William Archibald Cadell (1775-1855) was born in Falkirk, Scotland, and attended Edinburgh University, becoming a member of the faculty of advocates. In 1802, during the war with France, he was taken prisoner and did not succeed in returning home until 1809. Attracted by topics of a scientific character, it was his love of science that prompted him make his journeys through Carniola, Italy and France in 1817-18. The most significant of his experiences on these journeys are related in his journal A Journey in Carniola, Italy, and France, in the Years 1817, 1818, published in 1820.