The Alien Registers held by Edinburgh City Archives contain the details of foreign nationals living in Edinburgh in the late 18th and early 19th century. Details of visitors and immigrants were kept by a local government worried about domestic security during the Napoleonic wars. In an age before passports were common, these registers are a fascinating record of the travellers and visitors who worked and lived in Edinburgh at the time.  If you’re interested in learning more about Edinburgh’s Alien registers, click here. You can also access an index to the names listed in the registers by clicking here.

You can read about one of the ‘aliens’ found in the register below.

Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, March 16 1766 – 30 April 1875

In the spring of 1814, the details of the explorer, cartographer and artist Jean-Frédéric Waldeck appear in the register. Best known for his exploration of Mexico, sketches of Mayan and Aztec sculpture and the republication of a set of pornographic prints titled I Modi, Waldeck was also known for being economical with the truth. He most frequently used the title of ‘Count’ and claimed to have been born in various places -Paris, Prague or Vienna- at various times.

Although some sources suggest Waldeck was born 16 March 1766, his date of birth is unverified and variously reported. In the Register of Aliens he claims to have been born in Berlin around 1783, arrived at Portsmouth in 1807, and appears to have spent a total of seven or more years living in Great Britain. Prior to arriving in Britain, he claimed to have travelled to South Africa and participated in Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt. All of the details of Waldeck’s early life are a strange mixture of probable truths and unbelievable tales, most of which cannot be confirmed in any surviving records.

A contemporary by the name of Mary R. Darby Smith took an interest in Waldeck’s life and adventures and met with him in the latter part of his life. Waldeck’s admirer noted down some details of Waldeck’s life as a young man as he recounted it:

‘He resided in England for some years, and was often in company with Fox, Pitt, and Sheridan, and drank with them his full allowance of port, but was never intoxicated. He said he had frequently dined with George III. I wish I could remember the name of a nobleman with whom he stayed in Scotland at the same time that Lord Byron was a guest also.’

It is difficult to determine precisely how much time Waldeck spent in Scotland, where he was living, or what might have brought him to Edinburgh. Waldeck’s reasons may well have been political. The ‘Count’ claimed to have a gift for forging signatures with great accuracy, although this was described by him as a hobby, rather than an act of fraud.  Indulging in his fondness for well executed forgery, Waldeck claims to have imitated Napoleon’s signature. When the leader was informed of this, he personally chastised Waldeck and sent him to Vicennes prison for ten days. This is yet another unconfirmed tale…

In the register, he identified his occupation as that of an artist- Waldeck certainly had some formal training as a lithographer and throughout the mid and late nineteenth century, published a series of drawn depictions of sculptures and archaeological sites at Yucatán, Mérida and Uxmal. Waldeck claimed to have studied under none other than the influential French Neo-classical artist, Jacques Louis David- this again, is difficult to verify. However, it is possible that Waldeck was honing his skills as a lithographer and artist during the time he spent in Great Britain- there were certainly numerous lithography studios and artists working in Edinburgh throughout this period.

Waldeck was undoubtedly a curious and adventurous man and the unsubstantiated and at times absurd stories he told about his own life raise questions about the validity of the information recorded in the Register of Aliens. Nonetheless, the registers give evidence of the ‘Count’s’ presence in Edinburgh in the Spring of 1814 and arguably serve as one of the few official records that exist concerning Waldeck’s early life.

Waldeck eventually settled more or less permanently in France and one account explains that he married for the first time as an octogenarian and had at least one son with his much younger English wife. Waldeck’s death was in keeping with his colourful life.The ‘Count’ is said to have died near the Champs Élysées where, at the age of 109, he allegedly died of a heart attack while ‘eyeing’ a beautiful woman.