Author: Neilson, Peter
Biography:
by
Ragaz, Sharon (SR)
NEILSON, Peter (1795-1861: ODNB)
Born on 24 Sept. 1795 at Glasgow, he was the youngest son of George Neilson (d 1826), a calenderer (that is, someone who glazes or smooths cloth), and his wife, Janet (Galbraith). He was educated at the Glasgow high school and the University of Glasgow before beginning work with his father trading cotton goods with America. The work required him to travel to America. He married his cousin, Elizabeth Robertson (d 1831), on 11 Sept. 1820 in Glasgow. A year later they, with an infant, set sail from Greenock for New York; Neilson later wrote about their experiences in his Recollections of a Six Years Residence in the United States of America (1830). His poems on scriptural themes postdate the death of his wife after their return to Scotland. In 1841 he settled in Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, with his sister, Janet, and her family. He invented a method for iron-plating ships which was adopted by the Admiralty although his contribution was not formally acknowledged. On 2 Mar. 1849 he applied for relief to the RLF, giving business misfortunes and poor health as the causes of his distress. He applied five times in total and was awarded £30. He died on 3 May 1861 at Kirkintilloch and was buried beside his wife in the burial ground of Glasgow Cathedral. His three daughters, Margret, Jane, and Janet, applied to the RLF as his orphans in July 1861 but seem not to have received any assistance. His other major publication is a slave narrative—The Life and Adventures of Zamba, An African Negro King and his Experiences of Slavery in South Carolina (1846)—which he “corrected and arranged” although his preface establishes that this role included significant rewriting. (One of his letters to the RLF records that he inherited two Black slaves from his father and refused to sell or otherwise exploit them.) (ODNB 13 May 2020; ancestry.co.uk 2 Sept. 2025; 19 July 2026; AA; RLF file 1225) SR