James Shaw Maxwell (1855–1928), known as Shaw Maxwell, was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

activist. Born in Glasgow, as the son of Janet Maxwell, née Shaw, and the fruiterer and merchant James Taylor Maxwell, James Shaw Maxwell served his apprenticeship as a printer and

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

er. He worked as a lithographer and journalist, and joined the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. He left the Liberals in 1880 in opposition to their local opposition to

Irish nationalism Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...

, and became a leading supporter of

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist, Social philosophy, social philosopher and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of ...

and an activist in the

Scottish Land Restoration League The Scottish Land Restoration League was a Georgist political party. History In the 1880s, enclosure was still in process in the Scottish Highlands, and resistance to it often received support from radicals around Britain and Ireland. Branches ...

.BAILIE JAMES SHAW MAXWELL
Who's Who in Glasgow 1909, Glasgow Digital Library Maxwell stood unsuccessfully for Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown at the 1885 general election. In 1888, he attended the founding meeting of the

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is repres ...

and was appointed as the first chairman of its executive. Along with most of the organisation's members, he joined the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

(ILP) on its formation in 1893, and served as its first Secretary.David Howell, ''British Workers and the Independent Labour Party'', p.148 He stood again in Blackfriars and Hutchesontown at the 1895 general election, this time for the ILP, and again without success. However, he did manage to get elected to

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Ghlaschu'') is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority for Glasgow, Glasgow City council area, Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Glasgow was former ...

in 1896. He led a successful campaign for free libraries in the city, and for the opening of museums and art galleries on Sundays, to increase the number of workers able to attend.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, James Shaw 1855 births 1928 deaths Councillors in Glasgow Independent Labour Party politicians Scottish Labour Party (1888) politicians