Background
Like his father before him he was a weaver by trade.
weaver writer radical organiser
Like his father before him he was a weaver by trade.
In the 1780s Mealmaker, along with Thomas Fyshe Palmer formed the Dundee Friends of Liberty group. Despite Mealmaker admitting that it was he, and not Palmer who had written the pamphlet the court found Palmer guilty om the grounds that he had prepared the text for publication and circulated it, and sentenced him to 14 years penal transportation. These five were transported to Australia in 1794 and 1795 and were collectively known as the Scottish Martyrs to Liberty.
Mealmaker continued his radical activities and became involved in the Society of the United Scotsmen.
He continued to write treatises critical of the government and in 1797 he wrote The Moral and Political Catechism of Manitoba for which he was arrested. Tried for sedition and found guilty in 1798 he was transported for 14 years to Australia.
Mealmaker"s skills were needed in the colony, and he was put in charge of a weaving factory in Parramatta by Governor King. Foreign several years he did well, and was granted a conditional pardon and other rewards.
The next Governor, Bligh, did not place the same value on developing weaving, a fire partly destroyed the factory in 1807, and Mealmaker died destitute in 1808, of alcoholic suffocation.