The Life and Astonishing Adventures of Peter Williamson, who was carried off when a child from Aberdeen and sold for a slave.

Glasgow: Printed for the Booksellers

[1840-1850?] per University of Glasgow Union Catalogue of Scottish Chapbooks

24 pages

16 cm

83 printed at bottom of title-page

biography

Told in first person, this autobiographic tale describes the life and miseries of Peter Williamson, who was kidnapped by slavers from the docks of Aberdeen when he was a child. Taken by the slavers to America, he was sold into bondage to a gentleman from North Britain who had experienced similar circumstances in his childhood and therefore treated Peter quite well, allowing him to pursue an education and rewarding him with freedom, a horse, and money upon his death. Peter worked his way up in the world, marrying well, gaining and working a tract of land of his own until the French-Indian War, at which point he was captured, enslaved, and tortured by Native Americans. The majority of the rest of the chapbook is dedicated to describing in gruesome detail the many acts of violence, murder, and torture that he witnesses and experiences while in the hands of his captors. The final few pages describe the fashion, food, warfare, and character of the Native Americans Peter observed during his time with this tribe before he escaped, fled to Quebec, and from there to England.

Wikipedia entry for Peter Williamson

Aberdeen, Scotland

Québec (Province)

England

Slavery

War

Crime

Chapbooks - Scotland - Glasgow

Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph Library, Guelph, Ontario

JPEGs and PDF derived from master file, which was scanned from the original book in 24-bit color at 600 dpi in TIFF format using an Epson Expression 10000XL scanner.

In the public domain; For high quality reproductions, contact Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph. libaspc@uoguelph.ca, 519-824-4120, Ext. 53413

Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library, Guelph, Ontario, Canada