The Scottish Martyrs and Reformers are decently well-known among the Scottish history community for their bold fight for political change within their country. The fight for liberty, parliamentary democracy and the law.
However, there’s one radical figure who has largely faded into obscurity.
While largely forgotten today, George Mealmaker was another radical reformer with no less skill, conviction or impact on the movement he effectively gave his life for.
Born in the Seagate district of Dundee in 1768 to a low-class weavers family, he rose to prominence in the 1780s and co-founded the Dundee Friends of Liberty aiming to bring parliamentary reform to Britain.
An ardent supporter of the French Revolution and inspired by Thomas Paine, Mealmaker wrote a pamphlet known as the Dundee Address to the Friends of Liberty in 1793, in which he denounced the British state’s “despotism and tyranny” and the ongoing war against Revolutionary France.
In this pamphlet, he wrote: “your treasure is wasting fast; the blood of your brethren is pouring out; and all this to form chains for a free people, and eventually to rivet them for ever on yourselves.”
For such a letter, Mealmaker’s fellow radical Thomas Fyshe Palmer was arrested and tried for supposedly writing it but this was false. Mealmaker, however, bravely stepped up and defended his friend, giving evidence that it was in fact he who wrote it instead. Nonetheless, Palmer was found guilty and sent to Australia in penal servitude.
Mealmaker continued to defy the British state, becoming a leading member of the Society of the United Scotsmen, arguing for universal suffrage, democracy and parliamentary reform.
His final major pamphlet, however, The Moral and Political Catechism of Man in 1797 led to his downfall.
He was soon arrested and charged with sedition. In 1798 he was found guilty and sentenced to 14 years transportation in Australia.
Mealmaker arrived at Port Jackson in 1800 and was to share the fate of his fellow reformers, known as the Scottish Martyrs to Liberty, including the likes of Maurice Margarot, William Skirving, Joseph Gerrald, Thomas Muir and Thomas Fyshe Palmer, but the majority of them except for two had already passed away.
At this point, Mealmaker had reached his lowest, he had been forced to supervise a weaver factory under Governor Philip King’s orders in Parramatta, but that factory was soon severely damaged and destroyed by a fire, leaving him with nothing.
He died on the 30th of March 1808, aged 40, as a result of alcoholic suffocation, penniless and with no property to his name.
Today, George Mealmaker remains largely forgotten, even on the Martyrs Monument in Edinburgh, his name is absent, but his impact cannot be overstated. A radical reformer, a political giant and a man of principle.
Learning of this man and the many incredible deeds during his life has made me want to act to honour his contribution to public life. Therefore, I, have written a petition, aiming to push Dundee City Council to build a plaque in Dundee to commemorate George Mealmaker.
The llink to the petition below:
Please join in supporting this petition to give the respect and dignity George Mealmaker deserves. Thank you.
By Lewis Atkinson
