Chesson's powerful pen
From Mr Alistair B. Cooke
Sir: Frederick William Chesson (1833-88), whom Geoffrey Wheatcroft was unable to trace (Books. 11 August), was not 'the Tam Dalyell of his day'. He was never an MP, or even a parliamentary candidate. His most potent political weapon was his journalist's pen. which he employed with considerable success on behalf of victims of injustice and imperialist oppression in various parts of the world including the West Indies (in the 1860s) as well as Africa later. His finest hour was probably the famous campaign of protest against Turkey's Bulgarian atrocities in 1876, which in a matter of weeks roused immense feeling throughout this country. The headquarters of the campaign was the London office of the Aborigines Protection Society, of which Chesson was secretary. His pamphlet, Turkey and the Slave Trade (1877). attracted considerable attention. Chesson was, however, no boring fanatic. Gladstone's very unfanatical private secretary, Edward Hamilton, met Chesson at a dinner in the Reform Club on 17 January 1885 and found him 'agreeable' company, as he recorded in his diary.
Alistair B. Cooke
London SW I
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