Biography
Chalmers was born at Fochabers, Moray, in 1742. His father, James Chalmers, was a grandson of George Chalmers of Pittensear, a small estate in the parish of Lhanbryde, now St Andrews-Lhanbryde, in Moray, owned by the family since the beginning of the 17th century. After completing the usual course at King's College, Aberdeen, the young Chalmers studied law at the University of Edinburgh for several years.
Two uncles on the father's side having settled in North America, he visited Maryland in 1763, apparently to assist in recovering a tract of land about which a dispute had arisen, and thus began practising as a lawyer at Baltimore, where for a time he met with much success. Having, however, espoused the cause of the Royalist party on the breaking out of the American War of Independence, he abandoned his professional prospects and returned to Great Britain. Several years elapsed before he obtained an appointment that placed him in a state of comfort and independence.
At length, in August 1786, Chalmers, whose sufferings as a Royalist must have strongly recommended him to the government of the day, was appointed chief clerk to the committee of Privy Council on matters relating to trade, a situation which he retained till his death in 1825, a period of nearly forty years. As his official duties made no great demands on his time, he had abundant leisure to devote to his favourite studies — the antiquities and topography of Scotland having thenceforth special attractions for his busy pen.
On his death, his valuable and extensive library he bequeathed to his nephew, at whose death in 1841 it was sold and dispersed. Chalmers was a member of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies of London, an honorary member of the Antiquarian Society of Scotland, and a member of other learned societies. In private life he was undoubtedly an amiable man, although the dogmatic tone that disfigures portions of his writings procured him many opponents. Among his avowed antagonists in literary warfare the most distinguished were Edmond Malone and George Steevens, the Shakespeare edition; Mathias, the author of the Pursuits of Literature; Dr John Jamieson, the Scottish lexicographer; Pinkerton, the historian; Dr Irving, the biographer of the Scottish poets; and Dr Currie of Liverpool. But with all his failings in judgment Chalmers was a valuable writer. He uniformly had recourse to original sources of information; and he is entitled to great praise for his patriotic and self-sacrificing endeavours to illustrate the history, literature and antiquities of his native country.
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