George Arnot Maxwell (30 April 1859 – 25 June 1935) was an Australian lawyer and politician. He was one of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

's leading

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

s, specialising in criminal law. He was also a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1917 until his death in 1935.

Early life

Maxwell was born in Montrose, Forfarshire,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and educated in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

. He migrated to Australia with his family in 1875. He worked briefly as a jackaroo and then completed his matriculation in

in 1881. He subsequently taught at Melbourne schools, including Caulfield Grammar School, while studying arts and law at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, where from 1884 he was a student of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. His early training and experiences for his later career as a barrister and politician can be seen in his student activities. In July 1884, he was, along with Trinity student Ernest Selwyn Hughes, a founder of the Shakspeare icSociety at the University of Melbourne, and he won the Sir Wigram Allen Prize for Oratory awarded by the Trinity College Dialectic Society in December the same year. In 1889, Maxwell was appointed Prelector of the College's debating society.

Barrister

Maxwell was admitted to the

Victorian Bar The Victorian Bar is the bar association of the Australian State of Victoria. The current President of the Bar is Roisin Annesley KC. Its members are barristers registered to practice in Victoria. On 30 June 2020, there were 2,179 counsels ...

in 1891 and developed a successful legal practice specialising in criminal law. He was eventually appointed

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

(KC) in 1926. Arthur Dean regarded him as "beyond all question the greatest ictoriancriminal advocate of modern times" and

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

described him as "the greatest criminal advocate I ever heard". One of Maxwell's most notable cases was the Gun Alley Murder trial of 1921, where he had Tom Brennan as his junior. His client

Colin Campbell Ross Colin Campbell Eadie Ross (11 October 1892 – 24 April 1922) was an Australian wine-bar owner who was wrongfully convicted and executed for the murder of a child, which became known as the Gun Alley Murder, despite evidence of his innocence. Fo ...

was convicted of the murder of a 12-year-old girl and subsequently executed, in what came to be regarded as a miscarriage of justice.

Political career

Maxwell ran unsuccessfully for various

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

seats: Collingwood in 1891;

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a po ...

in 1897;

Warrnambool Warrnambool ( Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (A ...

in 1900;

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

in 1902 and Evelyn in 1914. However, he won the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

-held

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

seat of

Fawkner Fawkner is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Hume and Merri-bek local government areas. Fawkner recorded a population of 14,274 at the 2021 census. The ma ...

for the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

at the 1917 election. In parliament, he disliked what he saw as the sectionalism of the

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

and Labor parties and, following his conscience, he voted against the

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Page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

government on a number of issues in 1929. He was one of six Nationalists, including Billy Hughes, who brought the government down by voting against the maritime industries bill and as a result was unopposed by Labor at the 1929 election. He joined Hughes's

Australian Party The Australian Party was a political party founded and led by Billy Hughes after his expulsion from the Nationalist Party. The party was formed in 1929, and at its peak had four members of federal parliament. It was merged into the new Unite ...

, but resigned in May 1930 and sat as an Independent until he joined the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

in 1931.

Personal life

Maxwell married Jean Russell Ross in 1896—they had four daughters and one son. Maxwell lost sight in one eye in 1920 and most of the sight in the other in 1921, becoming totally blind in 1929. Following his death at home in the Melbourne suburb of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, his seat of Fawkner was won by future Prime Minister Harold Holt.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, George Arnot People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Fawkner Members of the Australian House of Representatives Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Australia United Australia Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian barristers 1859 births 1935 deaths People from Montrose, Angus Blind politicians Blind people from Australia Australian Party members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia Australian King's Counsel

Early life

Barrister

Political career

Personal life

See also

Notes