CHALNERS, George, British historian, born in Fochabers, Scotland, in 1742; died in London, England, 21 May, 1825. He was educated at King's College, Aberdeen, after which he studied law in Edinburgh. In 1763 he immigrated to America and settled in Baltimore, where he practiced his profession for several years with great success. He opposed the action of the colonists at the beginning of the Revolutionary war, and, being unsuccessful in this, he returned to England, where in 1786 he became chief clerk of the board of trade. He published political, historical, biographical, and miscellaneous works, among which are: "A Collection of Treaties between Great Britain and other Powers" (London, 1780); "Political Annals of the Present United Colonies" (1780; 2d ed., 2 vols., Boston, 1845), a work interesting for its legal bearings; "An Estimate of the Comparative Strength of Great Britain during the Present and four Preceding Reigns" (1782; revised ed., 1810); "Opinions on Interesting Subjects of Public Laws and Commercial Policy, arising from American Independence" (1784); " Life of Thomas Ruddington" (1794); "Apology for the Believers of the Shakespeare Papers" (1797); "Supplementary Apology" (1799); "Appendix" (1800); " Life of Sir David Lyndsay, and a Glossary of his Poetical Works" (1806); "Life of Mary, Queen of Scots, from the State Papers" (2 ed., 1822); " Churchyard Chips Concerning Scotland"; "Life of Daniel Defoe," and, under the pen-name of Francis Oldys of the University of Pennsylvania, " Life of Thomas Paine" (1791-'2). His principal work is "Caledonia," a comprehensive historical account of Scotland from the earliest period (3 vols., 1807-'24). This was to have been extended to six volumes. The fourth was left in manuscript.