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National Maritime Museum

Maxwell, Admiral William Henry (1840-1920)


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0064 MAX

Held at: National Maritime Museum

Title: Maxwell, Admiral William Henry (1840-1920)

Date(s): [1873-1889]

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 8 items

Name of creator(s): Maxwell | William Henry | 1840-1920 | Admiral

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

William Henry Maxwell entered the Royal Navy as a Cadet on 12 January 1854. He served in HMS EURYALUS in the Baltic during the war with Russia, January 1854-April 1856, and was appointed Midshipman on 12 January 1856. He was promoted to Mate on 11 January 1860 whilst serving in HMS BOSCAWEN at Cape Station, May 1856-March 1860. After rising to the rank of Lieutenant on 13 January 1860, he served in HMS LYRA on the east coast of Africa, March 1860-January 1862, taking as prize a Spanish slaving barque and 18-20 Arab slave dhows, and freeing and landing 200 slaves on the Seychelles. He was made Commander on 6 July 1866 whilst serving in HMS SUTLEJ in the Pacific, May 1863-September 1866. During 1868 and 1869, he was on board HMS OCTAVIA and HMS DRYAD, when he participated in the Abyssinian Expedition, voyaged to the East Indies, and took an Arab slave dhow as a prize on the coast of Madagascar, again freeing and landing 200 slaves on the Seychelles.

Maxwell served at HMS EXCELLENT, the School of Gunnery, Portsmouth, from November 1869 to November 1872, receiving a promotion to the rank of Captain on 29 November 1872. He then served as Captain in HMS EMERALD at the Australian Station, July 1878-August 1882, and from March 1883 to early 1885 he was in HMS NEPTUNE as part of the Channel Fleet. He acted as Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria in Hong Kong, 1887-1888, and after his return to Britain, was appointed Rear-Admiral on 1 January 1889 and Vice-Admiral on 9 December 1894, before retiring from the Navy on 25 June 1895. He subsequently acted as Conservator of the Thames, 1896-1906, during which time he was promoted to the rank of Admiral, Retired on 21 March 1900. Maxwell died on 1 July 1920.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Adml William Henry Maxwell, Dec 1873 - Apr 1889, they begin with Maxwell's early childhood reminiscences and record his career in the Royal Navy. Significant events in Maxwell's naval service include: a visit to Pitcairn Island, where Maxwell encountered some of the BOUNTY mutineers' descendents; his involvement in the suppression of the slave trade; his extensive travels in Polynesia; and his role as Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria during the Jubilee celebrations in Hong Kong.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

Please contact the Archive for further information.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Please contact the Archive for further information.

Finding aids:

Detailed catalogue online at the: National Maritime Museum website .

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The Museum acquired eight of Admiral Maxwell's journals in 2003.

ALLIED MATERIALS

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note: Edited by Sarah Drewery, Sep 2011.

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: 2011-04-19


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Mutiny | Crime
Naval affairs | Military affairs | Military science | Social sciences
Slavery | Social structure

Personal names
Maxwell | William Henry | 1840-1920 | Admiral
Victoria | 1819-1901 | Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and empress of India

Corporate names
HMS Bounty
Royal Navy

Places
Hong Kong | East Asia
Pitcairn Island | Oceania