MAXWELL, a
surname of ancient standing in Scotland, originally Maccus-well,
so called from the territory of that name on the Tweed, near
Kelso. In the history of the Anglo-Saxons mention is made of
Maccus, the son of Anlaf, king of Northumbria (949-952). Anlaf
was surnamed Cwiran, and appears to be identical with the Amlaf
Cuarran whose name occurs in the Annals of Ulster (944-946). On
the expulsion of Anlaf by the treachery of his people, King
Eric, a son of the Danish king, Harald Blatánd, was set on the
Northumbrian throne, but, with his son Henry and his brother
Regnald, was slain in the wilds of Stanmore, by the hand of
Maccus, the son of Anlaf. (Leppenberg’s History of England under
the Anglo Saxon Kings. Thorpe’s Translation, vol. i. p. 125,
London, 1845.) A potentate of the same name, “Maccus of Man and
the Hebrides,” is also mentioned somewhat later in the same
century. The following is from Lappenberg, “On making his annual
sea-voyage round the island, King Edgar found, on his arrival at
Chester, eight sub-kings awaiting him, in obedience to the
commands they had received, who swore to be faithful to him, and
to be his fellow-workers by sea and land.” These were Kenneth of
Scotland, Malcolm of Cumbria, Maccus of Man and the Hebrides,
Dyfnwall or Dunwallon of Strat Clyde, Siferth, Iago (Jacob) and
Howell of Wales, and Inchill of Westmorland. All these vassals
rowed the proud Basileus on the river Dee in a barge, of which
Edgar was the steersman, to the monastery of St. John the
Baptist, where they offered up their orisons, and then returned
in the same order to the palace.”
The same in
substance is mentioned in the Chronica de Melros, which styles
Maccus the ‘King of many Isles.” Roger of Wendover and William
of Malmesbury also relate the same, the latter of whom calls
Maccus “that Prince of pirates,” thus identifying him with
Mascusius Archipirata, who about the same time (973) was a
witness to a charter by King Edgar of England, and who signs
immediately after “Kinadius rex Albanie” and the royal family,
and before all the bishops, “Ego Mascusius Archipirata
confortavi.” (Dugdale Monast. Vol. i. p. 17.) This Marcuss would
therefore appear to have been a friend or ally of Kenneth king
of the Scots, and may have held lands under him.
The name of Maks
or Max in medieval Latin Macus, is found in Domesday Book as
being that of a baron holding several manors in England before
the conquest; and Mexborough in Yorkshire, and Maxstoke in
Warwickshire, still preserve the memorial of his residence and
possessions. The latter, Maxsoke, is said to have belonged to
Almundus, or Ailwynd, the same name, no doubt, as Undewyn, as
the father of Maccus, hereafter mentioned, was called. The
saltire cognizance of the Maxwells appears on the ceiling of the
ancient priory of Maxsoke, along with many others of Norman
descent, but without name.
At an early
period extensive possessions on the Tweed had been held by a
person of the name of Maccus, from whom Maccuston (Maxton) and
Maccus-well (Maxwell) were designated. Maccus-well has been
supposed originally to have been called Maccus-ville, but the
old chartularies give no countenance to this supposition.
Maccuswel or Maccuswell means evidently the pool, weil, or well
of Maccus, (Saxon, wylle, see charters in Saxon in Dugdale,
where the word is translated fons, a well), probably from his
having a right of fishing there; in the same way as other
fishings on the Tweed, as the fishings of Schipwell or Sipwell
(Lib. de Melros, Tom. i. pp. 16, 17), and of Blackwell, (Reg.
Cart. De Kelso, pp. 33, 44, &c). Probably long before the time
of David I., the name came to be given to the adjoining
territory and church, in the same way that it was afterwards
called Maxwell-heugh, from another natural characteristic,
probably coincident with the well or pond of former times.
The origin of the
family who held the lands of Maccus-well, in or before the time
of David I., is doubtful. The opinion generally entertained at
the present time is that they were directly descended from
Maccus, from whom the lands got their name, but this opinion is
far from certain.
A Macchus was
witness to a charter of foundation of the monastery of Selkirk
in 1113, afterwards transferred to Kelso, (Reg. Cart. De Kelso,
p. 4.)
Maccus filius
Unwein is a witness to the Inquisition by Earl David, afterwards
David I., into the possessions of the Church of Glasgow, about
1117.
Maccus filius
Undwain is also witness to charter by David I. in the life of
Prince Henry; which charter mentions a Perambulation of the
lands which took place “Anno scilicet secundo, quo Stephanus Rex
Anglie captus est.” Stephen was taken prisoner in 1441, so that
the charter must have been between 1143 and 1152, when Prince
Henry died, and therefore the Maccus here mentioned is evidently
not the ancestor of the Maxwells (Liber de Melros, Tom. i. p.
4.)
Old writers say
that the family came from England. The history of the Maxwell
family, printed in the Herries Peerage Case, (page 294) gives
the same account. The manuscript was got in a monastery in
Flanders, probably Douay, and sent to Terregles in 1769. It
seems to have been written chiefly before 1660, and although
inaccurate in many particulars, shows that the writer must have
had means of information which probably do not now exist.
Other copies of
this manuscript are extant, but all, as well as the printed one,
seem to have been carelessly copied from an older and not very
legible manuscript, and added to in the transcription. A more
correct copy is in the possession of the Kirkconnel family, but
only brought down to 1580, about which time it seems to have
been originally compiled. – The chronicles and chartularies of
the monasteries in Dumfries-shire and Galloway may have at that
time been extant, and furnished materials for family history
which do not now exist. Captain Grose must have seen a copy of
the genealogical history as authority for the facts he relates.
He mentions that there was a tradition that the first of the
Maxwell name in Scotland was a Norwegian in the suits of Edgar
Atheling and his sisters, on their arrival in the Firth of Forth
two years after the Norman conquest.
Ewin Maccuswel of
Carlaverock, was at the siege of Alnwick with Malcolm Canmore in
1093. (Hist. Family of Maxwell, printed as mentioned above.)
This seems the same name as Eugene or Hugh.
Herbert de
Maccuswell made a grant of the church of Maccuswell to the
monastery of Kelso, probably in the time of David I., as it is
among the earlier grants to that monastery. (Reg. Cart. De
Kelso, pp. 7 and 14.) He is said to have died in 1143. (Family
Tree at Terregles.)
Edmund de
Macheswel, probably a brother of Herbert, was witness to a
charter before 1152. Other witnesses to the same charter are
Hugo de Morvile, William de Sumervile, and William de Morvile,
whose surnames have all the Norman termination vile – differing
in a marked manner in this from Edmund de Macheswel.
Eugene de Maxwell
was taken prisoner with King William in 1174. He assisted
Roland, lord of Galloway, and married his daughter, (Hist.
Family of Maxwell.)
Herbert de
Maccuswell makes a grant to a chapel in the church of St.
Michael of Maccuswel, in honour of St. Thomas the Martyr, circa
1180. He was sheriff of Tevidale, and witness to various
charters from 1180 to 1198. (See Lib. de Kelso, and Chartulary
of Paisley.)
Sir John de
Maccuswel was sheriff of Roxburgh and Tevidale in 1207, and in
1215 was ambassador to King John. (Rymer’s Faedera, v. i. part i.
p. 135.) In 1220, he was one of the guarantees of the marriage
of King Alexander II. with the princess Joan, sister of Henry
III. of England, and he was one of the witnesses to the grant of
dowry to her on June 18, 1221. He was chamberlain of Scotland
from 1231 to 1233, and died in 1241.
His son Eumerus
or Aymer de Maxwell, under the designation of Homer Maxwell, is
witness in the reign of Alexander II., in a donation of the
kirks of Dundonald and Sunquhar to Paisley, by Walter the Great
Steward. By his marriage with Mary, daughter and heiress of
Roland de Mearns, he obtained the lands and baronies of Mearns
and Nether Pollock, in Renfrewshire, and Dryps and Calderwood in
Lanarkshire. He was one of the councilors or in the household of
the young king, and in 1255, he and Mary his wife, with the
Comyns, John de Baliol, Robert de Ros, and others, were removed
by Henry, king of England, to make way for Neill, earl of
Carrick, Robert de Burs, William de Duneglas, and others of the
English party. He was sheriff of Dumfries-shire, and
great-chamberlain of Scotland. In 1258, with other barons he
engaged that the Scots should not make peace with the English
without the consent of the Welsh. In 1265, he was justiciary of
Galloway. He had three sons: Sir Herbert, his successor; Sir
John, to whom he gave the lands of Nether Pollock in
Renfrewshire, and who was the founder of the family of that
designation, baronets of 1682; and Alexander, of whom nothing is
known.
Sir Herbert, the
eldest son, sat in the parliament at Scone, 5th February,
1283-4, when the nobles agreed to acknowledge the Maiden of
Norway as queen of Scotland, on the death of her grandfather,
Alexander III. He is witness to an agreement between the Convent
of Passelet and John de Aldhus, in 1284. In 1289, he was one of
the barons who subscribed the letter to Edward I., from Brigham,
as to the marriage of the Maiden of Norway with his son Edward.
On June 6, 1292, he was one of those named on the part of John
Baliol to discuss before Edward the right to the throne of
Scotland, and in the same year he swore fealty to Edward. He
died before 1300. Of three sons which he had, the eldest
predeceased him.
Sir Herbert, the
second son, succeeded him, and soon after his castle of
Carlaverock sustained a siege from the English, a singularly
curious and minute description of which has been preserved in a
poem, in Norman-French, supposed to have been written by Walter
of Exeter, a celebrated Franciscan friar, who is also said to
have been the author of the romantic history of Guy, earl of
Warwick. This description of the siege of Carlaverock castle
suggested to Sir Walter Scott the idea of the siege of the
castle of Front de Boeuf in “Ivanhoe.” About the 1st of July,
1300, the English army left Carlisle commanded by Edward I. in
person, attended by the prince of Wales, afterwards Edward II.,
and the whole chivalry of England. At this time Edward was in
possession of almost every stronghold in Scotland between
Berwick and the Moray firth. The strong castle of Carlaverock
alone held out. The assault of the English were made by every
description of engine then in use, while the besieged showered
upon their assailants such “huge stores, quarrels, and arrows,
and with wounds and bruises they were so hurt and exhausted,
that it was with very great difficulty they were able to
retire.” Indeed, the courage of the garrison, which amounted
only to sixty men, was most conspicuous. We are told that as one
of them became fatigued another supplied his place, and they
defended the fortress gallantly the whole of one day and night,
but the numerous stones thrown by the besiegers, and the
erection of three huge battering engines of great power, caused
them to surrender. To obtain a cessation of hostilities, they
hung out a pennon, but the soldier who exhibited it, was shot
through the hand to his face by an arrow. The rest demanded
quarter, surrendered the castle, and submitted to the mercy of
the king of England.
Sir Herbert’s
son, Sir Eustace Maxwell, succeeded his father before 1312.
Entertaining the hereditary feelings of his family in favour of
the Baliol and Comyns, in opposition to Robert the Bruce, he
regained possession of the castle of Carlaverock, and on April
30, 1312, he received from Edward II., an allowance of £20 for
its more secure keeping. He afterwards joined the party of
Robert the Bruce. His castle of Carlaverock was again in
consequence besieged by the English, and defended for several
weeks, when the assailants were compelled to retire. Fearing
that it might again fall into the hands of the English, sir
Eustace demolished a part of the fortifications, for which he
was rewarded by King Robert Bruce. Sir Eustace was one of the
barons who signed the letter to the Pope, asserting the
independence of Scotland, in 1320, and in the same year was
tried for being accessory to a conspiracy against the king, but
was acquitted. In 1332, Edward Baliol landed in Scotland, and
was crowned at Scone. He was afterwards besieged in Perth, when
the men of Galloway, under Sir Eustace de Maxwell, invaded the
lands of the besiegers, and caused them to raise the siege. On
Dec. 13, 1333, Sir Eustace with others was chosen by Edward
III., to ascertain the value of the castle, county, and city of
Berwick upon Tweed, (Rotuli Scotiae, vol. i. p. 260). January
26, 1335-6, he was appointed one of the conservators of the
truce with the Scots, on the part of Edward, and on August 23,
following, a letter was sent to him as sheriff of Dumfries, as
well as to the other sheriffs of Scotland, rebuking them for
their tardiness in giving in their accounts. In 1337, he made a
temporary defection from Baliol, and caused the men of Galloway
on his own side of the Cree, to rise against the English,
although he had only immediately before received from Edward
III., money and provisions for the more secure keeping of
Carlaverock castle. The castles of Dumbarton and Carlaverock are
said to have been the only strong castles then in possession of
the Scots. The latter had therefore been repaired after its
demolition. On August 20, 1339, Sir Eustace de Maxwell, Duncan
Makduel, and Michael Mageth, of Scotland, received from Edward
III. letters of pardon, and admitting them to the king’s peace,
for having joined with his enemies. Sir Eustace was a witness to
a charter of confirmation by Edward III., in 1340. He died at
Carlaverock, March 3, 1342-3.
Sir John de
Maxwell, knight, “son of the deceased Sir John Maxwell of
Pencateland, and heir of Sir Eustace de Maxwell, his brother,”
succeeded, as appears by charter granted by him to the Abbey of
Dryburgh, confirmed by William, Prior of St. Andrews in 1343,
being “the patronage of the church of Pencateland, which John de
Maxwell of Pencateland, and Sir John Maxwell, knight, dominus de
Maxwell, granted to the abbot and convent of Dryburgh.” Sir John
Maxwell was taken prisoner, with David II., at the battle of
Durham, in 1346, and died shortly after.
Sir John Maxwell,
Lord (dominus) of Maxwell, his son, probably did not for a time
regain possession of Carlaverock. Roger de Kirkpatrick had in
the end of 1356 taken the castle of Carlaverock and leveled it
with the ground, and when residing in the neighbourhood, was, in
June following, assassinated by Sir James Lindsay. Sir John
Maxwell sat in the meeting of the Estates at Edinburgh, 26th
September 1357, when the terms proposed by Edward III. relative
to the release of David II. were agreed to, and he was engaged
in the negotiations relating thereto. A charter was granted by
Robert II. to Robert de Maxwell, son and heir of John Maxwell of
Carlaverock, knight, on the resignation by his father of the
lands he held of the king, under reservation of his liferent,
and of the terce, to Christian his spouse, in case she survived
him, dated Sept. 19, 1371. He is supposed to have died in 1373.
His son, Sir
Robert Maxwell of Carlaverock, succeeded. In the charter of
resignation mentioned above, he is called by King Robert II.,
dilectus consanguineus noster, which would infer that his mother
Christian was related to the king. He is supposed to have
erected the castle of Carlaverock on its present site, the
former one having been in a lower situation more to the east. He
made a grant to the monastery of Dryburgh, for the welfare of
his soul and of the soul of Sir Herbert de Maxwell, his son and
heir, before 1400, (Liber de Dryburgh, p. 273.) He seems to have
been alive in 1407, but was dead before Nov. 23, 1413. The Sir
Robert Maxwell who was then sent as ambassador to the English
court must have been Sir Robert Maxwell of Calderwood.
Sir Herbert
Maxwell of Carlaverock, his son, succeeded. He married in 1385
or 1386, Katherine, daughter of Sir John Stuart of Dalswinton,
under a dispensation from the pope. From his kinsman, Archibald,
earl of Douglas, he had received a charter of the stewardship of
Annandale, dated 8th February 1409-10. He was probably dead
before Oct. 20, 1420, but certainly so before March 16, 1421.
Besides Herbert, his successor, he left another son, Aymer, who
married the heiress of Kirkconnel of that ilk (see MAXWELL of
KIRKCONNELL).
The elder son,
Sir Herbert Maxwell of Carlaverock, succeeded. In his father’s
lifetime he had a safe conduct, Nov. 3, 1413, with others, to go
to England as hostages. On March 16, 1421, he was retoured heir
to his father in the lands of Mckill Dripps. He was knighted at
the coronation of James I., May 21, 1424, and some years
afterwards was created a lord of parliament, a dignity
established by King James under the Act, March 1, 1427. His
ancestors, from an early period, ranked among the magnates or
procures regni; and in several charters in the vernacular yet
extant are styled lords of Carlaverock, in the same way as the
lords of Galloway and others. In 1425 he was arrested with
Murdoch, duke of Albany, but soon liberated. Albany was at first
sent to Carlaverock castle, but soon taken back to Stirling,
where he was executed. The tower at Carlaverock, in which he was
confined, was from him called Murdoch’s tower. In the parliament
held at Perth, March 10, 1429, Maxwell is entered as one of the
lords of parliament who adjudicated on the plea between
Margaret, lady of Craigy, and Philip de Mowbray. (Acts of Scots
Parl., vol. ii., p. 28). In 1430 and 1438 he was warden of the
west marches, and on 20th March of the latter year he was one of
the conservators of the truce with England. He was one of the
lords of parliament present in parliament, June 28, 1445. He is
again named a conservator of the truce, April 29, 1450, April
16, 1451, and May 30, 1453. (Rotuli Scotiae.) On Aug. 8, 1440,
he had a charter under the great seal authorizing him to build a
tower on the crag of the Mearns, and on May 15, 1444, he had a
letter from the king empowering him to build the castle of the
Mearns. He died before Feb. 14, 1453. He was twice married;
first, to a daughter of Sir Herbert Herries of Terregles, by
whom he had two sons, Robert his successor, and Sir Edward
Maxwell, of whom descended the Maxwells of Tinwald and Monreith;
and secondly, to Katherine, daughter of Sir William Seton of
Seton, widow of Sir Allan Stewart of Dernely, and mother of the
first earl of Lennox. By this lady, he had, with other issue,
George, ancestor of the Maxwells of Cornsalloch, and Adam, of
the Maxwells of Southbar.
The eldest son,
Robert, 2d Lord Maxwell, was retoured heir to his father
February 14, 1453-4. On the forfeiture of the Douglases in 1455,
the extensive lordship of Eskdale was acquired by him, and
remained with the Maxwell family throughout the 16th and 17th
centuries. He was a guarantee to a treaty with the English in
1457, and again in 1459. He had, before January 20, 1424,
married Janet, daughter of Sir John Forstar (Forrester) of
Corstophine. On March 6, 1457, he was appointed one of the
visitors of hospitals in Galloway. On Feb. 10, 1477, he executed
a resignation of the baronies of Maxwell, Carlaverock, and
Mearns, in favour of John Maxwell, his eldest son, on which the
latter had charter from the king on the 14th of the same month.
He died before May 8, 1485. He had three sons, John, his
successor, Thomas, who married the heiress of Maxwell of
Kirkconnel, and David. An illegitimate son, also named John, was
killed in a quarrel with the Murrays.
The eldest son,
John, 3d Lord Maxwell, as he was called in his latter years,
although he predeceased his father in 1454, married Katherine
Crichton, daughter of George Earl of Caithness. He was appointed
steward of Annandale. That he was called Lord Maxwell in his
father’s lifetime, after the resignation of the baronies of
Maxwell, Carlaverock, and Mearns, to him as already mentioned,
appears from the Acta Auditorum. On March 27, 1482, “John Lord
Maxwell” is mentioned. On December 12, 1482, John Maxwell, son
and apparent heir of “Robert Lord Maxwell;” and in a mutual
grant of certain lands to endow a chapel in Carlaverock, “Robert
Lord Maxwell,” and “John Lord Maxwell,” his son, are mentioned
by these titles, and as then alive, June 5, 1483. John Lord
Maxwell, or the Master of Maxwell was treacherously slain by one
of his own countrymen at the close of the battle in Annandale
with a party of English and some rebel Scots, July 22, 1484.
Besides John, his successor, he left numerous sons, from whom
descended the Maxwells of Cowhill and Killylung, of Cavens, of
Portrack, of Hills, and Drumcoltran, &c.
John, 4th Lord
Maxwell, his eldest son, was one of the commissioners nominated
to settle border differences by the treaty of Nottingham, Sept.
23, 1484. He fell at Flodden, 9th September 1513. By his wife,
Agnes, daughter of Sir Alexander Stewart of Garlies, ancestor of
the earls of Galloway, he had, with three daughters, three sons,
viz., Robert, fourth Lord Maxwell; Herbert, ancestor of the
Maxwells of Clowden; and Edward, taken prisoner with his brother
at the rout of Solway in 1543, but released the following year,
on payment of ransom of £100 sterling.
Robert, fifth
Lord Maxwell, the eldest son, was a conspicuous character in
Scottish history in the first half of the 16th century. On the
10th June, preceding the battle of Flodden Field, he had been
knighted by James IV., and, at the same time, on the resignation
of his father, he was appointed steward of Annandale. In 1516 he
acquired part of the lands forfeited by Lord Home, and in the
following year he was appointed warden of the western marches.
In 1524 he was lord provost of Edinburgh, and in that capacity
chosen one of the lords of the articles for the commissioners of
burghs. On 21st June 1526, on James V. being declared of age to
assume the government of the realm, Lord Maxwell was sworn a
member of the secret council, formed to assist the earl of Angus
with their advice and support as guardian of the king’s person.
Soon after, he was with the young monarch, on his return from
his expedition against the Armstrongs, when, at Melrose bridge,
Angus’ party was attacked by Walter Scott of Buccleuch, with the
design of rescuing his majesty from the hands of the Douglases.
In 1526 he was infeft as steward of Kirkcudbright and keeper of
Threave castle, offices afterwards made hereditary. On the
escape of James from Falkland castle to Stirling in 1528, Lord
Maxwell was one of the first of the lords who attended the
council summoned by the king. In the distribution of officers
which took place when the king soon after proceeded to
Edinburgh, a free monarch, to his lordship was intrusted the
command of the capital with the provostship of the city. Angus’
brother, Sir George Douglas, the late master of the king’s
household, and his uncle, Archibald Douglas of Kilspindy, the
late treasurer, having made an attempt to raise the inhabitants,
were attacked by Lord Maxwell, and driven from the capital. He
was rewarded with a portion of the lands of the forfeited Angus.
(Douglas’ Peerage, vol. ii. p. 317.)
The same year,
his lordship and other principal border-chiefs were arrested and
placed in Edinburgh castle, preparatory to the king’s celebrated
journey into Eusdale and Teviotdale for the punishment of the
border thieves, whose disorders they had overlooked, if not
encouraged, during the time that Angus had usurped the
government. In a few months, however, they were released, after
delivering pledges for their allegiance. On 17th November 1533,
his lordship was appointed an extraordinary lord of session. In
1536 he made a hostile incursion into England, and burnt Penrith.
In August of the same year he was appointed one of the members
of the regency, to whom the government of the kingdom was
intrusted during the absence of James V., on his matrimonial
expedition to France; and in the following December he was one
of the ambassadors sent to that country to negotiate the
marriage of James with Mary of Guise, widow of the duke of
Longueville, whom he espoused as proxy for the king.
In 1542, after
the discontented nobles had refused to invade England, and James
was obliged to disband his army encamped on Fala muir, Lord
Maxwell offered his services for a new expedition. A force of
10,000 men having been speedily collected, it advanced, under
his command, into England, by the western marches, and reached
the Solway Moss, whilst the king awaited at Carlaverock castle
the result of the invasion. The appointment of the king’s
favourite, Oliver Sinclair, to the chief command, gave so much
offence to the nobles in the Scots army, that they refused to
serve under him, and on the approach of Sir Thomas Dacre and Sir
John Musgrave, two English leaders, with 300 horse, they yielded
themselves prisoners. Lord Maxwell on foot was endeavouring to
restore some degree of order, and being urged to mount his horse
and fly, he replied, “Nay, I will rather abide here the chance
that it shall please God to send me than to go home and there be
hanged.”
On the death of
James V., which happened soon after, his lordship, with the
other captive lords, was allowed to return to Scotland, his
ransom being 1,000 marks. They were previously compelled,
however, to enter into a bond or obligation to promote the
designs of the English monarch on their native country. He
zealously promoted the fruitless projects of Henry VIII.,
relative to a marriage betwixt the infant Queen Mary and his
son, Prince Edward.
While in England
he is supposed to have become a convert to the doctrines of the
Reformation, and in the first parliament of the young queen,
which met March 13, 1543, he presented an act that all should
have liberty to read the Bible in the Scottish or English
tongue, but under the proviso, not very consistent with his
reformed views, that “na man dispute or hald opinions under the
pains conteinit in the actis of parliament.” This act was passed
into a law, and publicly ratified by the regent Arran,
notwithstanding the protest of the lord-chancellor and the
prelates. Towards the end of the same year he was apprehended at
Edinburgh, with Lord Somerville, on a charge of entering into a
treasonable agreement with England, but on the arrival of an
English fleet in Leith Roads on 3d May following, he was set at
liberty. On 16th September, 1545, with the lairds of Lochinvar
and Johnston, aided by some French troops, he invaded England by
the western borders, but was taken prisoner. As his conduct
towards King Henry had been auspicious and vacillating, he was
threatened to be sent to the Tower by that imperious monarch,
when he offered to serve under the earl of Hertford, on his
invasion of Scotland, with a red cross on his armour, to show
that he was true to the English interests. By delivering up
Carlaverock to the English, he was allowed to return to
Scotland, but early in November of the same year, the regent and
Cardinal Bethune attacked and stormed that fortress, whilst
Lochmaben and Threave, held by his sons, experienced a similar
fate. Maxwell himself, being taken with his English
confederates, was imprisoned in Dumfries. He died 9th July 1546.
He was twice married, but had only issue by his first wife,
Janet, daughter of Sir William Douglas of Drumlanrig, namely, a
daughter, Margaret, countess of Angus, and afterwards Lady
Baillie of Lamington, and two sons, Robert, 6th Lord Maxwell,
and Sir John Maxwell of Terregles, who married Agnes, daughter
of the third Lord Herries, and as the 4th Lord Herries, but
first of the Maxwell family, distinguished himself by his
faithful adherence to Queen Mary.
Robert, sixth
Lord Maxwell, was one of the commissioners to treat with the
English, 8th May, 1551, and died 14th September, 1552. By his
wife, Lady Beatrix Douglas, the 2d of 3 daughters of James, 3d
earl of Morton, he had Robert, who died young, and a posthumous
son, John, 7th Lord Maxwell.
John, seventh
lord, was not born till the spring following his father’s
decease. His uncle, the Master of Maxwell, was his tutor and
governor; afterwards William Douglas of Whittingham, John Mure
of Rowallan, and Robert Maxwell of Corhill, were appointed his
curators, until he attained his majority in 1574. He was a
zealous supporter of Queen Mary, and in 1570, when the earl of
Sussex was sent by Queen Elizabeth into Scotland, with an army
of 15,000 men, to support King James VI., after the
assassination of the regent Moray, the English commander “took
and cast down the castles of Carlaverock, Hoddam, Dumfries,
Tinwald, Cowhill, and sundry other gentlemen’s houses, dependers
on the house of Maxwell, and having burnt the town of Dumfries,
returned with great spoil to England.” Lord Maxwell and Lord
Herries attended the parliament held in Queen Mary’s name at
Edinburgh, 12th June 1571. In right of his mother he was heir of
one-third of the earldom of Morton; he had acquired right to
another third from Margaret, her elder sister, with consent of
her husband, the duke of Chatelherault, and he was heir apparent
of the youngest sister, who died childless. He, therefore,
considered that the earldom of Morton was his by right, and that
all the entails executed by James, 3d earl, were illegal. The
earl of Morton, appointed regent of the kingdom Nov. 24, 1572,
seemed himself to doubt their legality, for he “pressed by all
means that the Lord Maxwell should renounce his title thereto,
quilk he refusing he commanded him to prison in the castle of
Edinburgh, where lykwayes refusing to renounce, he was sent to
Blackness, and from thence to St. Andrews, where he and the Lord
Ogilvie abode till the March thereafter.” (Hist. Family of
Maxwell.) In 1579, Morton caused Lords John and Claud Hamilton
to fly the country, and delivered the Duchess of Chatelherault,
their mother and Lord Maxwell’s aunt, and the earl of Arran,
then insane, into the charge of the notorious Captain Lammie,
and in order to injure, as much as in his power, every
descendant of the 3d earl of Morton, to whom he was indebted for
his honours and estates, he deprived Lord Maxwell of the
wardenship, and conferred the office on the laird of Johnston,
the hereditary enemy of the house of Maxwell. On the execution
and attainder of the regent Morton, Lord Maxwell obtained, as
representative of his mother, a charter of the earldom of
Morton, erected of new in his favour, June 5, 1581, and ratified
with consent of the Estates, Nov. 19 thereafter. He seems to
have been, about the same time, reponed as warden of the west
marches, which office he held till the conspiracy of the earl of
Gowrie in 1582, when the duke of Lennox was driven from the
government. He adhered to the duke, and accompanied him to
Glasgow on his way to Dumbarton castle. On Nov. 30 of that year,
when Lennox mediated the seizure of the capital, Lord Maxwell
and others of his supporters arrived in that city, with their
followers, to assist him, but departed without carrying their
design into effect.
The attainder of
the earldom of Morton was rescinded by the king’s letters under
the great seal, in January 1585, in favour of Archibald earl of
Angus, the heir of entail, (ratified by act of parliament of
29th July 1587,) who thereby succeeded to the old title of earl
of Morton, but not affecting Lord Maxwell’s title of earl of
Morton created in 1581 (see MORTON, earl of). Having incurred
Arran’s displeasure for refusing to exchange his lands of Pollok
and Maxwellhaugh, which lay contiguous to Arran’s estate, for
others of equal value, Lord Maxwell proceeded to collect a force
in his own defence, when he was denounced rebel, and put to the
horn, through the malice of the earl of Arran, on which the
lieges were commanded by proclamation to meet the king on
Crawfordmuir, on Oct. 24, to proceed against him. He joined the
banished nobles in their conspiracy for the removal of Arran,
whom they considered the cause of all the evils that afflicted
the country, and was with them when, on Nov. 1, they took the
castle of Stirling. On this occasion his followers availed
themselves of the opportunity to do a little bit of business on
their own account, while in effect assisting in the overthrow of
the court favourite, for, we are told, they carried off by force
all the horses they could find, “not respecting friend or foe.”
A general act of indemnity was passed in favour of the lords who
had driven Arran from court, and on December 10, 1585, a special
Act of Parliament granted Lord Maxwell, his friends and
servants, entire indemnity for all their unlawful doings within
the realm, from April 1569 to the date thereof. Of the men named
in the act, there were about 600 from Lord Maxwell’s own estates
in Nithsdale and Galloway, 600 from Eskdale, Ewesdale, and
Wauchopedale, mostly Beatties, Littles, and Armstrongs, 340 from
Lower Annandale, chiefly Carruthers, Bells, and Irvings, and
about 450 better organized soldiers, in three companies of
infantry, and two troops of cavalry, one troop being from
Galloway and Nithsdale, commanded by John Maxwell of Newlaw and
Alexander Maxwell of Logan; and the other from Annandale,
commanded by George Carruthers of Holmends, and Charles
Carruthers, his son.
Having, contrary
to law, caused mass to be celebrated openly in the college of
Lincluden, near Dumfries, on 24th, 25th, and 26th Dec. of the
same year, his lordship, and the rest of the hearers, were
charged to appear before the secret council. On his appearance
he offered himself to trial, but was committed to the castle of
Edinburgh. It does not appear how long he remained a prisoner,
Tytler says (Hist. of Scotland, vol. ix., p. 4), that when the
king received the news of his mother’s execution, he sent for
Lord Maxwell, and others of the more warlike of the border
leaders, to consult as to what should be done. He was not,
however, employed in the matter, for on April 12, 1587, he gave
bond, with John, Lord Hamilton, William, Lord Herries, and Sir
John Gordon of Lochinvar, as cautioners, that he would leave the
realm and go beyond sea in a month, and in the meantime should
not trouble the country, nor, when abroad, do anything to injure
the religion then professed, or the peace of the realm, and
should not return without his Majesty’s special license. Lord
Herries, also, on May 29 following, gave bond that Sir Robert
Maxwell of Dinwiddie, John Maxwell of Conheath, and Edward
Maxwell of the Hills – probably imprisoned at the same time as
Lord Maxwell – should not do or attempt anything to the
prejudice of the religion then professed. Soon after, Lord
Maxwell went to Spain, and when there he did what he could to
promote the success of the invasion of England by the Armada,
and, with that view, to produce a diversion in Scotland, where a
powerful body of the nobility was ready to assist. In the month
of April 1588, he returned to Scotland without the king’s
license. He at once began to assemble his followers, that he
might be ready to assist the Spaniards on the arrival of their
much-vaunted Armada. He fortified the castle of Lochmaben, the
command of which he gave to Mr. David Maxwell, brother of the
laird of Cowhill, while he himself took refuge on board a ship.
With a large force James marched to Dumfries, and summoned Lord
Maxwell’s various castles to surrender. They all obeyed, except
Lochmaben, but after two days’ firing it also was given up, when
the governor and five of his officers were hanged before the
castle gate. In the meantime, Sir William Stewart, brother of
Captain Stewart, the quondam earl of Arran, was sent after Lord
Maxwell. Finding himself pursued, his lordship, quitting the
ship, took to the boat, and had no sooner landed than he was
apprehended. He was at first conveyed to Dumfries, but
afterwards removed to the castle of Edinburgh, and deprived of
his office of warden of the western marches, which was conferred
on the laird of Johnston.
With other
imprisoned nobles, Lord Maxwell was released from his
confinement on 12th September, 1589, to do honour, by their
attendance, to the queen of James VI. On her arrival in Scotland
from Denmark. He had become, from policy or otherwise, a convert
to Protestantism, and on 26th January, 1598, subscribed the
Confession of Faith before the presbytery of Edinburgh, under
the name of Morton. On the 2d February following he and the new
earl of Morton, striving for precedency in the church at
Edinburgh, were parted by the provost before they had time to
draw their swords, and conveyed under a guard to their lodging,
as was also Lord Hamilton, for having assisted Maxwell.
He had been
restored to the wardenship of the western marches, but in
consequence of its having been held for a time by the laird of
Johnston, the old feud was renewed between the two families. On
the 7th December, 1598, at the head of about 2,000 men, Lord
Maxwell, having a commission of lieutenantcy, went to demolish
some houses belonging to the Johnstons, when he was resisted by
the chief of that name, with his allies, the Scotts, Elliots,
and other border clans, to the number of 500 men, and “being a
tall man and heavy in armour,” was slain. This affair was called
the battle of Dryfe sands. The Maxwells, though much superior in
numbers, were routed and pursued; and lost, on the field and in
the retreat, about 700 men, besides their commander. Many of
those who were killed or wounded in the retreat were cut down in
the streets of Locherby, and hence the phrase, currently used in
Annandale to denote a severe wound, “A Locherby Lick.” By his
wife, Lady Elizabeth Douglas, second daughter of the 7th earl of
Angus, Lord Maxwell had, with three daughters, three sons, John
and Robert, 8th and 9th Lord Maxwell, and James Maxwell of
Kirkconnel and Springkell, who left no issue.
John, 8th Lord
Maxwell, the eldest son, was put to the horn for various acts of
disobedience to the king’s authority, and by the laws then in
force as to religion, before the year 1600. The old feud between
the Maxwells and the Johnstons was kept up by the appointment of
Sir James Johnston to the wardenship, June 17, 1600. Lord
Maxwell was in March 1602 imprisoned in the castle of Edinburgh
on account of his favouring popery. He afterwards broke out of
ward, and was proclaimed a traitor. A sort of reconciliation had
taken place between the Maxwells and the Johnstons, in testimony
whereof Lord Maxwell executed “Letters of Slayns,” June 11,
1605.
In 1607, Lord
Maxwell, asserting still his rights as earl of Morton, got into
disputes with the other earl of Morton about holding courts in
Eskdalemuir, in consequence whereof he was committed to the
castle of Edinburgh. He escaped from the castle Dec. 4 of that
year, along with Robert Maxwell of Dinwiddie. He was then put to
the horn, and diligent search made for him. On Feb. 2, 1608,
King James wrote to the privy council, complaining that, in
contempt of his authority, Lord Maxwell traveled openly through
the country with 20 horse, and even appeared at Dumfries, and
directed that he be sought for, and either taken or put out of
the bounds. In answer, the privy council informed the king that
they had used all diligence in searching for Lord Maxwell, and
punishing his resetters, and asked to have designed a certain
cave to which he used to resort. The cave inquired about was
probably what is now called “Lord Maxwell’s cave,” in Clawbelly
Hill, parish of Kirkgunzion. Tired of this uncomfortable life,
Lord Maxwell desired to be restored to the king’s favour, and
for that purpose, in April 1608, sent a message by his cousin,
Sir Robert Maxwell of Orchardton, to Sir James Johnston of
Johnston, the brother-in-law of the latter, who had expressed a
wish for a reconciliation, that a friendly meeting might take
place between them. Accordingly, they met on horseback on the
6th of that month, Lord Maxwell attended by Charles Maxwell of
Kirkhouse, and Sir James Johnston by William Johnston of
Locherby, Sir Robert Maxwell being also present. With Sir Robert
Maxwell, the two chiefs rode apart to confer together, but, a
quarrel taking place between the attendants, Johnston’s friend
was shot at by a pistol fired by the other. The laird of
Johnston, crying out “treason,” rode forward to see what was the
matter. Lord Maxwell, at that moment, shot him in the back, and
he fell off his horse dead. His lordship immediately fled to the
continent. His title and estates were forfeited, and all his
offices vested in the crown. In March 1612 he ventured to return
to Scotland, and being closely pursued, retired to Caithness,
intending to take shipping there for Sweden, but was betrayed by
his kinsman, George, 5th earl of Caithness, conveyed by sea to
Leith, and imprisoned in the jail of Edinburgh. For the
“treasonable murder,” as slaughter under trust was then termed,
of Sir James Johnston, (who had married Sarah Maxwell, sister of
John, 7th Lord Herries, and was ancestor of the marquises of
Annandale,) he was, on 21st May following, beheaded at the cross
of Edinburgh. He married Lady Margaret Hamilton, only daughter
of John, first marquis of Hamilton, without issue.
His brother,
Robert, 9th Lord Maxwell, was restored to the title and estates
of the family, 13th Oct., 1618, and on 29th August, 1620, the
title of earl of Morton, at one time held by this family, was
changed to earl of Nithsdale, with the precedency of the former
title. (See NITHSDALE, earl of.)
_____
There are five baronetcies held by families of the name of
Maxwell – namely, of Pollok, Renfrewshire; of Calderwood,
Lanarkshire; of Cardoness, Kirkcudbrightshire; of Monreith,
Wigtownshire; and of Springkell, Dumfries-shire.
_____
The baronetcy of
Orchardton, extinct or dormant, was about to be claimed by the
heir in 1805, but the estates having been sold the idea was
given up.
_____
The Pollock
branch was allied by marriage to royalty. This family, descended
from Sir John Maxwell, 2d son of Eumerus or Aymer de Maxwell,
were usually styled “Domini de Pollok,” or “Nether Pollok.”
Besides the lands of that name in Renfrewshire, which he
received from his father, Sir John got a grant of the lands of
Lyoncroce, in the same county, from Robert the Bruce. Towards
the close of the reign of that monarch he was governor of the
castle of Dumbarton. He was succeeded by Sir Robert Maxwell of
Pollok.
The next
possessor of Pollok was Sir John Maxwell, who married, 1st,
Isabel de Lindsay, daughter of Sir James Lindsay of Crawford, by
Lady Egidia Stewart, sister-in-law of Robert II., and daughter
of Walter the high steward, and by her he had 2 sons, John, his
successor, and Robert, ancestor of the Maxwells of Calderwood;
2dly, Elizabeth de St. Michel, heiress of Whitchesten,
Roxburghshire, supposed without issue.
His elder son,
Sir John Maxwell, knight, early distinguished himself in arms,
especially at the battle of Otterburn in 1388. According to
Froissart, he there made prisoner Sir Ralph Percy, brother of
Hotspur, an exploit that drew from John Dunbar, earl of Moray,
under whom he served and graduated in chivalry, the encomiastic
exclamation of “Well, Maxwell, hast thou earned thy spurs
to-day!” With is relatives the Lindsays, Montgomeries, and
others, all emulous of military glory, he readily joined the
renowned and gallant James, earl of Douglas, in that enterprise.
He married a daughter of the Sieur de Montgomery, who also
fought at Otterbourne. Thomas Maxwell of Pollok, succeed. He was
alive in 1440. His son, John Maxwell of Pollok, was living in
1452.
His male heir,
before and after 1500, Sir John Maxwell of Pollok, married Lady
Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of John, earl of Lennox, and had by
her four sons. 1. Sir John, his heir. 2. Robert, bishop of
Orkney, a distinguished prelate. 3. George, of Cowglen, whose
son, Sir John Maxwell, acquired the estates by marriage. 4.
Thomas, whose descendants carried on the line of the family.
The eldest son,
Sir John Maxwell of Pollok, had a son, John Maxwell, who
predeceased him in 1536. The latter married Elizabeth, daughter
of Sir Patrick Houston of Houston, and had a daughter,
Elizabeth, sole heiress of Pollok.
This Elizabeth
succeeded her grandfather, and married Sir John Maxwell, son of
the above-mentioned George Maxwell of Cowglen, the collateral
heir male. He was knighted by Queen Mary, and fought at Langside.
Their son, Sir
John Maxwell of Pollok, succeeded, He fell at the battle of
Lockerby, in 1593. He married, 1st Margaret, daughter of William
Cunningham of Caprington, by whom he had a son, John, and a
daughter, Agnes, wife of John Boyle of Kelburn, ancestor of the
earls of Glasgow; 2dly, Marjory, daughter of Sir William
Edmonston of Duntreath, and widow of Mungo Graham of Urchill, a
cadet of the house of Montrose.
The son, Sir John
Maxwell pf Pollok, who figured after 1598 and in the reign of
Charles I., married, 1st, Isabel Campbell, daughter of Hugh,
Lord Loudoun, by whom he had a daughter; and, 2dly, Grizel,
daughter of John Blair of Blair, without issue. To fix and
secure the inheritance in the male line, Sir John settled his
whole estates, heritable and moveable, upon his cousin, George,
afterwards Sir George Maxwell of Auldhouse, descended from
Thomas, youngest son of Sir John Maxwell, his
great-great-grandfather. Sir John died in 1647.
George Maxwell of
Auldhouse, afterwards Sir George, succeeded, according to the
settlement made in his favour, and his descendants continued to
enjoy the estates, notwithstanding of two attempts made by the
Calderwood branch to disturb the succession. He was knighted by
Charles II., and is described as having been a gentleman of
singular accomplishments, and justly esteemed for his piety,
learning, and other good qualifications. He married in 1646,
Annabella, daughter of Sir Archibald Stewart of Blackhall and
Ardgowan, descended from Robert III., and had a son and 3
daughters. He died in 1677.
Sir George
Maxwell’s name is associated with one of the most extraordinary
causes célèbreres in witchcraft which occurred in Renfrewshire.
Having been taken suddenly ill, while in Glasgow, on the night
of Oct. 14, 1677, he was, on his return home, confined to bed
with severe bodily pains. A vagrant girl, named Janet Douglas,
who pretended to be dumb, and was considered a clever
witch-finder, and who owed some of his tenants a grudge, accused
several of them of bewitching Sir George, and, to confirm her
assertions, she contrived, in one or two instances, to secrete
small wax figures of the suffering knight, stuck with pins, in
the dwellings of the accused persons. A special commission was
issued for the trial of the case on the spot, and after a long
investigation, at which were present, besides some of the lords
of justiciary, most of the leading men of Renfrewshire, the
following unfortunate creatures, namely, Janet Mathie, widow of
John Stewart, under miller in Shaw mill, John Stewart, her son,
and three old women, the parties accused, were condemned to be
strangled and burned, and Annabil Stewart, a girl 14 years old,
the daughter of Mathie, ordered to be imprisoned! The case is
recorded in Crawford’s ‘History of Renfrewshire.’ A ballad has
also been written on the subject. The accused confessed their
guilt!
The son, Sir John
Maxwell of Pollok, was created a baronet of Nova Scotia by
Charles II., April 12, 1682, with extension of the title, in
virtue of another patent, March 27, 1707, to his heirs male
whatsoever. In July 1683, Sir John Maxwell was imprisoned for
refusing to take the test, and December 2, 1684, he was fined
£8,000 by the privy council, for allowing recusants to live on
his lands, and refusing the bond and test. The council, however,
declared that if paid before the end of the month, the fine
would be reduced to £2,000. In 1689, Sir John was sworn a privy
councilor to King William. The same year he represented the
county of Renfrew at the convention of estates. He was
afterwards commissioner for the same county in the Scots
parliament. In 1696 he was appointed one of the lords of the
treasury and exchequer. On the 6th February 1699 he was admitted
an ordinary lord of session, and on the 14th of the same month
nominated lord-justice-clerk. In the latter office he was
superseded in 1702. He died July 4, 1732, in his 90th year,
without issue.
His cousin, Sir
John Maxwell, previously styled of Blawerthill, succeeded as 2d
baronet of Pollok. He was the son of Zecharias Maxwell of
Blawerthill, younger brother of Sir George Maxwell of Auldhouse
and Pollok. He married, 1st, Lady Ann Carmichael, daughter of
John, earl of Hyndford, and had a son, John, and 2 daughters;
2dly, Barbara, daughter of Walter Stewart of Glairhall, issue, 3
sons; 1. George, of Blawerthill, who died unmarried; 2. Walter;
3. James; and 2 daughter; 3dly, Margaret, of the family of
Caldwell of Caldwell, without issue. He died in 1753.
His eldest son,
Sir John Maxwell, became 3d baronet. On his death, his half
brother, Sir Walter, succeeded as 4th baronet, and died in 1761.
Sir Walter’s only
son, Sir John, became 5th baronet, but died nine weeks after his
father.
The title and
estates reverted to his father’s youngest brother, Sir James,
6th baronet. This gentleman married Frances, 2d daughter of
Robert Colquhoun, Esq., of St. Christopher’s, of the family of
Kenmure; issue, 2 sons; 1, John, his successor; 2. Robert, a
captain in the army, died without issue; and 2 daughters, 1,
Frances, wife of John Cunningham of Craigends; 2. Barbara,
married Rev. Greville Ewing. Sir James died in 1785.
His elder son,
Sir John, 7th baronet, was M.P. for the Paisley Burghs. He
married Hanna Anne, daughter of Richard Gardiner of Aldborough,
Suffolk; issue, a son, Sir John, and 2 daughters, Harriet, who
died in 1842, and Elizabeth, wife of Archibald Stirling, Esq. of
Keir.
The son, Sir John
Maxwell of Pollok, 8th baronet, succeeded July 30, 1844; F.R.S.;
was educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford; M.P. for
the county of Renfrew from 1826 to 1831, and for Lanarkshire
from 1832 to 1837; deputy lieutenant for counties of Lanark and
Renfrew. He married in 1839 Lady Matilda Harriet Bruce, daughter
of Thomas, earl of Elgin and Kincardine. This lady died Aug. 31,
1827.
The family of
Maxwell of Pollok are in possession of several original writings
of considerable interest. One of these is the letter written by
Queen Mary, after her escape from Lochleven, to Sir John
Maxwell, whom she had knighted, requiring him to hasten to her
aid with all his people, “bodin in fear of weir.” That is,
equipped for war. He obeyed the call, and as stated above,
fought at the battle of Langside, on the very border of his own
domains.
_____
The Maxwells of
Calderwood are descended from Sir John Maxwell of Pollock,
knight. He got from his father the lands and baronies of Nether
Pollok, Renfrewshire, and of Dryps and Calderwood, Lanarkshire.
By his first wife, Isabel de Lindsay, Sir John had 2 sons, Sir
John, his successor, and Sir Robert, ancestor of the Maxwells of
Calderwood. He died in the beginning of the reign of David II.
The younger son,
Sir Robert Maxwell, who inherited Pollok and Calderwood, died in
1363.
Sir Robert’s
eldest son and successor, Sir John Maxwell of Pollok and
Calderwood, had 2 sons, John, to whom he gave the lands of
Nether Pollok, and Robert.
The latter, Sir
Robert Maxwell, got the barony of Calderwood and other lands. A
mutual indenture was entered into by the two brothers, dated at
Dumbarton, Dec. 18, 1400, in which all their lands were
enumerated, and under the authority of their father – the
principal party – this deed allocated or partitioned certain
lands to the sons and their respective heirs at law. Sir Robert
married in 1402, Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Sir Robert
Denniston of Denniston, by whom he obtained the barony of
Newark, in Renfrewshire. From this marriage lineally descended
Sir James Maxwell of Calderwood, who died in 1622. He was thrice
married, and had issue by all his wives. His third wife, Lady
Margaret Cunningham, daughter of James, 7th earl of Glencairn,
and widow of Sir James Hamilton of Evandale, was sister of Ann,
marchioness of Hamilton. By her he had 4 daughters and 2 sons;
1, John, lineal ancestor of the present baronet, and 2.
Alexander.
His son, Sir
James Maxwell of Calderwood, who succeeded him, was by his 2d
wife, Isobel, daughter of Sir Alexander Hamilton of Innerwick.
He was created a baronet of Scotland and Nova Scotia, with
remainder to his heirs male whatsoever, March 28, 1627. On the
death of Sir John Maxwell of Pollok without surviving issue, in
1647, Sir James attempted to set aside a disposition of the
Pollok estates, made some time before his death, by Sir John
Maxwell in favour of George Maxwell of Auldhouse, but without
effect. His son, Sir William, also prosecuted his claim to t he
Pollok estates, founding, like his father, on the deed of
indenture of 1400, above mentioned, but he was equally
unsuccessful. Sir James died in 1667. His half brother, Colonel
John Maxwell, has an historical name as having attended his
cousin, the duke of Hamilton, on his unfortunate expedition into
England in 1648 for the rescue of Charles I. On his return he
was obliged to do penance for his share in the “engagement,” as
it was called, before the congregation in the parish church of
Carluke, in which parish the family at that time resided. He
served as colonel in the Scots army which opposed Cromwell on
his entering Scotland in 1650, and was killed at the battle of
Dunbar that year.
Sir James’ eldest
son, Sir William, 2d baronet, married Jean, daughter of Sir
Alexander Maxwell of Saughton Hall, and had two sons, and one
daughter, who predeceased him.
His first cousin,
Sir John, son of Colonel Maxwell, half brother of the first
baronet, succeeded as 3d baronet. He was first designed of
Abington, but afterwards of Calderwood.
His only
surviving son, Sir William, 4th baronet, died in 1750. He
married Christian, daughter of Alexander Stewart, Esq. of
Torrence, and had, with 4 daughters, 3 sons. 1. William. 2.
John, a colonel in the army, who had the command of a regiment
of grenadiers, and served with great reputation in the German
war, under Prince Ferdinand. 3. Alexander, a merchant in Leith,
who married Mary, daughter of Hugh Clerk, Esq., of the family of
Penicuik. Their son, Captain Sir Murray Maxwell, distinguished
himself as a naval officer. A memoir is given of him below.
Sir William’s
eldest son, Sir William, 5th baronet, died January 2, 1789.
The only
surviving son of the latter, Sir William, 6th baronet, born in
1748, died without issue, August 12, 1829, and was succeeded by
his cousin.
Sir William
Maxwell, 7th baronet, a distinguished general in the army, died
March 16, 1837. He had four sons.
The eldest son,
Sir William Alexander Maxwell, 8th baronet, born in 1793, became
a colonel in the army in 1851, and retired in 1853; married,
without issue. Two younger brothers died unmarried. Hugh Bates,
his younger brother, was born in 1797; married, issue, a son,
William, born in 1828.
_____
The Maxwells of
Cardoness, Kirkcudbrighshire, descend from William Maxwell of
Newlands, younger son of Gavin Maxwell, Esq., whose eldest son,
Sir Robert Maxwell, knight, was grandfather of the first baronet
of Calderwood.
David Maxwell of
Cardoness, son of Major John Maxwell, by his wife, a daughter of
Irving of Bonshaw, was created a baronet, June 9, 1804. He
married in 1770, his cousin, Henrietta, daughter of David
Maxwell, Esq. of Cairnsmore, Kirkcudbrightshire, and had 4 sons
and 4 daughters. He died in 1825.
His 2d son,
David, succeeded; his eldest son, William, having been drowned
on his passage to Minorca, Feb. 17, 1801. Sir David, 2d baronet,
born in 1773, vice-lieutenant of Kirkcudbrightshire, and
honorary colonel of Galloway Rifles, married Georgina, eldest
daughter of Samuel Martin, Esq. of Antigua, and had 3 sons and 3
daughters. Sir David died Nov. 13, 1860, and was succeeded by
his eldest surviving son.
Sir William, 3d
baronet, born 1809, married 1st, 1841, Mary, daughter of J.
Sprot, Esq., by whom (who died 1846) he had 2 sons and 1
daughter. Sir William married, 2dly, 1851, Louisa Maria, eldest
daughter of Geoffrey J. Shakerley, Esq., and by her also (who
died 1856) has issue 4 daughters.
_____
The Maxwells of
Monreith, Wigtownshire, are descended from Herbert of
Carlaverock, first Lord Maxwell. His 2d son, Sir Edward Maxwell,
obtained a charter of the barony of Mureith, now Monreith, Jan.
15, 1481. He was lineal ancestor of William Maxwell of Monreith,
created a baronet of Nova Scotia, January 8, 1681. He died in
1709. His eldest son, William, was drowned in the Nith, in 1767.
His 2d son, Sir
Alexander, succeeded as 2d baronet, and Sir William, the eldest
son of Sir Alexander, became 3d baronet. Sir William died Aug.
22, 1771. by his wife, Magdalene, daughter of William Blair,
Esq. of Blair, Ayrshire, he had, with 3 daughters, 3 sons. 1.
William; 2. Hamilton, lieutenant-colonel, 74th regiment, who
commanded the grenadiers of the army under Lord Cornwallis, in
the war against Tippoo sultaun. He died in India, unmarried, in
1800; 3. Dunbar, R.N., died young in 1775.
Sir William, the
eldest son, succeeded as 4th baronet. He married his cousin,
Katherine, daughter and heiress of David Blair, Esq. of Adamton,
and had 3 sons and 6 daughters. He died in 1812.
The eldest son,
Sir William, 5th baronet, served as lieutenant-colonel in the
26th foot under Sir John Moore in Spain, and lost an arm at
Corunna. He died Aug. 22, 1838.
His eldest son.
Sir William Maxwell, 6th baronet, born in 1805, succeeded. He
was a captain in the army, but retired from the service in 1844;
lieutenant-colonel of militia; married Helenora, youngest
daughter of Sir Michael Shaw Stewart, bart., of Greenock and
Blackhall; issue, Herbert Eustace, born Jan. 8, 1845, another
son and 4 daughters.
_____
The Maxwells of
Springkell, in Annandale, baronets, are a branch of the family
of Auldhouse, of which Maxwell of Pollok is the senior
representative. They are second in succession from Pollok.
George Maxwell, Esq. of Auldhouse, married, 1st, Janet, daughter
of John Miller, Esq. of Newton, and had one son, John, whose
son, George, succeeded to the Pollok estates; 2dly, Jean,
daughter of William Muir, Esq. of Glanderstone, issue, a son,
William; 3dly, Janet, daughter of Douglas of Waterside, issue, a
son, Hugh.
William Maxwell,
the 2d son, acquired in 1609, the barony of Kirkconnel and
Springkell, in Annandale.
His son, Patrick
Maxwell of Springkell, was created a baronet of Nova Scotia in
1683. He died in 1726, leaving a son, and 4 daughters.
His son, Sir
William, 2d baronet, died in 1760, and was succeeded by his only
son, Sir William, 3d baronet, who died March 4, 1804. The latter
had, with 3 daughters, 4 sons, namely, 1. William, a lieutenant
36th regiment, who died, unmarried, in 1784. 2. Michael-Stewart,
colonel of Dumfries-shire light dragoons, who died, unmarried,
in 1830. 3. Patrick, an officer in the army, drowned by the
upsetting of a boat in a river in Nova Scotia, in 1790. 4. John.
The youngest son succeeded his father.
Lieutenant-general Sir John Maxwell, 4th baronet, who succeeded
March 4, 1804, married Mary, only surviving child and heiress of
Patrick Heron, Esq. of Heron, in the stewartry of Galloway, M.P.,
and on the death of his father-in-law, assumed the surname and
arms of Heron, in addition to his own. He died January 29, 1836.
His eldest son,
Sir Patrick Heron Maxwell, died, unmarried, August 27, 1844.
His next brother,
Sir John Heron Maxwell, became 6th baronet; born in 1808; an
officer R.N.; married, issue, 4 sons.
_____
The Maxwells of
Parkhill; and other families of the name, sprung from the same
common ancestor as the Calderwood family. The Rev. Robert
Maxwell, 2d son of Sir John Maxwell of Calderwood, knight, in
the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth was sent over to
Ireland, by James VI., to secure an interest for his majesty in
that kingdom. He was appointed dean of Armagh, and was ancestor
of the earls of Furnham peerage of Ireland, and of the
Waring-Maxwells of Finnibrogue, county Down.
_____
The Maxwells of
Durgavel are an old family in Renfrewshire. John Hall Maxwell,
Esq., present proprietor of Durgavel, is also the representative
of another ancient family in the same county, the Halls of
Fulbar, the reputed chiefs of the name, which in the charters of
the time is given in the Latin form of de Aula. The ancestor of
the latter obtained a charter of the lands of Fulbar from James,
high steward of Scotland, grandfather of King Robert II.,
confirmed by that monarch in 1370. One of the descendants of
this family fell at Flodden.
The Durgavel
branch of the family of Maxwell was a cadet of the house of
Newark, an offshoot of the family of Calderwood. Of the Maxwells
of Newark, Mr. Hall Maxwell is now also the representative.
John, eldest son,
by his 2d wife, of Patrick Maxwell of Newark, obtained from his
father in 1516, a charter of the lands of Dargavel, in the
parish of Erskine, with those of Rashielee and Haltonridge, in
the adjacent parishes of Inchinnan and Kilmalcolm. One of his
descendants was slain in the desperate conflict at Lockerby in
1593, between the rival clans of Maxwell and Johnston.
John Maxwell, the
proprietor of Dargavel in 1710, entailed that estate, and died
without issue. He was succeeded by his brother, William Maxwell
of Freeland, who also died childless.
Their sister,
Margaret Maxwell, had married Robert Hall of Fulbar, and the 2d
son of this marriage, John Hall, succeeded to Dargavel, as next
heir of entail, when he took the name of Maxwell. By the death
of his elder brother, he became proprietor of Fulbar and male
representative of the family of Hall.
His grandson,
John Maxwell of Dargavel, died in 1830.
His brother,
William Maxwell, succeeded. He married Mary, daughter of John
Campbell, Esq. of Possil, Dumbartonshire, and had by her a
numerous family. He died in 1846.
His eldest son,
John Hall Maxwell, Esq. of Dargavel, C.B., born in 1812, passed
advocate at the Scottish bar in 1835, and in 1846 was appointed
secretary to the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland.
In 1856 he was made a companion of the Bath; a magistrate and
deputy lieutenant of Renfrewshire. He married in 1843, Anne,
daughter of Thomas Williams, Esq. of Burwood House, with issue.
His son and heir, William Hall, was born in 1847.
_____
The Maxwells of
Kirkconnel descend from one of the older cadets of the Maxwell
family. Representing the family of Kirkconnel of Kirkconnel, it
is one of the oldest families in Galloway, and has been settled
in the parish of Troqueer for centuries. The Maxwells spell the
name Kirkconnell.
The first of the
house of Kirkconnel of that ilk is supposed to have been a
person of Saxon origin, who had come from the north of England
and settled at Kirkconnel, near the mouth of the Nith, in the
time of Earl David, afterwards David I., or in that of King
Malcolm his father. The names, John, William, and Thomas, which
the Kirkconnel family used, indicate their north of England
extraction; while the surname of the family being the same as
the name of their hands, gives right to infer that they held
these lands from the time of Malcolm Canmore (1057-1093) when
family surnames derived from territorial possessions began to be
used in Scotland.
The arms of the
Kirkconnels, azure, two crosiers, or, placed in saltire ardossés,
with a mitre of the last placed in chief (Nisbet’s Heraldry,
Part 2, ch. 10) being the same as those of the bishops of Argyle
or Lismore in the 12th century, might be thought to show that
the one was derived from the other, but was probably assumed
from the name of the territory and its connexion with the
church.
The first of the
name on record is John, “dominus de Kirkconnel, fundavit Sacrum
Boscum.” (Dugdale’s Monasticon (1661) Caemobia Scotica, vol. ii.
p. 1057.) He founded the abbey of Holywood some time in the 12th
century, in the place of a former religious house. He was
probably the father of Michael de Kirkconnel, whose son, William
FitzMichael de Kirkconnel, about the year 1200 made a grant of
lands in Kirkconnel, in favour of the abbey of Holmcultram in
Cumberland (Hutcheson’s Cumberland, vol. ii., p. 331).
Gilchrist, the
son of Gilcunil, is witness to a charter of lands in Dunscore
near Dercongall or Holywood, granted by Affrica, daughter of
Edgar, to the monks of Melrose, in the reign of William the Lion
or of Alexander II. (Liber de Melrose, vol. i. p. 182).
There is no
farther account of any one of the name until the contest arose
for the throne of Scotland between John Baliol, lord of
Galloway, and Robert Bruce, lord of Annandale. Among those who
swore fealty to Edward I. in 1296, we find Thomas de Kirkconnel
of the county of Dumfries, which then included both sides of the
Nith. There can be little doubt that Thomas de Kirkconnel and
his immediate successors, like the rest of the men of Nithsdale
and Galloway, supported the cause of Baliol. IN 1324 mention is
made of “dominus de Kirkconnell in valle de Nith,” (Chalmers’
Caledonia).
Owing to the wars
and confusion of the times little is known of the Kirkconnels
for two or three generations, but it is probable that they
generally supported and shared the fortunes of their greater
neighbours on the other side of the Nith, the Maxwells of
Carlaverock. The connexion between the families of Maxwell of
Carlaverock and the Kirkconnels was drawn closer by the marriage
of Aymer de Maxwell, 2d son of Sir Herbert de Maxwell of
Carlaverock and brother of Sir Herbert de Maxwell of Carlaverock,
1st Lord Maxwell, with Janet de Kirkconnel, the heiress of the
ancient family of Kirkconnel, when the name de Kirkconnel was
merged in that of Maxwell, and the property went to their
descendants of that name. The date of the marriage is unknown,
but it may have taken place before the year 1410.
On 11th July
1448, there was a perambulation of the marches of Little Airds,
belonging to the abbey of Sweetheart, and Maikle Airds,
belonging to Kirkconnel, to which Aymer de Maxwell was a party.
(Original Papers and Deeds at Kirkconnel). On 20th March 1456,
Aymer de Maxwell and Janet de Kirkconnel, his spouse, had a
charter of resignation and confirmation of their lands of
Kirkconnel, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright. On 13th November
1461, Aymer de Maxwell of Kirkconnel, superior of the estate of
Kelton, which probably was his own, and not acquired by his
wife, granted a fen to George Neilson of part thereof.
Aymer’s son,
Herbert Maxwell of Kirkconnel, succeeded him. He left two sons,
and probably others.
The elder son,
whose Christian name is not known, is supposed to have
predeceased his father. His brother’s name was John. The former
had a daughter, Elizabeth, who succeeded her grandfather, and
another daughter, probably named Agnes Maxwell.
Elizabeth Maxwell
of Kirkconnel had precept from the Crown directing sasine to be
given to her as heir of the late Herbert Maxwell of Kirkconnel
and Kelton, her grandfather, in virtue whereof she was infeft in
the lands of Kelton in the sheriffdom of Dumfries on 5th
November 1492. Among the witnesses of the infeftment were “John
Maxwell, uncle of the said Elizabeth, Herbert Maxwell, son of
the said John,” &c. Dying without issue, Elizabeth was succeeded
by her nephew, Herbert.
Herbert Maxwell
of Kirkconnel, under precept from the crown, had sasine given to
him, as “heir of the late “Elizabeth Maxwell, his aunt,”
(avuncular – mother’s sister,) of the lands of Kirkconnel and
Kelton, on 12th April 1495. All accounts of the Kirkconnel and
Maxwell families, and genealogists generally, concur in stating
that Thomas Maxwell, 2d son of Robert, 2d Lord Maxwell, married
Agnes Maxwell, the heiress of Maxwell of Kirkconnel, and that
from them the present Kirkconnel family are descended. It is
more than probable that Elizabeth’s married sister, whose son
Herbert succeeded his aunt, was the Agnes who became the wife of
the said Thomas Maxwell, probably between 1450 and 1470, and
that it was their son Herbert who was heir to his aunt
Elizabeth. This might be inferred from the seal of Herbert
attached to a charter granted by him on July 4, 1517, being a
saltire, between two small chevrons. The chevron being often
used as a mark of cadency, (Nisbet’s Heraldry, vol. i. p. 151,)
it would seem that the two chevrons were intended to show his
descent from two cadets of the Maxwell family; Aymer, who
married Janet de Kirkconnel, and Thomas, thought to have been
the father of Herbert. As a follower of the chief of his name,
Herbert Maxwell of Kirkconnel was present at the affray, on July
30, 1508, on the sands of Dumfries, between John Lord Maxwell,
and Lord Crichton of Sanquhar, and their respective followers,
when the latter nobleman was driven from the town, and many of
his friends slain (Balfour’s Annals, 1508). For this and other
lawless doings Herbert Maxwell received a general remission from
the crown on 17th October the same year. He was twice married,
By his first wife, whose name is not ascertained, he had four
sons; Robert, John, William, and Edward. His 2d wife was
Euphemia Lindsay, issue unknown. William, the third son, was in
the household of Mary of Guise, and afterwards for a time in a
regiment of Scots men at arms in the service of the king of
France (MS. On Scottish Guard History). On the 16th February,
1557, he had a grant of the lands of Little Airds. His son,
William, succeeded him in Little Airds. The latter had a son,
James, who wrote his Autobiography, and was author also of
several polemical works.
Herbert died
before 28th Dec. 1548. His eldest son, Robert, on July 4, 1517,
had a charter from his father of the lands of Kelton. He married
Janet Crichton, and on August 16, 1518, had a grant of Auchenfad.
He predeceased his father, leaving 2 sons, Herbert and John.
The elder son,
Herbert Maxwell of Kirkconnel, had sasine in the lands of
Kirkconnel and Kelton as heir to his grandfather, Dec. 28, 1548,
and had charter of Auchenfad, January 22, 1548-9. He married a
Janet Maxwell, and had a son, Bernard, and three daughters,
Agnes, Catherine, and Margaret. He died before 1560.
Bernard Maxwell
of Kirkconnel succeeded his father in his minority. On May 6,
1571, with consent of his curators, he executed a disposition of
the lands of Kirkconnel and Kelton, in favour of his uncle, John
Maxwell, and his heirs male, when failing, to his own heirs
general, and reserving his liferent, with power of redemption,
in the event of having heirs male himself, and the lands to be
held of himself, for £1,000 Scots, on which deed sasine was
taken on the following day; also, another deed of the same date,
in nearly the same terms, the lands to be held of the crown, on
which sasine was taken. He was alive and collecting the feu
duties of Airds in 1574 and 1577.
John Maxwell,
tutor of Kirkconnel, during the minority of Bernard, his nephew,
was infeft, as above stated, in the property, May 7, 1571. He
died before his nephew, and before August 1573.
His son, John
Maxwell of Kirkconnel, succeeded him, and to his right to the
estate in his minority, his tutors or curators being James
Crichton of Carco and William Somerville, vicar of Kirkbean. On
July 8, 1574, he was retoured heir male to John Maxwell of
Kirkconnel, his father, in the lands of Kirkconnel, reserving
the liferent therein of Bernard Maxwell and of Janet Maxwell,
relict of Herbert Maxwell, in a part thereof; in virtue whereof
John Maxwell was infeft therein, Oct. 8, 1574, Bernard Maxwell,
the liferenter, being a witness to the infeftment. In April and
May, 1593, he took part in the slaughterings and feud between
the Maxwells and Johnstons. On Nov. 26, 1601, John Maxwell of
Kirkconnel and several others were summoned before the privy
council, for contravening the Acts of Parliament against saying
and hearing of mass, and entertaining priests, especially Dr.
John Hamilton and Abbot Gilbert Brown, and having children
baptized by them (Chambers’ Domestic Annals, vol. i., pp. 358,
359). John Spottiswoode, archbishop of Glasgow, having, with a
party of soldiers, invaded New Abbey, in search of priests,
broke into the house of the exiled abbot, Gilbert Brown, and
plundered it of whatever savoured of popery. The books found
there were given into the care of John Maxwell of Kirkconnel,
who afterwards, being unwilling to part with them, was served
with letters of horning on ten days’ charge, ordering him to
deliver the same over to Spottiswoode (Original Letters as to
Ecclesiastical Affairs, Bannatyne Club, pp. 409-411). John
Maxwell of Kirkconnel died after June 29, 1614. He had five sons
– 1. Herbert, his successor. 2. John, of Whitehill and Millhill,
supposed to have been the father of John Maxwell of Barncleugh,
town-clerk of Dumfries. 3. James. 4. Thomas. 5. George.
The eldest son,
Herbert Maxwell of Kirkconnel, was esquire in ordinary to the
body in the household of James VI., when he succeeded to
Kirkconnel. Preferring to continue his attendance on royalty,
the king granted him a pension for life of £200 out of the
escheats of Scotland. He received charter of confirmation of the
lands of Kirkconnel and others, Aug. 28, 1616, and was infeft
therein 25th Sept. following. He got into some dispute with
James Maxwell of Innerwick, a lord of the bedchamber, afterwards
earl of Dirlton, the son of John Maxwell of Kirkhouse. The
dispute came before the Court of Session, and four days after
the hearing of the case (March 11, 1628), and as if at the
instigation of his opponent, Herbert Maxwell of Kirkconnel,
Charles Brown in New Abbey, Barbara Maxwell, Lady Mabie, and
others, were charged by the privy council with contemning
“excommunication and horning,” persisting in “obdured and papish
opinions and errors,” and visiting all parts of the country, “as
if they were free and lawful subjects.” Sir William Grierson of
Lag, and Sir John Chateris of Amisfield, were commissioned to
apprehend those thus denounced, as well as their “resetters,” or
harbourers. How it fared with Herbert Maxwell does not appear,
but the commissioners were successful in capturing in New Abbey
Charles Brown of Clachan, and Gilbert Brown of Shambellie
(Domestic Annals, vol. ii. pp. 18 and 19); whereupon Janet
Johnston of Newbie, Lady Lochhill, spouse of John Brown,
assembling the women of the parish, attacked the minister and
schoolmaster, their wives and servants, with sticks and stones.
For this energetic defence of her faith Lady Lochhill was
banished the realm, under a penalty of 1,000 merks if she dared
to return. Herbert Maxwell of Kirkconnel died in Oct. 1637,
leaving issue – 1. John, his successor. 2. Edward. 3. George. 4.
Robert. 5. Barbara (Lady Mabie, March 1623). 6. Marion, and an
illegitimate son, Herbert.
The eldest son,
John Maxwell of Kirkconnel, was retoured heir to his father,
Dec. 19, 1638, in the lands of Kirkconnel, with salmon fishings
in the water of Nith, &c., and had sasine therein, Jan. 31,
1639. James Maxwell of Innerwick had received from Charles I. a
gift of the non-entry of the lands. In 1642, John Maxwell of
Kirkconnel married Agnes, daughter of Stephen Laurie of
Maxwelton, and Marion Corsone, his spouse. John Maxwell of
Kirkconnel got into difficulties soon after his marriage, but
the estate was preserved by the prudent management of his lady,
liberally assisted by Lady Maxwelton, her mother. He died in or
before the year 1679, his wife surviving him. They had 4 sons
and 3 daughters. 1. James. 2. William. 3. Herbert, a Jesuit
priest. 4. Stephen, a Jesuit priest. 5. Euphemia, married the
laird of Corbeath. 6. Marion. 7. Agnes, married Edmund, eldest
son of William Brown of Nunton.
The eldest son,
James Maxwell of Kirkconnel, married, in 1672, Elizabeth, only
daughter of Alexander Durham of Berwick, son of Sir John Durham
of Duntarvie and Lady Margaret Abercromby, probably of Birkenbog.
Herbert Maxwell, Jesuit priest, was, in Oct. 1686, appointed
chaplain to the earl of Melfort, secretary of James VII., and
about the same time, his brother, James Maxwell of Kirkconnel,
was appointed one of the receivers-general of the Customs, &c.
(commission dated at Whitehall, Oct. 22, 1686). When, on Dec.
10, 1687, King James, by his royal writ, reduced the number of
the receivers-general from four to two, he granted to Kirkconnel
the office of superintendent of the customs, foreign excise,
rents, casualties of royal property, and funds allocated for the
payment of fees and pensions. The salary was at first £200, but
afterwards £200 yearly. The Revolution soon deprived him of all
place and pension. He died in or before the year 1699. He had 4
sons and 2 daughters, viz. – 1. James, his successor. 2.
William, who succeeded James. 3. Alexander. 4. Stephen, Jesuit
priest. 5. Agnes. 6. Elizabeth.
The eldest son,
James Maxwell of Kirkconnel, was educated at Douay, and served
heir general to his father Dec. 21, 1699, but never otherwise
made up his titles. The Lord Advocate cited him and the earl of
Nithsdale to appear before the Justiciary Court in Edinburgh,
Feb. 2, 1704, to answer for contravening the acts of parliament
against hearing mass and harbouring and concealing Jesuits and
priests, and of which “shaking off all fear of God,” it was
alleged, they were guilty. This did not prevent him from
petitioning the government, in that very year, for payment of a
balance due to his father as receiver-general. The books of the
kirk session of New Abbey in 1705 stigmatised the Maxwells of
Kirkconnel as “a popish family,” and warned Protestants not to
take domestic service with them. James Maxwell died, without
issue, about 1705.
His next brother,
William Maxwell, succeeded to Kirkconnel. Like James, he was
educated at Douay, whence he returned to Scotland in 1696. In
the inquest by the presbytery into the number of papists in each
parish in 1704, William is mentioned as brother of the laird of
Kirkconnel. He was served heir general to his brother James,
Feb. 14, 1706, in which year he was called on as an heritor to
pay his proportion of £137 6s. Scots money for building of the
manse of Troqueer. He married, April 29, 1706, Janet, eldest
daughter of George Maxwell of Carnsalloch, widow of Colonel John
Douglas of Stenhouse, and eventually heiress of Carnsalloch,
under the disposition and deed of entail executed by James
Maxwell of Carnsalloch, her brother, March 11, 1745. On May 6,
1708, William Maxwell executed a disposition, settling the
succession to his estates. On June 15, 1733, he agreed to
dispone heritably to William and Robert Birnie 3 merklands of
the 12 merklands of Kelton, James Maxwell of Barncleugh, as next
Protestant heir to Kirkconnel, giving his assent thereto, which
was probably considered necessary by the purchasers, owing to
the penal laws then in force against Roman Catholics. John
Maxwell of Barncleugh, and Margaret Young, his spouse, the
father and mother of the James Maxwell here mentioned, are both
entered as “papists” in the list made out for the privy council
in 1704. William Maxwell of Kirkconnel died April 13, 1746. John
Rigg, sometime tenant in Meikle Knox, and formerly in Townhead,
near Kirkconnel, used to relate that when James Maxwell, his son
and heir, went off in 1745 to join Prince Charles, the old man,
his father, rejoiced, saying that his son was going in a good
cause, and that if he lost his life it would be well spent. He
had issue – 1. Elizabeth, married, before 1730, to William
Maxwell of Munches. 2. James, his successor. 3. Agnes. 4. Janet.
5. Mary. 6. George, Jesuit priest. 7. Margaret. 8. William,
Jesuit priest. 9. Marion, married John Menzies of Pitfoddels.
10. Halbert.
The eldest son. James Maxwell of Kirkconnel, commenced grammar
at Douay college, August 21, 1721, and was distinguished as a
student of great genius and persevering diligence. After
concluding his course of philosophy, he returned to Scotland in
1728. In 1745, James Maxwell, then younger of Kirkconnel, took
part in the insurrection, and became an officer in the
Pretender’s service, and of such rank as to have had access to
know the most material things that were transacted “in the
council, though not a member of it.” He was, moreover, an
“eyewitness of the greatest part of what happened in the field.”
After the battle of Culloden he escaped to France, and while
residing at St. Germains for several years, drew up a “Narrative
of Charles, Prince of Wales’ Expedition to Scotland in the year
1745” (printed by the Maitland Club, 1841), which he evidently
intended for publication. While he thus resided abroad, his
mother, Janet Maxwell of Carnsalloch, managed the Kirkconnel
estate to the best advantage, and protected her son’s interests
as far as in her power. In June 1746, the whole troop horses of
St. George’s regiment of dragoons were put into the Kirkconnel
policies, besides 40 or 50 galloways belonging to the officers
or soldiers; and the tacksmen petitioned Lieutenant-General
Bland, commander-in-chief in Scotland, for compensation in
consequence. In 1750, James Maxwell of Kirkconnel ventured to
return to Scotland, and built, with bricks made on the property,
the modern portion of the front of Kirkconnel-house. He sold the
estate of Carnsalloch, derived from his mother (who died in
1755), to Mr. Alexander Johnston, merchant in London, ancestor
of Major-General Johnston of Carnsalloch (1862), and purchased
the estate of Mabie. He was a witness in 1755 to the marriage of
his sister Marion with John Menzies of Pitfoddels. In 1758 he
married Mary, youngest daughter of Thomas Riddell of Swinburne
Castle. He died July 23, 1762, aged 54 years. “His Narrative,”
the Maitland Club editor says, “is composed with a remarkable
degree of precision and taste, inasmuch as rather to appear the
production of a practiced litterateur than the work of a private
gentleman who merely aimed at giving memoranda of a series of
remarkable events which he had chanced to witness.” He left 3
sons – 1. James. 2. William. 3. Thomas, who died June 1, 1792.
The two younger sons were educated at the New College of the
Jesuits at Dinant, in France, arriving there Sept. 3, 1774.
During his attendance at the medical schools in France, William,
the 2d son, imbibed the French revolutionary ideas of the time,
and was one of the national guards present at the execution of
Louis XVI., Jan. 21. 17193 He afterwards settled as a physician
in Dumfries, and was for many years one of the most eminent in
Scotland of his profession. He died at Edinburgh, at the house
of his relative, John Menzies of Pitfoddels, Oct. 13, 1834.
The eldest son,
James Maxwell of Kirkconnel, when very young, was, Nov. 16,
1764, served heir in special to his father, and infeft, under a
precept from the crown, April 19, 1765, in the lands and barony
of Kirkconnel. He was twice married, 1st, to Clementina
Elizabeth Frances, daughter of Simon Scroope of Danby,
Yorkshire, without issue; and, 2dly, to Dorothy, daughter of
William Witham, Esq., solicitor of Grey’s Inn, London, grandson
of William Witham of Cliffe, Yorkshire, the marriage contract
signed Aug. 29, 1817. He died Feb. 5, 1827, leaving an only
daughter, Dorothy Mary Maxwell.
This lady,
heiress of Kirkconnel, was on July 27, 1827, served as nearest
and lawful heir of tailzie and provision of the deceased James
Maxwell of Kirkconnel, her father. She married at Southampton,
April 17, 1844, her cousin, Robert Shawe James Witham, eldest
surviving son of William Witham, solicitor, Gray’s Inn, London,
and great-grandson of William Witham, Esq. of Cliffe, Yorkshire.
The Witham pedigree is given in Burke’s Commoners of England,
vol. ii. p. 5. This gentleman, as Robert Maxwell Witham, was,
with his spouse, duly infeft, under a precept of sasine, dated
Oct. 29, 1846, contained in a charter of Resignation granted by
the crown, in the lands, barony, and fishings of Kirkconnel, to
be holden by them of the crown, in conjunct fee and liferent,
and to the heirs of the marriage. The sasine was registered at
Edinburgh, Nov. 16, 1846. They had also sasine of the lands of
Gillfoot, recorded Feb. 11, 1852. They had 6 sons and 3
daughters. 1. James Robert, died, an infant, May 5, 1845. 2.
Frances Mary. 3. and 4. James and Thomas, twins. 5. William
Herbert. 6. Janet, died, an infant, May 15, 1853. 7. Maud. 8.
Robert Bernard. 9. Aymer Richard.
_____
The Maxwells of
Brediland are a branch of the ancient family of the Maxwells of
Carlaverock. Crawford, in his History of Renfrewshire, says, “A
little towards the north of the castle of Stainley lie the house
and lands of Brediland, which have been possessed by the
Maxwells of this race for upwards of two hundred years. Their
original charter, which I have seen, is granted by Robert, abbot
of Paisley, to Thomas Maxwell, designed son of Arthour Maxwell,
anno 1488, in the reign of James IV., of whom John Maxwell, now
of Brediland, is the lineal heir.” This family has furnished
some considerable cadets, as the Maxwells of Castlehead, the
Maxwells of Merksworth, and the Maxwells of Dalswinton.
Gavin Maxwell of
Castlehead, the son of Hugh Maxwell of Brediland, married Janet,
a daughter of Cochran of Clippens, a cadet of the family of
Dundonald. Of this family the second son (on the failure of the
eldest) succeeded to Brediland, which estate is now in that
line.
The third son was
James Maxwell of Merksworth. He married Janet Lockie, of Croy
Lockie, who (through William Campbell of Glenfalloch) was
lineally descended from Archibald, 2d earl of Argyle, and from
John, 4th earl of Athole. He had a son, Charles, and a daughter,
Ann. The son married Anna Maxwell, the heiress of Williamwood.
She was lineally descended from James Maxwell of Williamwood,
whose sufferings in the cause of the Reformation are so fully
and graphically described by Wodrow in his History of the
Church. She sold the estate of Williamwood in 1812, and, on her
death in 1815, she was succeeded in the representation of both
the families of Williamwood and Merksworth by her next sister,
Janet, who married James Graham, Esq., merchant, Glasgow, and
the two families came thus to be represented by her eldest son,
James Maxwell-Graham, Esq. On his death the estate of Merksworth
was inherited by his eldest sister, Agnes, whose daughter (by
her marriage with James Smith, Esq. of Craigend), married David
Stuart, 8th, properly 13th, earl of Buchan.
Ann, the daughter
of James Maxwell of Merksworth, married James Black, Esq. of
Paisley, the father of the late Mr. Black of Clairmont, near
Glasgow, and of others of that name in Glasgow. (see LECKIE,
surname.)
MAXWELL, SIR MURRAY, a gallant and distinguished naval
officer, was the son of Alexander Maxwell, Esq., merchant in
Leith, and grandson of Sir William Maxwell, baronet, of
Calderwood. He commenced his career at sea under the auspices of
Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, and in 1796 was appointed a lieutenant.
He obtained his commission as post-captain in 1803, when he
became commander of the Centaur, a third-rate. After serving
with distinction in the West Indies, and in the expedition
against Surinam, he exchanged, in the summer of 1805, to the
Galatea frigate; and was next nominated to the Alceste, 46, in
which, with two other ships under his orders, he greatly
signalized himself in an attack on a Spanish fleet near Cadiz.
In the spring of 1811, when cruising on the coast of Istria, he
assisted in the destruction of a French 18-gun brig, in the
harbour of Parenza; and towards the close of the same year,
after an engagement of two hours and twenty minutes, he captured
the French frigate La Pomone, of 44 guns and 322 men. In October
1815, Captain Maxwell, at the particular request of Lord
Amherst, who was then about to proceed on his celebrated embassy
to China, was appointed to convey him in the Alceste, which
sailed from Spithead February 9, 1816, and landed his lordship
at the mouth of the Peiho river on the 9th of August. During
Lord Amherst’s absence at Pekin, the Alceste, accompanied by the
Lyra brig and General Hewitt, East Indiaman, was employed in a
survey of the coasts, in the course of which cruise considerable
accessions were made to the knowledge of the hydrographer.
Captain Basil Hall, who commanded the Lyra, published, on his
return to England, a very interesting narrative of the ‘Voyage
to Corca and the Island of Loo Choo,’ dedicating the volume to
Sir Murray Maxwell, “to whose ability in conducting the voyage,
zeal in giving encouragement to every inquiry, sagacity in
discovering the disposition of the natives, and address in
gaining their confidence and good-will,” he attributes whatever
may be found interesting in his pages.
From this survey
Captain Maxwell returned at the beginning of November, and
immediately applied to the Chinese authorities for a pass for
the Alceste to proceed up the Tigris, to undergo some needful
repairs. His request was treated with evasion and delay, and on
his attempt to sail without the requisite permission, an
inferior mandarin went on board, and desired the ship to be
brought to anchor, or the batteries would fire and sink her.
Instead of complying with this insolent demand, Captain Maxwell
at once detained the mandarin as his prisoner, and issued orders
that the Alceste should be steered under the principal fort of
the Bocca. On her approach, the batteries, and about eighteen
war-junks, opened upon her a heavy, though ill-directed fire;
but the return of a single shot silenced the flotilla, and one
determined broadside put an end to the ineffectual attack from
the batteries. The Alceste proceeded without farther molestation
to Whampoa, where she remained until the return of Lord Amherst
in January 1817. In consequence of Captain Maxwell’s spirited
conduct, it was publicly announced by the Chinese, with their
usual dissimulation, that the affair at the Bocca Tigris was
nothing more than a friendly salute!
On her homeward bound voyage, the Alceste had proceeded as far
as the Straits of Gaspar, when, on the 18th February, she struck
on a sunken and unknown rock, three miles distant from Pulo Leat.
A landing having been effected on that barren island, Lord
Amherst and his suite proceeded in the barge and cutter to
Batavia, a distance of 200 miles; and after a passage of four
nights and three days, in which they suffered much from the
scarcity of water and provisions, they happily arrived at their
destination. The Company’s cruiser Ternate was immediately
dispatched to Captain Maxwell, and those who remained with him;
but in consequence of contrary currents, she did not arrive for
a fortnight. Their situation in the meantime had attracted the
notice of the Malay proas, or pirate boats, who had obliged
Lieutenant Hinckman and his detachment to quit the wreck, which
they had burnt to the water’s edge. These boats having increased
to about sixty in number, each containing from eight to twelve
men, completely blockaded the shipwrecked crew; but on the
approach of the Ternate they speedily disappeared. For some days
Captain Maxwell had been actively employed in fortifying a hill,
and providing his party with ammunition; and so well prepared
were they for an attack, that at length they rather wished than
dreaded it. Mr. Ellis, the third commissioner of the embassy,
who had returned from Batavia in the Ternate, in his published
‘Journal,’ says, “My expectations of the security of the
position were more than realized when I ascended the hill; and
many an assailant must have fallen before an entrance could have
been effected. Participation of privation, and equal
distribution of comfort, had lightened the weight of suffering
to all; and I found the universal sentiment to be, an
enthusiastic admiration of the temper, energy, and arrangements
of Captain Maxwell.”
On his return to
England he was tried by a court-martial at Portsmouth in August
1817, for the loss of the Alceste, but was most honourable
acquitted, the court at the same time declaring that “his
coolness, self-collection, and exertions, were highly
conspicuous.” He received the honour of knighthood May 27, 1818;
and May 20, 1819, he was presented by the East India Company
with the sum of £1,500 for the services rendered by him to the
embassy, and as a remuneration for the loss he had sustained on
his return from China. He was appointed to the bulwark, a
third-rate, in June 1821, was removed to the Briton frigate,
November 28, 1822, and was afterwards employed on the South
American station. In May 1831 he was appointed
lieutenant-governor of Prince Edward’s Island, and was preparing
for his departure, when he died, after a short illness, June 26,
of that year.
His portrait,
which formed the frontispiece to one of the volumes of the once
celebrated Percy Anecdotes, is given below:
[portrait of Sir Murray Maxwell]
REPORT ON THE FAMILY MUNIMENTS OF
SIR JOHN MAXWELL STIRLING MAXWELL OF KEIR AND POLLOK, BARONET,
AT KEIR HOUSE, IN THE COUNTY OF PERTH, BY WILLIAM FRASER, LL.D.,
EDINBURGH.
Manuscripts
