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Nepal - copyvio[edit]

Nepalese Postal History from Earliest Times Until 1959 Dr. Ramesh Shrestha, Nepal

Extended content

Nepal's initial postal history is shrouded in mystery as sequence of postal events is not yet clear. Therefore, it becomes necessary to rely on related extant materials like Lal Mohurs (red seals) and black seal papers of Nepalese kings and Rana Prime Ministers respectively. Information left by past studies helps to ascertain the subject to some extent. Rules and regulations, although very few published at different irregular frequencies, also support to this field. Furthermore, existing postal covers help much to reveal multifarious facts on postal history of Nepal. Kagate Hulak (Paper Post) and Thaple Hulak(Burden Post) were known to exist during Prithvi Narayan Shah (King of Nepal, 1768 to 1775). There is no information about any kind of postal system during pre–Lichhavi and Lichhavi periods of Nepal. And, also almost no information about Malla dynasty postal system within the valley kingdoms is known. However, there is some information pertaining to the initiation of regular communication during the time of King Prithvi Narayan Shah (of unified Nepal, 1768 to 1775), the founder of modern Nepal. Such contacts between Kathmandu, Nuwakot, Gorkha and other areas were so important for the unification campaign (of 1744 to 1810) that without good infrastructure of communications it was almost impossible to control the far lying territories successfully. Kagate Hulak(Paper Post) and Thaple Hulak(Burden Post) are known to have networked within the country during his time (Babu Ram Acharya, 1968 in Shree Panch Maharajdhiraj Prithvi Narayan Shahko Sanchhipta Jivanee, Part 3). These primitive, yet the then effective postal systems were regulated by government messengers and runners who were assigned to carry official orders and documents (by Kagate Hulak) and government goods (by Thaple Hulak). General public were not allowed to use the government post as it was exclusively for the use of government affairs only. General Bhimsen Thapa (Prime Minister, 1806 to 1837) has been credited as one of the pioneer reformers of modern Nepal. Among several ameliorations introduced by Bhimsen Thapa during the reign of Rajendra Bikram Shah (King of Nepal, 1816 to 1847) postal reformation was extremely felt in the dire state of importance within the Nepalese territories up to the Mahakali River in the west and the Mechi River in the east. Previously, before the war of 1814 to 1815/16 (7 months in the first phase and 2 months in the second phase = total of 9 months) with British India, the Nepalese territories were extended up to the Sutlej River in the west and Tista River in the east. And, due to the lack of well organized postal system in the newly conquered areas (from 1768 to 1815) from the capital, it became very difficult to control the then overstretched (to nearly 1,500 km from west to east) imperial kingdom. Even then it took several years for the postal system to become more rectified because of this large territory with difficult topographical conditions. During the time of Rajendra Bikram Shah (King of Nepal, 1817 to 1847), extensive postal reforms were initiated by creation of several postal routes, evidenced by the existence of Lal Mohurs (royal red seal documents), appertaining to them.

There is a strong evidence of management and monopoly of the government mail system. That is a Lal Mohur of 1887 Bhadra 07 VS (20 Aug 1830), which is a good example that exhibits the significance of the then postal system even during that time. This document states that the officer–in–charge and other staff at Chisapani Gadhi were authorized to open any letters (sent through personal bearer) . . . Some of the clauses of this document were: Clause II: Regarding letters sent through personal bearers rather than the postal letters to and from Madhesh (Terai) open and inspect all letters even though they may belong to the priests Chautariyas, Kazis, Sardars, Subedars, Mercahnts and others. If those letters are of domestic matters let them come and go. If those letters contained Royal Palace affairs and news arrest the bearers of such letters and present them before our court by placing them in the custody of musketeers. Clause III: Foreigners should not be permitted to set up post offices on way to …….. Clause IV: Go on inspecting Kagate Hulak (Paper Post). (Source: Nepali, Chittaranjan., Bhimsen Thapa Tatha Tatkalin Nepal). One of the other interesting documents, the Lal Mohur, of Rajendra Bikram Shah was about the management of the postal system dated 1891 Paush 14 (27 Dec 1834). This document creates & assigns Paper Post Runners sfut] x'nfs for the Markhu route (South of Kathmandu valley). It has been endorsed by Prime Minister General Bhimsen Thapa and Ranajor Thapa with their signatures at the back. Additionally, it also differentiates & prohibits paper post runners in carrying Bhariko Hulak ef/Lsf] x'nfs (Burden Post). Such important documents, for other postal routes known to exist in many numbers, are strong substantiation that prove the management of postal network in Nepal initiated by Prime Minister General Bhimsen Thapa.

Svasti Sri (Giriraja Chakra Chudamani Narayanetyadi Vividha Virudavali Virajamana) Sri Man Maharajadhiraja (Sri Sri Sri Rajendra Bikram Shah Bahadur Shumsher Jang Devanam Sada Samara Vijayinam) Kasya Rukka ………… At Markhu, the following post runners of Palung are authorised with this Lal Mohur to carry the mails (Paper Post/ Letter Post) despatched from here and coming from south without delaying for a moment for which they need not pay any taxes from their earnings. They need not pay anything from their land earning to the revenue collector. They are waived from any kind of forced labour. If the concerned revenue collector does not follow this rule he will be heavily punished. These post runners need to carry letters only and they are not required to carry burden post. If the appointed post runners delay for a moment on the way, either during night or day, they will be heavily punished. Name list of 24 post runners followed by the date Vikram Sambat 1891 Paush 14 Tuesday (27 Dec 1834).

General Bhimsen Thapa (Prime Minister, 1806 to 1837) reformed the postal system within the country. The reformation was extremely felt in dire state of importance due to lack of well organized communication in the newly conquered areas up to the Sutlej River in the west and the Tista in the east. This resulted in loss of 1/3rd area of newly conquered territory after the Anglo–Nepal war 1814–15/16.

The Lal Mohur of King Rajendra Bikram Shah, created & assigned Paper Post Runners for Markhu route (South of Kathmandu valley). Additionally, it also differentiates & prohibits paper post runners to carry Bhariko Hulak ef/Lsf] x'nfs (Burden Post). At the end there is the name list of 24 post runners, who were given land as their wages. Date Vikram Sambat 1891 Paush 14 Tuesday (27 Dec 1834).

Similarly, the process of the development of postal system was carried on during the time of Shir 5 Surendra Bikram Shah (king of Nepal, 1847 to 1881) by the legendary Jung Bahadur Kunwar Rana (Prime Minister, 1846 to 1877). It has been stated that Jung Bahadur initiated a new type of postal system called Lauri Hulak nf}/L x'nfs (Stick Post). There was an official order that the travellers were required to volunteer in carrying the letters to respective destinations. In Lauri Hulak the letters were tied up around a stick which would be kept at the cross–roads in deserted manner and the passers–by are needed to carry that stick up to another cross–road as far as they would find convenient on their respective destinations. Then, another traveller, who is going to next cross–road needs to carry it to next point until the letter reaches to its final destination. This system was also quite effective although there was very high risk of letters being lost in transit. It is believed that Jung Bahadur Rana transmitted the news to other parts of the country of his appointment to premiership by using Lauri Hulak, which proved to be quite effective. Furthermore, black seal documents of Jung Bahadur and his sub–ordinates regarding the postal management in Nepal are also strong evidences of the development of the then postal scheme in Nepal.

Ranoddip Singh (Prime Minister, 1877 to 1885) started the network of organized postal system with postal markings in1878/79 and postage stamps in 1881 during the time of Surendra Bikram Shah Deva (King of Nepal, 1847 to 1881). The black seal of Ranoddip Singh. The consequences of the previous progress in Nepalese postal systems started since the unification of modern Nepal a great leap of its development was achieved by Ranoddip Singh (Prime Minister, 1877 to 1885) during the time of Surendra Bikram Shah Deva (King of Nepal, 1847 to 1881). He started the network of organized postal system in 1875 and with postal markings in 1878/79 and postage stamps in 1881.

According to several Nepalese sources like Arjun Shumsher J. B. Rana (Ninety Years of Nepal Postage, 1965), S. K. Bhattarai (Historical Review of Postal Service in Nepal 1875–1967, Philately Vol. II No. 1, 1967) and T. B. Khatri (The Postage Stamps of Nepal, 1973) Nepal's regular postal services started in 1875 on major routes linking Kathmandu with Gorkha, Pokhara and Palpa. The regular postal services started with the appointment of runners who were strictly instructed to carry official mails only and they were not allowed to carry any public mails. The runners travel on foot, which often took long time for mails to reach their destinations. In 1876 horse–riders were also appointed so that the mails started to reach earlier than before. Up to 1878 this postal service was not available to the public. However, it became more organized from late 1878 with the establishment of NEPAL HULAKGHAR 35 g]kfn x'nfs 3/ #% (Nepal Post Office, 35 = 1935VS = 1878) in Kathmandu and several post offices in different strategically important towns and on routes connecting them. The year 1879 was exclusively important in the postal history of Nepal when the postal service was made available to the general public for which the senders had to pay postage fee in advance, which appears to be ½ Anna (equivalent to 2 pice / paisa) for a standard letter. The mails of general public were usually scripted by manuscript endorsement of Mahasul Chukti dx;'n r'StL (Fee Paid) with a notation of the amount paid. Several examples of Mahasul Chukti covers are known from Palpa, Kalaiya, Kathmandu etc.

Beside Nepal Hulak Ghar (Kathmandu post office) there is deem information that some 42 (later 48 by 1881) post offices were established at different times before the introduction of postage stamps in 1881. Because of the birth and death of post offices at irregular frequencies during this period, it becomes very difficult to ascertain the exact number of these ealy post offices.

In an order to enter the more popular forms of postal communications as in the neighbouring countries like India, Nepal also introduced the first postal card in 1887 during the time of King Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah (King, 1881 to 1911) by Prime Minister Bir Shumhser J. B. Rana. Furthermore, during Bir Shumsher's time the stamps were started to be printed on Nepalese hand made Lokta paper with an addition of one more denomination of ½ Anna also later.

Hand made Lokta paper were used for printing Nepalese stamps from the time of Bir Shumsher J. B. Rana, (Prime Minister, 1885 to 1901) till later period. Another denomination of ½ Anna was issued later.

One of the examples of the first postal cards of Nepal issued in 1887 during the time of Bir Shumsher J. B. Rana. The use of two colours, vermillion for stamp and inscriptions in black, is a unique example not found elsewhere in many contemporary countries' stationeries. Furthermore, the practice of bicolour was never repeated on later period cards until in September 1997 when 110th anniversary of this card was commemorated by a 75 paisa more or less similar card.

The highly assertive Chandra Shumsher J. B. Rana (Prime Minister, 1901 to 1929) was very ambitious to improve the then extant postal system of the country. He comprehensively reorganized the postal system by the introduction of a new set of stamps: Shri Pashupati set 1907, printed in England in lieu of the existing crudely and locally produced stamps, the Sripech & crossed Khukuris series. These new stamps were line engraved, perforated and printed on European gummed paper in London. Chandra Shumsher was even thinking of Nepal's admission into Universal Postal Union (UPU) (Perceval Landon, Nepal Volume II, 1928, London). However, this could not happen due to reasons unknown. Because of this handicapped situation Nepal's postal entity was restricted within her own territory only.

The postal agreement with British India, which effected from 1st of March 1937, by Joodha Shumsher J. B. Rana (Prime Minister, 1932 to 1945) during the time of King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Deva, provided a relief to the postal aptitude as letters bearing Nepalese stamps addressed to India were duly delivered by Indian postal system and vice versa.

Joodha Shumsher J. B. Rana (Prime Minister, 1932 to 1945). The black seal document of Prime Minister Joodha Shumsher JB Rana for the exchange and management of FREE postal service arranged with the British Indian Post Office in Kathmandu for the army and civil officers stationed in India during the World War II. Document dated 1996 Kartik 14 (27 Oct 1939).

The Lal Mohur, royal red seal, of King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Deva for the management of Money Order and other matters of Birat Nagar Exchange PO. Document dated 2003 Kartik 26 (09 Nov 1946).

Nepal's membership into Universal Postal Union was effected from 1959 during the time of King Mahendra.

Furthermore, in due course during the time of Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Deva (King of Nepal 1955 to 1971), Nepal became member of Universal Postal Union (UPU) on 11th October 1956, which became effective from 14th April 1959. And, during the inauguration of Nepal's admission, King Mahendra delivered a speech highlighting the importance of Nepal's membership into UPU. For the student of Nepalese postal history, the period from the very far beginning until the admission into UPU is being considered as Nepal's classic postal history with diverse stages at different times. However, the classic here also means the unusual characteristics of the postal markings and their beautiful nature. The Nepalese postal system remained one of the best and cheap means of communication for the common Nepalese for several decades. The current book attempts to give vital information on several issues of postal system, post offices, postal routes, postmarks prevalent in Nepal from the earliest times until 1959.

Reference: Nepalese Postal History from the earliest times until 1959 by Dr. Ramesh Shrestha 2009 Published by Kazi Madhusudan Rajbhandary, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Peter Williamson[edit]

Extended content

Peter Williamson (1730–1799), or Indian Peter as he became known, was one of the more colourful personalities of 18th century Scotland. He was kidnapped and sold into slavery in America. He was captured by Indians, but eventually escaped and joined the British army, serving for three years. He was imprisoned by the French. He eventually returned to Scotland and successfully sued Aberdeen officials for slave trading. In Edinburgh, he published the city's first street directory and set up a postal service, called the Penny Post.

Early life[edit]

Peter was born in 1730, the son of a crofter, at Hirnley in the Parish of Aboyne, Aberdeenshire. His parents were 'reputable, though not rich' and they sent him, as a young boy, to live with an aunt in Aberdeen.

At this time, kidnapping was a flourishing business in Aberdeen. Children were regularly kidnapped for sale in American plantations and a number of the Aberdeen City Bailies, who were in partnership with the kidnappers, amassed fortunes from this 'hideous traffic in human merchandise'. Kidnapping developed as a sideline of a State approved method of dealing with criminals and undesirables by granting warrants to merchants and ship owners for the transportation of vagrants and criminals to the Colonies. It was a lucrative business as each able-bodied person delivered to the plantations in Barbados, Antigua and America, which were in desperate need of workers, could be sold as indentured servants at a substantial profit.

In 1743, Peter was on the harbour at Aberdeen when he was 'taken notice of by two fellows employed by some worthy merchants of the town, in that villainous practice called kidnapping'. He was 'marked out by these monsters as their prey and taken forcibly on board a ship' where he was locked up below decks with around sixty other boys. Peter was then shipped across the Atlantic to America, where the ship ran aground on a sandbank in Delaware Bay, off Cape May and the crew abandoned ship, leaving Peter and his companions to a claustrophobic night with the constant fear of imminent drowning. However, next day, the ship was still intact and the crew returned for their live cargo.

In America[edit]

Peter was sold as a slave in Philadelphia for a 'handsome sum'. He was indentured for a period of seven years to a fairly well off planter, Hugh Wilson, who had himself been kidnapped as a boy. Peter describes Wilson as a 'humane, honest and worthy man', and, contrary to the normal harsh conditions of slavery in America, he treated Peter kindly. Just as Peter's period of indenture was about to end, Hugh Wilson died and bequeathed Peter 'some money, his best horse, saddle and all his wearing apparel'.

At 24, Peter married the daughter of a wealthy planter. His father-in-law provided a dowry of 200 acres (0.81 km²) of land on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, and Peter settled down to his new life. However, marauding Indians began to prove troublesome, instigated by the French who paid for every British scalp taken. On the night of October 2, 1754, Peter was in his house alone when Indians surrounded it. He was captured, and his house was plundered and burned. The Indians used him as a pack-horse and he was force marched many miles, witnessing along the way the murder and scalping of numerous settlers. Peter somehow managed to survive, and made a daring escape from his captors. Despite his personal sufferings at the hands of the Indians, Peter had a great respect for them, laying the blame for their behaviour on the neglect and abuses of the British and the bribery and "political schemes of the French".

Peter was then called before the State Assembly in Philadelphia to pass on any information he had acquired during his captivity. Shortly after, he enlisted in one of the army regiments established to combat the French and Indians in the colonial war. For three years he served as a soldier, rising to the rank of lieutenant and was involved in many engagements, in one of which his hand was badly wounded. Peter paints a grim picture of the British campaign, supplies of food and arms were hopelessly inadequate and soldiers were on occasion mutinous through pay being badly in arrears. He was present at the Battle of Fort Oswego, in 1756, where the British forces were compelled to surrender and was taken a prisoner of war by the French.

Return to Great Britain[edit]

After being marched to Quebec, Peter embarked as an exchange prisoner on a ship bound for Plymouth, where he arrived in November 1756. Some months later, Peter was discharged as being unfit for further service, due to a wound in his left hand. With only a small gratuity of six shillings, he set off to walk to his hometown of Aberdeen.

He arrived penniless in York, where he was fortunate enough to interest 'certain honourable and influential men' in his case. They assisted him in the publication of an account of his unusual adventures and experiences. The book was titled "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." It gave remarkably good value for money, made excellent reading and created quite a stir in York. A thousand copies were sold and Peter made a net profit with which to continue his journey to Scotland.

On his travels northwards, he made some additional money by selling copies of his book and giving displays of Indian life: 'Armed to the teeth and painted like a Red Indian, he would enter a town, whooping and screeching until he had attracted a sufficiently large crowd. Then he would windmill his arms madly and give his impression of a war-dance.' At the end of the show, he would take up a collection and sell copies of his book.

Back in Scotland[edit]

In June 1758, Peter finally arrived in Aberdeen, where his exhibition of American Indian culture attracted great crowds and his book sold well. The details of his kidnapping horrified the Aberdeen public. The merchants and magistrates of Aberdeen also took note of the book, particularly the part that accused them of being involved in the kidnapping business, and Peter was charged with offering for sale a 'scurrilous and infamous libel upon the merchants and magistrates of the town'. The magistrates' own tribunal heard his case, so it was not difficult to secure a conviction: the magistrates being the aggrieved party as well as the judges. Copies of the book were seized and burned at the market-cross by the common-hangman. Peter was imprisoned until he signed a declaration that the account of his kidnapping was false, then he was fined ten shillings and banished from Aberdeen as a vagrant.

Peter made his way to Edinburgh, and found the city and its people much to his liking. The large hall in which the Scottish Parliament had met was then a meeting place associated with the adjoining law courts, and here Peter established a coffee-house that became a favorite meeting place of lawyers and their clients. The coffee-house consisted of 'three or four very small apartments, one within another; the partitions made of the thinnest materials; some of them even of brown paper'.

Robert Fergusson's poem, The Rising of the Session, described the lawyers departing for their summer break and devotes a verse to Peter's coffee-house:

This vacance is a heavy doom

On Indian Peter's coffee-room,

For a' his china pigs are toom

Nor do we see

In wine the sucker bisket soom

As light's a flee.

(Note: "Vacance" means vacation; "pigs", bottles; "toom", empty; "sucker bisket", sugar biscuit; "soom", swim)

Sues Aberdeen for slave trade[edit]

Peter sold copies of his book in the coffee-house and was encouraged by his lawyer customers to raise an action against the magistrates of Aberdeen. The case was heard in the Court of Session and the verdict was unanimous in Peter's favour. The Provost of Aberdeen, four Bailies and the Dean of Guild were ordered to pay a fine as compensation to Peter. His kidnapping was the best documented and, at the time, the most celebrated case of kidnapping. However, his enforced transportation and slavery were not exceptional as evidence of numerous other kidnappings emerged at the trial. The trade was at its briskest between 1740 and 1746, when more than 600 children from the Aberdeen area were transported to America. The evidence presented during the trial also detailed official corruption on an immense scale. Peter Williamson's final victory in court against the perpetrators of a practice that preyed on the poor and powerless was exceptional. Most victims being unable to return home, allowing the kidnapping trade to flourish for many years.

Peter then proceeded to raise an action for damages against the individual Bailies who had been personally responsible for his kidnapping. It was agreed that the matter should be decided by arbitration and the Sheriff-Substitute of Aberdeenshire, James Forbes, was appointed arbiter. James Forbes was best known for his convivial habits and, when he delayed his decision on the case until only 48 hours before the matter would return automatically to the jurisdiction of the Court of Session, both sides decided to speed up the process. The Sheriff-Substitute was bribed with vast amounts of food and drink at various taverns in Edinburgh over the following two days. He finally gave a verdict in favour of the kidnappers, after which he retired to bed 'very merry and jocose' and slept all the next day 'dead drunk and speechless'. The decree, which exonerated the kidnappers, was hurriedly drawn up and read aloud the following morning at the market-cross. The circumstances of the decision were brought to the attention of the Court of Session and Peter was able to produce evidence of the involvement of the bailie and his companions in his kidnapping. The court reversed the earlier decision and in December 1763, Peter was awarded damages with 100 guineas legal costs.

Business ventures[edit]

During these legal actions, Peter had also been busy in other areas. He had a lively and ingenious mind, and 'aided by the knowledge he had acquired in scenes more bustling than the Scottish Capital, he became a projector of schemes, locally new and unheard of, some of course visionary, but others practicable and likely to be generally useful'.

Tavern[edit]

He became proprietor of a famous tavern in Edinburgh's Old Parliament Close and, as a result of his earlier adventures, the sign over the tavern read: PETER WILLIAMSON, VINTNER FROM THE OTHER WORLD. Peter is described as being a 'robust, stout, athletic man and a great wag, of very jocular manners' and was a popular landlord. His occasional exhibitions, when he dressed as a Delaware Indian were also an attraction of considerable interest. A wooden figure of him in Indian dress stood as a signpost outside the tavern. The Edinburgh magistrates assembled at Peter's tavern for the 'deid chack', the dinner they took after attending a hanging. His flamboyant character even extended to the manner in which he signed his name with a flourish -- "P. Wm. son" -- with "son" lower down the page than "Wm.".

Street directory[edit]

In 1773, Peter compiled Edinburgh's first street directory. This pioneering work contained an 'alphabetical list of names and places of abode of the Members of the College of Justice, public and private gentlemen, merchants, and other eminent traders; mechanics, carriers, and all persons in public business. Where at one view, you have a plain direction, pointing out the streets, wynds, closes, lands, and other places of their residence in and about the metropolis'. The directory cost one shilling and Peter continued to publish it until 1796. His own directory places him in Edinburgh as follows:

1773- Printing House, Dunbar's Close.
1774- Printing House, Swan's Close, a little above the City Guard, north

side.

1775- Entry to the Royal Exchange.
1778- At the sign of the Lanthorn, Luckenbooths, South Side.
1790- At his General Post Office, Luckenbooths.

The directory was a product of his new business venture, a printing-house in the Edinburgh's Luckenbooths. In 1769, he had brought a new portable printing press from London and taught himself the craft of printing. He also invented a portable printing press which was able to print two folio pages, 'with the greatest expedition and exactness', and he would travel with his press to country fairs giving 'exhibitions of the wonder of printing to the astonished rustics'. At the same time, he developed stamps and ink for marking linen and books 'which stands washing, boiling and bleaching, and is more regular and beautiful than any needlework.' Another of his inventions was an early example of a basket scythe which he described as 'being able to do more execution in a field of oats do in one day, and to better purpose, than it is the power of six shearers'.

The Scots Spy or Critical Observer[edit]

In 1776, he launched a weekly periodical, The Scots Spy or Critical Observer , which ran for a total of ten months. It was published every Friday and consisted of a mixture of local gossip and articles.

Penny Post[edit]

During the time that Peter ran the coffee-house, he was frequently asked to arrange the delivery of letters and he employed a man to deliver them for a small charge. This gave Peter the idea for one of his most successful ventures - a regular postal service throughout the city. The earliest information about this is an advertisement in the second edition of his Edinburgh Directory published in 1774: 'The Publisher takes this opportunity to acquaint the Public that he will always make it his study to dispatch all letters and parcels, not exceeding three pounds in weight, to any place within an English mile to the east, south and west of the cross of Edinburgh, and as far as South and North Leith, every hour through the day for one penny each letter and bundle.'

The main office for Peter's postal service was in the Luckenbooths and he appointed seventeen shopkeepers in different parts of the city as official receivers of letters. He employed four uniformed postmen, who wore on their hats the words Penny Post and were numbered 1, 4, 8 and 16, so that the business would seem much larger than it actually was. Peter's Penny Post was the first in Britain and he ran it for thirty years. In 1793, the Williamson Penny Post was integrated into the General Post Office and he received a pension for the goodwill of the business.

In Robert Fergusson's poem, Codicile to Robert Fergusson's Last Will, he mentions Peter's Penny Post:

To Williamson, and his resetters

Dispersing of the burial letters,

That they may pass with little cost

Fleet on the wings of penny-post.

Later life[edit]

In his latter days, Peter returned to his old business and kept a tavern at Gavinloch's Land in Edinburgh's Lawnmarket, where it is thought that he ultimately became 'addicted to drink'. He died on January 19, 1799, and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Old Calton Cemetery, about fifteen paces north-east of the Martyr's Monument. The Scot's Magazine wrote:

At Edinburgh, Mr. Peter Williamson, well known for his various adventures through life. He was kidnapped when a boy at Aberdeen, and sent to America, for which he afterwards recovered damages. He passed a considerable time among the Cherokees, and on his return to Edinburgh amused the public with a description of their manners and customs, and his adventures among them, assuming the dress of one of their chiefs, imitating the war whoop, &c. He had the merit of first instituting a Penny-post in Edinburgh, for which, when it was assumed by Government, he received a pension. He also was the first who published a Directory, so essentially useful in a large city.

This article was first published in 'Eccentric Edinburgh'(Moubray House Press, 1990) by JK Gillon.

References[edit]

Gillon, JK 'Eccentric Edinburgh' (Moubray House Publishing, 1990) in which this article was first published. ISBN 0-948473-18-5
Dobson, David; "Colourful Scot's tale of child abduction, battle scars and retribution", Scotsman.com, 23 November 2005.
Skelton, Douglas; Indian Peter: The Extraordinary Life and Adventures of Peter Williamson, Mainstream Publishing (August 16, 2005) ISBN 1-84018-839-1.
Williamson, Peter; French and Indian Cruelty, Exemplified in the Life and Various Vicissitudes of Fortune, of Peter Williamson, A Disbanned Soldier. Extracts.
"Peter Williamson - Indian Peter", www.aboutaberdeen.com.