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

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

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 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 the German a ...

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. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. 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 cu ...

, and became a leading supporter of

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...

and an activist in the

Scottish Land Restoration League The Scottish Land Restoration League was a Georgism, 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. ...

.BAILIE JAMES SHAW MAXWELL
Who's Who in Glasgow 1909, Glasgow Digital Library Maxwell stood unsuccessfully for

Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown, representing parts of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 U ...

at the 1885 general election. In 1888, he attended the founding meeting of the

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...

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 Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

(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 is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...

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