviction for a crime is reversed, either through demonstration of innocence, a flaw in the conviction, or otherwise. Attempts to exonerate convicts are particularly controversial in death penalty cases, especially wh ...
d them. The decree was read out at the mercat cross the next day.
However, the case was referred to the Court of Session in Edinburgh, and after Williamson produced hard evidence of the defendants' involvement, the Court reversed the Sheriff-Substitute's decision in December 1763. Williamson was awarded £200 damages plus 100
guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
s legal costs.
Fame and fortune
Williamson's new-found wealth enabled him to open a tavern in
Parliament Close bearing a sign worded, ''Peter Williamson, Vintner From The Other World'', in allusion to his time in North America. A wooden figure of him in
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
Indian costume stood at the head of the close to advertise its location.
In 1769 Williamson opened a printing shop in the
Luckenbooths
The Luckenbooths were a range of tenements which formerly stood immediately to the north of St. Giles' Kirk in the High Street of Edinburgh from the reign of King James II in the 15th century to the early years of the 19th century. They were dem ...
between
St Giles High Kirk and the north side of the
Royal Mile
The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...
. He taught himself the craft of printing using a portable press purchased in London. He then invented his own portable printing press and travelled to exhibitions and fairs to promote his new product. He also invented waterproof ink for stamping linen which withstood both boiling and bleaching.
In 1773 Williamson compiled the first Edinburgh street directory in conjunction with his idea of setting up a regular postal service in the city. This comprised a list of streets and closes with the addresses of lawyers, merchants, officials and other notable gentlemen. Addresses of shops and taverns were also included, thereby not only hugely aiding navigation in the city but creating what is now a very valuable historical source. The Directory cost one shilling and was published regularly with relevant updates until 1796.
In 1776 he launched a weekly magazine, ''The Scots Spy'' or ''Critical Observer'' but this ran only from 8 March until 30 August 1776. It was issued each Friday and contained articles and local gossip. He tried to revive this in 1777 under the title ''The New Scots Spy'' but this second venture ran only from 29 August until 14 November 1777.
In 1777 he married Jean the daughter of John Wilson, a bookseller in Edinburgh. They divorced in 1788.
The
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to:
*National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra
*National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred
*National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C.
*National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...
in London has a print which appeared in ''The Grand Magazine'' in June 1759 showing Williamson in full "Delaware Indian" dress with tomahawk and scalping knife. The caricaturist
John Kay drew him in Indian costume some time around 1768 and this drawing appeared in the preface of later editions of Williamson's autobiography. It also appears as portrait No.128 in Kay's "Original Portraits", a collection of drawings of Edinburgh characters of the time.
Postal service
![Peter Williamson's 1784 Penny Post](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Peter_Williamson%27s_1784_Penny_Post.jpg)
Some time before 1774 Williamson introduced a postal service in Edinburgh. This is evidenced in his Edinburgh Directory of that year, where he draws the public's attention to the fact that "the publisher" (i.e. himself) is willing to dispatch letters and packages up to 3 pounds in weight to any place within one mile of the city's
mercat cross, as well as to properties in North and South
Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
. The service was run from his premises in the Luckenbooths every hour on the hour and cost one penny.
Seventeen local shopkeepers spread throughout the city were paid to receive the letters, thus effectively creating the first "post offices". Four uniformed postmen were employed to deliver from the Luckenbooths to the shops. Their hats were emblazoned with the words "Penny Post" and they were numbered 1, 4, 8 and 16 (giving the impression that the business was bigger than it was).
The service was the first regular and continuous postal service in Scotland, and ran under Williamson's control for 30 years. In 1793, it was integrated into the
General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
and Williamson received £25 for the goodwill of the business and a pension of 25 shillings per year.
The poet Robert Fergusson again referred to Williamson in ''Codicile to Robert Fergusson's Last Will'':
To Williamson, and his resetters
Dispersing of the burial letters
That they may pass with little cost
Fleet on the wings of penny-post
Death
![The north-east section of Old Calton Burial Ground facing south to the Martyrs Monument](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/The_north-east_section_of_Old_Calton_Burial_Ground_facing_south_to_the_Martyrs_Monument.jpg)
In his final years Williamson returned to running a tavern, this time in the
Lawnmarket
The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...
, where he seems to have become an alcoholic. He died "of a decline" in January 1799, aged 74, and was buried on 22 January.
He was buried in ground belonging to John Scott in the
Old Calton Burial Ground
The Old Calton Burial Ground is a cemetery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It located at Calton Hill to the north-east of the city centre. The burial ground was opened in 1718, and is the resting place of several notable Scots, including philosopher ...
in Edinburgh, 15 metres northeast of the
Political Martyrs' Monument
The Political Martyrs Monument, located in the Old Calton Burial Ground on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, commemorates five political reformists from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Designed by Thomas Hamilton and erected in 1844, it is a tall ...
. Whilst the grave is unmarked, he is at least commemorated today by tour guides. His obituary in "
The Scots Magazine
''The Scots Magazine'' is a magazine containing articles on subjects of Scottish interest. It claims to be the oldest magazine in the world still in publication, although there have been several gaps in its publication history. It has reported on ...
" appeared soon after and praised Williamson and his various fortunes, good and bad.
His Street Directory was taken over in 1800 by Thomas Aitchison who had a printworks on Fleshmarket Close in the
old Town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...
.
Veracity of Indian captivity narrative
The veracity of Williamson's captivity story was challenged almost as soon as it was first printed, and the work has always been seen as suspect among professional historians. In a 1964 article for the quarterly journal ''
Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies'', J. Bennett Nolan qualified Williamson as "one of the greatest liars who ever lived."
Whilst Bennett's statement may be slightly harsh, recent scholarship speculate that large parts of Williamson's narrative are in fact a fabrication; including possibly his marriage, his age at the time of his first kidnapping from Aberdeen, and most significantly his capture by Native Americans.
Whilst Williamson's tale is "not to be trusted as an account of Indian Captivity," it is an interesting example of the popular literature genre Timothy J. Shannon has called "narratives of unfortunates." It is also a good example of anti-French propaganda during the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
, and like Defoe's ''
Robinson Crusoe
''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...
'', sheds light on the colonial construction and representation of native peoples.
[Shannon, Timothy J. "King of the Indians: The Hard Fate and Curious Career of Peter Williamson". ''The William and Mary Quarterly'' 66.1 (2009): 3–44.]
Works
Written by Peter Williamson
* ''French and Indian Cruelty, exemplified in the Life and various Vicissitudes of Fortune of Peter Williamson, who was carried off from Aberdeen in his Infancy and sold as a slave in Pennsylvania'' (York, 1757)
* ''Some Considerations of the Current State of Affairs Wherein the Defenceless State of Great Britain is Pointed Out'' (York, 1758)
* ''A Brief Account of the War in North America'' (Edinburgh, 1760)
* ''Travels of Peter Williamson amongst the Different Nations and Tribes of Savage Indians in America'' (Edinburgh, 1768) (reprinted 1786)
* ''A Nominal Encomium on the City of Edinburgh'' (Edinburgh, 1769)
* ''A General View of the Whole World'' (Edinburgh, c.1770)
* ''A Curious Collection of Moral Maxims and Wise Sayings'' (Edinburgh, c.1772)
* ''The Royal Abdication of Peter Williamson, King of the Mohawks'' (Edinburgh c.1775)
* ''Proposals for Establishing a Penny Post'' (Edinburgh c.1773)
Printed by Peter Williamson
* ''Psalms in Metre'' (Edinburgh, 1779)
* ''The Poems of
Sir David Lindsay
Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount (c. 1490 – c. 1555; ''alias'' Lindsay) was a Scottish herald who gained the highest heraldic office of Lyon King of Arms. He remains a well regarded poet whose works reflect the spirit of the Renaissance, spec ...
'' (Edinburgh, 1776)
*
William Meston
William Meston (1688? – 1745) was a Scotland, Scottish poet.
The son of a blacksmith, he was educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, took part in the Jacobite rising of 1715, Jacobite rebellion of 1715, and had to go into hiding. His ''Knight o ...
's ''Mob Contra Mob'' or ''The Rabblers Rabbled''
* ''An Accurate View'' (Edinburgh 1783)
broadsheet listing the streets, wynds and closes of Edinburgh
References
Further reading
* Anon. "Peter Williamson and the Edinburgh Penny Post". ''Philatelic Journal of Great Britain''. (November 1938).
* Linnell, Rosemary. ''The Revenge of Indian Peter: The Incredible Story of Peter Williamson''. Lewes, Sussex: Book Guild, 2006
* McDonnell, Frances. ''The Adventures of Peter Williamson''. St. Andrews: F. McDonnell, 1994
* Skelton, Douglas. ''Indian Peter: The Extraordinary Life and Adventures of Peter Williamson''. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing, 2005
External links
''The Edinburgh Directory For The Year 1773-4'', National Library of ScotlandFour of Williamson's Directories
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williamson, Peter
1730 births
1799 deaths
18th-century Scottish people
American indentured servants
Scottish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies
People from Aberdeenshire
Scottish memoirists
Scottish travel writers
Scottish businesspeople
Burials at Old Calton Burial Ground
Court of Session cases
People of colonial Pennsylvania
American domestic workers