James Clerk Maxwell's birthplace at 14 India Street

John Clerk (later Clerk Maxwell) of Middlebie (1790–1856) was a Scottish

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

and father of the mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

Life

He was born in Edinburgh on 10 November 1790, the son of Janet Irving and Captain James Clerk. He studied law and qualified as an advocate in 1811. He inherited the Middlebie estate in Dumfriesshire from his grandmother Dorothea Clerk Maxwell upon her death in 1793; and assumed the additional surname of Maxwell. He built a new mansion designed by Walter Newall on his estate in Kirkcudbrightshire at Glenlair. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 1821, his proposer being Sir

George Steuart Mackenzie Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, 7th Baronet FRS FRSE FSA (22 June 1780–26 October 1848) was a Scottish geologist, chemist and agricultural improver. Life The only son of Major General Sir Alexander Mackenzie of Coul (d.1796), a General in ...

. In the 1830s he is recorded as living at 14 India Street in Edinburgh's Second New Town, which is where James Clerk Maxwell was born. He died on 3 April 1856. He is buried in Parton in Kirkcudbrightshire.

Family

He was the brother of

Sir George Clerk of Penicuik Sir George Clerk of Pennycuik, 6th Baronet (19 November 1787 – 23 December 1867) was a Scottish politician who served as the Tory MP for Edinburghshire, Stamford and Dover. Background Clerk was the son of Cpt. James Clerk (d.1793), t ...

, and brother-in-law of James Wedderburn. He married Frances Hodshon Cay (d.1839), daughter of

Robert Hodshon Cay Robert Hodshon Cay FSSA LLD (7 July 1758 – 31 March 1810) was Judge Admiral of Scotland overseeing naval trials. He was husband of the artist Elizabeth Liddell, father of John Cay FRSE and maternal grandfather of James Clerk Maxwell. Life C ...

and Elizabeth Liddell. Their children included the mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell. His brother-in-law was

John Cay John Lidell Cay FRSE PRSSA (31 August 1790 – 13 December 1865) was a Scottish advocate, pioneer photographer and antiquarian. He served as the Sheriff of Linlithgowshire 1822–65. He was the maternal uncle of James Clerk Maxwell. He was ...

References

1790 births 1856 deaths 19th-century Scottish people Members of the Faculty of Advocates Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{Scotland-law-bio-stub