John Clerk (later Clerk Maxwell) of Middlebie (1790–1856) was a Scottish

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

and father of the mathematical physicist

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism an ...

Life

He was born in Edinburgh on 10 November 1790, the son of Janet Irving and Captain James Clerk. He studied law and qualified as an advocate in 1811. He inherited the Middlebie estate in Dumfriesshire from his grandmother Dorothea Clerk Maxwell upon her death in 1793; and assumed the additional surname of Maxwell. He built a new mansion designed by Walter Newall on his estate in Kirkcudbrightshire at Glenlair. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 1821, his proposer being Sir George Steuart Mackenzie. In the 1830s he is recorded as living at 14 India Street in Edinburgh's Second New Town, which is where

was born. He died on 3 April 1856. He is buried in Parton in

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ) or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the Counties of Scotland, historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an ...

Family

He was the brother of Sir George Clerk of Penicuik, and brother-in-law of James Wedderburn. He married Frances Hodshon Cay, daughter of

Robert Hodshon Cay Robert Hodshon Cay FSSA LLD (7 July 1758 – 31 March 1810) was Judge Admiral of Scotland overseeing naval trials. He was husband of the artist Elizabeth Liddell, father of John Cay FRSE and maternal grandfather of James Clerk Maxwell. Life ...

and

Elizabeth Liddell Elizabeth Liddell, later Mrs. Robert Hodshon Cay, (22 February 1770 – 1831) was an amateur British artist specialising in pastel portraits. She was wife of Robert Hodshon Cay, mother of John Cay, mother-in-law of John Clerk-Maxwell of Middle ...

. Their children included the mathematical physicist

. His brother-in-law was

John Cay John Lidell Cay FRSE Royal Scottish Society of Arts, PRSSA (31 August 1790 – 13 December 1865) was a Scottish advocate, pioneer photographer and antiquarian. He served as the Sheriff of Clackmannan, Sheriff of Linlithgowshire 1822–65. He w ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerk Maxwell, John 1790 births 1856 deaths 19th-century Scottish people Members of the Faculty of Advocates Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh