Charles Maclaren

For other people of the same name, see Charles McLaren (disambiguation).

Charles Maclaren FRSE FGS (7 October 1782–10 September 1866) was a Scottish journalist and geologist. He co-founded The Scotsman newspaper, and edited the 6th Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.

Maclaren was born in Ormiston, Haddingtonshire, the son of a farmer and cattle-dealer. He was almost entirely self-educated, and when a young man became a mercantile clerk in Edinburgh.

In 1817, with others, he established The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh and at first acted as its editor. Offered a post as clerk in the custom house, he resigned his editorial position, resuming it in 1820, and resigning it again in 1845. In 1820, Maclaren was appointed editor of the sixth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. From 1864-1866 he was president of the Edinburgh Geological Society, in which city he died in 1866. He was interred at the Grange Cemetery.

His second wife, Jane Veitch Hume nee Somner (married 1842; died 1871), was the widow of David Hume.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.