Sir William George Maxwell (9 June 1871 – 22 August 1959) was a British colonial administrator in British Malaya and the Straits Settlements.OxfordDNB
Entry for ''Maxwell, Sir (William) George''
Retrieved 9 January 2014

Biography

He was the eldest son of Sir William Edward Maxwell and Lilias Grant Mackay. Sir George entered the service of the Perak Government as a junior officer in 1891. He then progressed to Assistant District Magistrate and Registrar of Courts in Kinta Valley (Perak). He was also the Assistant Secretary to the Government of Perak, Acting Collector of Land Revenue in Larut, Registrar of Titles and Warden of Mines in Northern Perak and Acting Senior Magistrate for

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

, Negeri Sembilan, and Perak. In 1904, he was transferred to the Civil Service of Straits Settlements and was Acting Commissioner of the

Court of Requests The Court of Requests was a minor equity court in England and Wales. It was instituted by King Richard III in his 1484 parliament. It first became a formal tribunal with some Privy Council elements under Henry VII, hearing cases from the poor ...

in Singapore. He was posted as the District Officer of Dinding, Perak, Solicitor General (1906). On 9 July 1909 the

Bangkok Agreement Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, which was ratified by the British and

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

ese, made

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainland ...

part of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

and he was then appointed British Adviser to Kedah (1909–1915) and (1918–1919). He was also the British Resident of Perak (1919–1920) and Chief Secretary of Federated Malay States (1920–1926).

Marriage

Sir William George Maxwell married his cousin Florence Evelyn daughter of Walter F Stevenson on 28 August 1902 in St. Mary's Church, Hendon, Middlesex.

Contributions and honours

To remember his contributions in Perak,

Maxwell Hill Bukit Larut is a hill resort in Malaysia located in the state of Perak, Malaysia, 10 kilometres southwest from Taiping. It was established under the direction of British colonists in 1884 as a place of observation for tin mining activity and a ...

Taiping __NOTOC__ Taiping, Tai-p’ing, or Tai Ping most often refers to: Chinese history * Princess Taiping (died 713), Tang dynasty princess * Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), civil war in southern China ** Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851–1864), the re ...

was named after him. On 29 November 1929, he opened the

Sultan Idris Training College Sultan Idris Education University ( ms, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris; commonly abbreviated as UPSI; Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي ڤنديديقن سلطان إدريس) is a public university in the town of Tanjung Malim, Perak in Malaysi ...

in Perak and making it the highest institution of learning exclusively for the Malays at that time. To remember his contributions in education SMK Maxwell (Maxwell School) in Kuala Lumpur was named after him. He was invested with Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1915 and Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(KBE) in 1924.

Sources and references

WorldStatesmen – Malaysia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, George 1871 births 1959 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George History of Perak Administrators in British Malaya