Sir William Maxwell KBE (1860 – 23 December 1928) was a British journalist, soldier, writer and civil servant.[1][2]
William Maxwell | |
|---|---|
.png) In The Sketch, 12 February 1902 | |
| Born | 1860 Workington, England |
| Died | 23 December 1928 (aged 67–68) Wraysbury, England |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, soldier, writer, civil servant |
| Spouse |
Clara Hardy (m. 1886) |
Early life edit
Maxwell was born in 1860[a] in Workington, Cumberland of Irish-born parents William and Mary Maxwell. His father was an insurance agent. Maxwell was described in 1881 as a "Reporter on Newspaper".
He married Clara Hardy, daughter of Adam Hall Hardy, of Buttershaw, Bradford, on 15 June 1886, at St Pauls Church, Buttershaw.[3]
War correspondent edit
Maxwell was a war correspondent for the London Standard, covering the Anglo-Egyptian victory at Battle of Omdurman (1898).
He forwarded reports to London from South Africa throughout the Second Boer War (1899–1902). He survived enteric fever and reported the Siege of Ladysmith. He followed Lord Roberts' campaign from the capture of Bloemfontein through battles at Lydenberg and the Komatipoort.[1]
In 1905, he resigned from the Standard, becoming a foreign correspondent for the London Daily Mail during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905).[4]
Prior to the outbreak of the Great War in Europe, he covered the Balkan War (1912).[5][6]
During the First World War, he reported the First Battle of the Marne (September 1914) for the London Daily Telegraph. Shortly afterwards, he enlisted with the rank of captain and assignment to the general staff.[1]
Military Censor edit
As the Chief Field Censor on the staff of General Sir Ian Hamilton in the Gallipoli campaign (April–December 1915), Captain Maxwell played a central and crucial role in the unsuccessful attempt to mitigate reports about events unfolding in the Dardanelles and on the Turkish coast in 1915.[7]
Press correspondents at Gallipoli were required to submit all their writing to Captain William Maxwell, whose approval was necessary under regulations drawn up by and enforced by the British Army. Although many later questioned the level of censorship at Gallipoli, most accepted the censorship as an essential element of wartime reporting. Gallipoli's geographic isolation made Maxwell's task was made easier by the isolation of the area that he oversaw. The Gallipoli campaign was fought on the edge of a virtually uninhabited mountain range. The only way to cable messages from Gallipoli was through the official channels.[8]
Later life edit
After the war Maxwell became a section chief in the Secret Service. He died at "Longfield" his home in Wraysbury on 23 December 1928.[2]
Selected works edit
- 1902 — With the "Ophir" Round the Empire: An Account of the Tour of the Prince and Princess of Wales, London: Cassell & Co.[9]
- 1906 — From Yalu to Port Arthur, London: Hutchinson & Co. OCLC 2010584
- 1921 — What's Wrong with Your Work?, New York: Trade Press Feature Service, Inc.
Honours and awards edit
- 1906 — Order of the Rising Sun, Japan.[1]
- 1919 – Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire[1]
Notes edit
- ^ The 1861 Census on 7 April 1861 lists him as four months old, his birth was registered in Cockermouth in the fourth quarter of 1860
Notes edit
- ^ a b c d e Roth, Mitchel P. and James Stuart Olson. (1997). Historical Dictionary of War Journalism, p. 196.
- ^ a b "Sir William Maxwell – Correspondent in Many Wars". The Times. No. 45085. London. 27 December 1928. p. 17. Retrieved 22 December 2023 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ "Marriages". Leeds Mercury. 18 June 1886. p. 4. Retrieved 22 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Roth, p. 267.
- ^ "Slavs Menace Dual Monarchy; Raising of Prince of Montenegro to Rank of King Is Regarded as Ominous," The New York Times. 28 August 1910. (subscription required)
- ^ Roth, p. 196.
- ^ Knightly, Philip. "Beating the censor – Ashmead-Bartlett's efforts to reveal the real story of Gallipoli," Archived 12 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine Visit Gallipoli (Information Services Branch of the Board of Studies NSW for the Department of Veterans' Affairs); Knightly, Phillip (2004). The First Casualty, p. 107.
- ^ National Library of Australia: "Despatches from Gallipoli, Censorship".
- ^ "Review of With the 'Ophir' round the Empire by William Maxwell ..." The Quarterly Journal. 196: 1–19. July 1902.
References edit
- Knightly, Phillip. (1975). The First Casualty – From Crimea to Vietnam: The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 978-0-15-131264-1 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-15-631130-4 (paper) [re-issued by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004: ISBN 978-0-8018-8030-8 (paper) OCLC 55138599
- Roth, Mitchel P. and James Stuart Olson. (1997). Historical Dictionary of War Journalism. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-29171-5