Clan Maxwell is a

Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure recognised ...

of the

Scottish Lowlands The Lowlands ( sco, Lallans or ; gd, a' Ghalldachd, , place of the foreigners, ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Lowlands and the Highlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lo ...

and is recognized as such by the

Lord Lyon King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants ...

.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The

Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs (SCSC) is the organisation that represents the Chiefs of many prominent Scottish Clans and Families. It describes itself as "the definitive and authoritative body for information on the Scottish Clan System ...

). Published in 1994. Pages 429 - 430. However, as the clan does not currently have a chief, it is considered an armigerous clan.

History

Origins of the Clan

The claimed origin of the name

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of ...

is that it comes from ''Maccus Well'', a pool in the

River Tweed The River Tweed, or Tweed Water ( gd, Abhainn Thuaidh, sco, Watter o Tweid, cy, Tuedd), is a river long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed cloth derives its name from its association with the R ...

near

Kelso, Scottish Borders Kelso ( sco, Kelsae gd, Cealsaidh) is a market town in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Roxburghshire, it lies where the rivers Tweed and Teviot have their confluence. The town has a p ...

. Maccus was believed to be a Norse chief who lived during the reign of

David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Modern: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Malco ...

. Sir John Maxwell was Chamberlain of Scotland but he died without issue and was succeeded by his younger brother, Aymer. From Aymer's sons sprang many branches of the family throughout south-west

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Wars of Scottish Independence

Sir Herbert Maxwell appears on the Ragman Rolls of 1296, swearing fealty to

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a va ...

. Herbert's son, Eustace Maxwell held

Caerlaverock Castle Caerlaverock Castle is a moated triangular castle first built in the 13th century. It is located on the southern coast of Scotland, south of Dumfries, on the edge of the Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve. Caerlaverock was a stronghold of ...

as a vassal of the English, however he later followed

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventuall ...

to the

Battle of Bannockburn The Battle of Bannockburn ( gd, Blàr Allt nam Bànag or ) fought on June 23–24, 1314, was a victory of the army of King of Scots Robert the Bruce over the army of King Edward II of England in the First War of Scottish Independence. It wa ...

15th and 16th centuries

Eustace's descendant, another Sir Herbert, was created

Lord Maxwell Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

in about 1440. He took a seat as a Lord of Parliament. A branch of the clan, the Maxwells of Monreith descend from his second son and they were later created baronets in 1681. The fifth Lord Maxwell intrigued with King

Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beauf ...

. In 1526 the Maxwells supported

Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus (c. 148922 January 1557) was a Scottish nobleman active during the reigns of James V and Mary, Queen of Scots. He was the son of George, Master of Angus, who was killed at the Battle of Flodden, and suc ...

at the Battle of Melrose where they defeated the forces of Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

. However, by 1542 King

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and du ...

had appointed him Warden of the Marches. Also in 1542 Lord Maxwell was captured at the

Battle of Solway Moss The Battle of Solway Moss took place on Solway Moss near the River Esk on the English side of the Anglo-Scottish border in November 1542 between English and Scottish forces. The Scottish King James V had refused to break from the Catholic Ch ...

. John Maxwell, the seventh Lord Maxwell was a devout Catholic throughout the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke with the Pope, Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Church of Scotland, Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterianism, Presbyterian in ...

and he was linked to a number of plots to restore

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

to the throne. After Mary was executed in 1587 and after the defeat of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an ar ...

, Lord Maxwell continued to correspond with

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

trying to gain support for a Catholic revolution. However Maxwell was killed in 1593 in a feud with the

Clan Johnstone Clan Johnstone is a Border Reiver Scottish clan.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Published in 19 ...

of Lockerbie. (See:

Battle of Dryfe Sands The Battle of Dryfe Sands was a Scottish clan battle that took place on 6 December 1593, near Lockerbie, Scotland. It was fought between the Clan Maxwell and Clan Johnstone after a hundred years of feuding between them. The Johnstones won a d ...

). The feud continued and the next Lord Maxwell shot Sir James Johnstone. Maxwell's brother, Robert, succeeded to the Maxwell title and was created Earl of Nithsdale in 1620.

17th century

Lord Maxwell was also at feud with the powerful

Clan Douglas Clan Douglas is an ancient clan or noble house from the Scottish Lowlands. Taking their name from Douglas in Lanarkshire, their leaders gained vast territories throughout the Borders, Angus, Lothian, Moray, and also in France and Sweden. Th ...

over the Earldom of Morton, which he regarded as his inheritance. For this quarrel he was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle in 1607. After escaping, he shot Sir James in the back during a meeting held "under trust", and he fled to France. He was convicted of treason in his absence and sentenced to death. On his return to Scotland in 1612 he was arrested, and was beheaded at Edinburgh on 21 May 1613.

18th century and Jacobite risings

The fifth Earl of Nithsdale was a staunch Jacobite and was captured at the

Battle of Preston (1715) :''See Battle of Preston (1648) for the battle of the Second English Civil War.'' The Battle of Preston (9–14 November 1715) was the final action of the Jacobite rising of 1715, an attempt to put James Francis Edward Stuart on the British thr ...

during the

Jacobite rising of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( gd, Bliadhna Sheumais ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts. At Braemar, Aberdeenshire, ...

. He was sentenced to death and imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

. However, with the assistance of his wife Winifred, he disguised himself as a serving woman and the couple fled to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

where the earl died in 1744.

Castles

was the seat of the chief of Clan Maxwell. *

Threave Castle Threave Castle is situated on an island in the River Dee, west of Castle Douglas in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland. Built in the 1370s by Archibald the Grim, it was a stronghold of ...

was owned by the Clan Maxwell between 1526 and 1640. *Maxwell Castle was built in 1545 but destroyed by the English in 1570. * Newark Castle, Port Glasgow was built by the Clan Maxwell in the 15th century. *

Haggs Castle Haggs Castle is a 16th-century tower house, located in the neighbourhood of Pollokshields, in Glasgow, Scotland. The richly decorated building was restored in the 19th century, and today is once more occupied as a residence. History The carved s ...

was owned by the Maxwells from 1585 to 1972. * Pollok House, the seat of the Maxwell Baronets of Pollok, is now of international importance, as it houses the world-famous Burrell Collection in its grounds. * Isle Tower

Tartan

References

External links

Clan Maxwell Worldwide SocietyClan Maxwell Society CanadaClan Maxwell Society of the USA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clan Maxwell Armigerous clans Gaelic families of Norse descent Scottish Lowlands