Budgett Meakin

James Edward Budgett Meakin (8 August 1866 – 26 June 1906) was an English journalist. He wrote extensively about Morocco, and was concerned with the working conditions of workers in the United Kingdom.

Biography

He was born in London, the son of Edward Ebenezer Meakin (1838–1897), tea planter in India and later a journalist, and his wife, Sarah Ann Budgett (1832–1906). He was educated at Reigate grammar school. His mother was the daughter of Samuel Budgett (1794–1851), an English merchant.

In 1884 Meakin's father settled in Tangier, Morocco, and founded the first English newspaper in Morocco, the Times of Morocco. At first the paper was published monthly, and from 1886 on a weekly basis. James joined his father in Morocco and started to work on the paper as assistant editor, and from 1888 as the paper's editor.

James was fascinated by the people and culture of Morocco and soon after his arrival there he started to write about everything he saw and experienced. He adopted local clothes, gave himself a local name (Tahar bel Mikki) and learned the local customs and language. In 1891, at the age of 25, he published an English-Arabic dictionary – An Introduction to the Arabic of Morocco.

He returned to England in 1895, but his requests for funding his research were rejected, so he decided to go by himself to Morocco for one year, and then travelled another year in other countries (like Uzbekistan, Iraq and further East – to Japan). He returned to England once more in 1897 to write and edit his books. He published three comprehensive books about Morocco, which established his status as the leading authority in this field: The Moorish Empire (1899), The Land of the Moors (1901), The Moors (1902). In 1905 he published his fourth book about Morocco- Life in Morocco, and Glimpses Beyond. This book consisted of articles and other notes that were not published in his previous books. He also wrote the article on Morocco in the eleventh edition of Encyclopædia Britannica.