Up for auction a RARE! "Antiquarian" George Chalmers Hand Written Letter.

ES-8738

George Chalmers (1742 – 31 May 1825) was a Scottish

antiquarian

and political writer. Chalmers was born at Fochabers,

Moray;

his father, James Chalmers, was a grandson of George Chalmers of Pittensear in Lhanbryde.

After completing a course at King's College, Aberdeen, he studied law

at the University of Edinburgh for several years.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.In August 1786, Chalmers was

appointed chief clerk to the 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.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.