Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 37.djvu/144

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Maxwell 130 Maxwell


preaching. Ultimately he made his way to the king at Oxford and acted as royal chaplain. On 30 Aug. 1645 he was appointed to the archbishopric of Tuam, in succession to Richard Boyle (d. 1644-5) [q. v.] He returned to Dublin, and in August 1646 signed the address of thanks by eighty Dublin divines to Ormonde, the lord-lieutenant, for the protection he had accorded them in the use of the prayer-book. When the news reached him at Dublin of the surrender of Charles by the Scottish army (30 Jan. 1647), he retired to his closet and was found dead on his knees on 14 Feb. 1647. His age was about 55. He was buried in Christ Church Cathedral. He married Elizabeth Innes, by whom he had four sons, John, David, James, and Robert, and four daughters, Anne, Janet, Elizabeth, and Rachel.

Grub considers Maxwell 'the greatest Scottish prelate of the reign of Charles' and maintains that his merits 'have never been sufficiently acknowledged, even by the writers most favourable to monarchy and episcopacy.' He had learning and character, and shone as a preacher. His publications, after he left Scotland, were in vindication of the cause he was not strong enough to uphold. They were: 1. 'Episcopacy not Abjured in his Majesties Realm of Scotland,' &c., 1641, 4to. 2. 'An Answer to a Gentleman who desired of a Divine some Reasons by which it might appear how inconsistent Presbyteriall Government is with Monarchic,' &c., 1644, 4to. 3. 'Sacrosancta Regum Majestas, or the Sacred Prerogative of Christian Kings,' &c., Oxford, 1644, 4to (published under the initials I. A.; answered in the 'Lex Rex,' 1644, of Samuel Rutherford [q. v.]). 4. 'The Burthen of Issachar, or the Tyrannical Power and Practises of the Presbyteriall Government in Scotland,' &c., Oxford, 1646, 4to (anon.; ascribed to Maxwell by Robert Baillie, D.D. [q. v.], who answered it in his 'Historicall Vindication,' 1646; it was reprinted as ' Presbytery Displayed,' &c., 1703, 4to). Wood mentions the ascription to Maxwell of the 'Lysimachus Nicanor,' 1640, of John Corbet (1603-1641) [q. v.]

[Cotton's Fasti Eccl. Hib. iv. 68, 86 n.; Hew Scott's Fasti Eccles. Scoticanæ; Ware's Works (Harris), 1764, i. 617, 653, ii. 359; Mant's Hist. of the Church of Ireland, 1840, i. 563, 584; Acts of General Assembly, 1843, p. 10; Memoirs of Robert Blair, 1844, pp. 87 sq.; Spalding's Memorialls of the Trubles, 1850, i. 87; Grub's Eccles. Hist. of Scotl. 1850, ii. 338, 366, 377, iii. 32 sq., 61, 89 sq.; Adair's True Narrative, ed. Killen, 1866, pp. 33, 62; Stewart's History, ed. Killen, 1866, p. 314; Reid's Hist.Presb. Church in Ireland, ed. Killen, 1867, i. 134, 270; Strafford's Letters, ii. 369.]

A. G.

MAXWELL, JOHN HALL (1812–1866), agriculturist, eldest son of William Maxwell of Dargavel, Renfrewshire, who died in 1847, by Mary, eldest daughter of John Campbell of Possil, near Glasgow, was born in Queen Street, Glasgow, in February 1812, and called to the Scottish bar in 1835. He practised his profession until 1845, when he succeeded Sir Charles Gordon of Grimkin as secretary to the Highland Agricultural Society. At this time the number of members was 2,620, and the funds of the society amounted to 34,000l.; when he retired there were 4,200 members, and the finances had risen to 50,000l. The annual shows under his management displayed great improvements in the quantity and quality of stock, and in the workmanship of agricultural implements. He paid great attention to the collection of agricultural statistics respecting stock and crops, and for this and other services was, on 5 Feb. 1856, created a C.B. On his own estate at Dargavel he effected, at great expense, many improvements, especially in the reclamation of waste land. On 17 Jan. 1866 he was presented with one thousand guineas and a service of plate. He died at his residence, Torr Hall, near Paisley, on 25 Aug. 1866. He married, 3 Aug. 1843, Eliza Anne Margaret, eldest daughter of Thomas Williams of Southwick Crescent, Hyde Park, London.

[Law Times, 1866, xli. 763; Saddle and Sirloin, by the Druid, Part North, 1870, pp. 3–6; Irving's Book of Scotsmen, 1881, p. 342.]

G. C. B.

MAXWELL, Sir MURRAY (1775–1831), captain in the navy, third son of James Maxwell, a captain in the 42nd regiment, third son of Sir Alexander Maxwell of Monreith, Wigtownshire, second baronet (Foster, Baronetage), was born in the parish of Penninghame, near Newton Stewart, on 10 Sept. 1775. This date is given in the certificate of baptism annexed to his passing certificate in the Public Record Office. On 10 Sept. 1790 he entered the navy on board the Juno, with Captain (afterwards Sir) Samuel Hood [q. v.], and served in her till March 1794, when he followed Hood to the Aigle. In November 1794 he was moved into the Nemesis, and was still in her when she was captured at Smyrna on 9 Dec. 1795. He afterwards joined the Blenheim, and a few months later the Princess Royal, in which he returned to England, and passed his examination, 7 Sept. 1796. On 10 Oct. 1796 he was promoted to be lieutenant, and again, 15 Dec. 1802, to be commander of the Cyane sloop in the West Indies. In her he was present