Indian Captive, Indian King: Peter Williamson in America and Britain
FAIN: FT-59495-12
Timothy John Shannon
Gettysburg College (Gettysburg, PA 17325-1483)
In a narrative published in 1757, Peter Williamson claimed he was kidnapped from Aberdeen, sold into servitude in America, held captive by Indians, and taken as a prisoner of war by the French. Williamson made a career of his misfortune, suing the people he believed involved in his kidnapping, giving public performances of his story in Indian costume, and operating a coffeehouse in Edinburgh known as Indian Peter's. I intend to write the first scholarly biography of Williamson, separating the fact from fiction within his story and explaining his self-invention within the context of the British Empire's encounter with colonial and Native Americans. This book will contribute to the new cultural history of British imperialism by explaining Williamson's role as an interpreter of colonial America for British audiences. An NEH Summer Stipend will enable me to complete two months of important research on Williamson in the National Archives of Scotland.
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Indian Captive, Indian King: Peter Williamson in America and Britain (Book)Title: Indian Captive, Indian King: Peter Williamson in America and Britain
Author: Timothy J. Shannon
Abstract: In 1758 Peter Williamson appeared on the streets of Aberdeen, Scotland, dressed as a Native American and telling a remarkable tale. He claimed that as a young boy he had been kidnapped from the city and sold into slavery in America. In performances and in a printed narrative he peddled to his audiences, Williamson described his tribulations as an indentured servant, Indian captive, soldier, and prisoner of war. Aberdeen’s magistrates called him a liar and banished him from the city, but Williamson defended his story.
Separating fact from fiction, Timothy J. Shannon explains what Williamson’s tale says about how working people of eighteenth-century Britain, so often depicted as victims of empire, found ways to create lives and exploit opportunities within it. Exiled from Aberdeen, Williamson settled in Edinburgh, where he cultivated enduring celebrity as the self-proclaimed “king of the Indians.” His performances and publications capitalized on the curiosity the Seven Years’ War had ignited among the public for news and information about America and its native inhabitants. As a coffeehouse proprietor and printer, he gave audiences a plebeian perspective on Britain’s rise to imperial power in North America.
Year: 2018
Primary URL:
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674976320Publisher: Harvard University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9870674976320
Copy sent to NEH?: No