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The Sailors

Amateur British & Irish Yachtsmen Before World War One

Donald Maxwell
1877 - 1936

The second son (?) of parents Dr. Frederick Charles, and Lucilla Maxwell Donald Maxwell was born in 1877. In 1876 Dr. Maxwell, a Methodist preacher, purchased a house known as "The Beeches" in Cambridge and founded the Manor House School. He later sold the building to is oldest son Stanley and the school eventually became part of the current Eaton House Schools. It was a year after the founding of the school that Donald was born, and presumeably spent much of his young life growing up within the school environs. Lucilla Maxwell appears to have been an artist - at least on an amateur basis.

In addition to an older brother Stanley, were Colin, and Gordon.

When the time came, Donald pursued his artistic interests as a student at the Royal College of Art and The Slade where he appears to have studied under Professor Tonks. By 1906 he was being exhibted at the Royal Academy.

Donald Maxwell appears to have also been known as Malcolm, perhaps a middle name or nickname. He was known amongst his friends as something of a "mad" artist - in the friendliest sense of course. He had a reputation for single-mindedness when it came to getting the sketch - regardless of rain, present company's comfort, etc. He even outfitted a boat, Penguin as a floating studio on whose decks he could arrange large canvases for painting. His pre-war interest in both sketching maritime scenes and exploration by boat resulted in a number of adventures afloat, a few of which he documented (articles in The Yachting Monthly: A Motor Boat's Discovery of the Upper Medway, The Cruise of the Penguin, A Voyage to the Vosges; and books, The Log of the Griffin and A Cruise Across Europe. Other adventures were related by friends such as Herbert Knight, apparently a close friend, who described Maxwell as follows:

"Now Malcolm has personality transcending the normal as a hundred to one. He recognises the dramatic limitations of speech; to him it is an obscure text requiring physical illustration. He jerks his arms, wags his head, hops and jumps about regardless of everything save a genuine desire to make himself understood. He is a delightful, cheery fellow, with a robust appreciation of the joie de vivre."

Waterloo Bridge to Limehouse, The Yachting Monthly, July, 1910

As with so many of his contemporaries—including brother Gordon—when war broke out in 1914 Maxwell volunteered. Initially he spent a year working as a correspondent for The Graphic at the front, illustrating all he saw. After a year he enlisted as a Lieutenant in the R.N.V.R. and was posted to the command a Motor Launch (M.L. 139) stationed on the North Sea Patrol and out of Sheerness. He continued to provide illustrations and paintings to The Graphic and The Yachting Monthly. In accordance with regulations and tradition his work was all published without his usual signature. Instead it was simply signed "A Naval Officer".

Some mention of his progress in the Navy can be found within the Gazette where his promotion within the R.N.V.R. from Sub-Lieutenant to temporary Lieutenant is noted on 18 July, 1916 - at the same time as the same promotion for fellow sailor Edwin S. Turner:

R.N.V.R.
To be tempy. Lieut. -
Tempy. Sub-Lieut. Digby E. Easton. 17th July 1916.

The undermentioned tempy. Sub-Lieuts. to be tempy. Lieuts.: -
Edwin S. Turner. 6th Apr. 1916.
Thomas Sinclair. 17th June 1916.
Donald Maxwell. 24th June 1916.
William Robinson. 26th June 1916.

Eventually, his contributions to The Yachting Monthly were noticed by the Admiralty and his identity revealed which led to a 1918 transfer to duty as an official Admiralty War Artist in the Mediteranean and Palistine - a posting he arrived at just as the war ended. This was an area of the Empire he'd already had some experience with during a previous visit in 1912. He wrote of his experiences during the war in The Last Crusade, 1914-1918. He also provided numerous illustrations for brother Gordon's The Motor Launch Patrol and The Naval Front documenting the part they'd played during the war as part of the Auxiliary Patrol.

Perhaps before, and certainly after the war Maxwell was a churchwarden at St. Matthew's Church, Borstal in which town he lived for many years.

"St Matthew's has become well-known for the story behind the seven Sanctuary Lamps. In 1912 one of the churchwardens, Donald Maxwell, visited Syria and made for Damascus. Here he found the "Street called Straight", where once stood the house to which Saul was taken after being blinded in his conversion experience on the Damascus Road. In this street, Donald Maxwell came upon the workshop of an old Arab brass-worker. He admired some lamps being fashioned by the old man so much that he ordered a set to take home to his own Parish Church, promising to call back for them at a later date. The intervention of World War I prevented this, and the Arab was pressed into service by the conquering Turks to make munitions for them.

Maxwell was back in the area in 1920 and, out of curiosity, again made his way to the "Street called Straight". To his astonishment the old Arab was still there and explained that despite everything the lamps had been made and buried throughout the war under the floor of his house. He was a Christian and, knowing the destination of the lamps, refused to take anything for them. They were brought home to Borstal and on the day of the Feast of St Paul were dedicated by the Bishop.

The lamps were originally lit by oil, but were later electrified due to the fire risk. Apart from the central lamp they appear to be in pairs, but in fact the hand-working of each one is different, and - perhaps unique in a Christian church - each incorporates in its design the Moslem Star and Crescent, but surmounted by the Christian cross."

History of St. Matthew's

Like his brother Gordon, Donald appears to have taken great interest in the history of the southeastern part of England, particularly the Home Counties. He spent much time exploring them and writing about his experiences in such books as A Detective in Sussex, A Detective in Kent, A Detective in Essex, A Detective in Surrey, and a whole collection of "Unknown" books (Unknown Sussex, Norfolk, etc.. He turned a series of articles written for The Graphic magazine into a book about London at night in The New Lights O' London in 1926. In this book he mentions (in the abstract) his wife and two young daughters. He was quite prolific through the 1920's and early 1930's, often publishing more than one book a year.

In addition to his prolific writing Maxwell contributed a number of popular paintings to the Southern Railway as a series entitled "County Prints" which were then copied and sold to the public. These have subsequently become quite scarce and greatly sought after.

He appears to be buried in the parish church cemetery in East Farleigh, Kent.

A biography of Maxwell, Donald Maxwell, 1877-1936, was written by his grandson Michael Ffinch and published by the Maxwell Family Estate in 1995. If you have a copy of this I'd love to see it!

Here's a bibliography of Maxwell's books and articles.

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