Sir George Clerk Maxwell, 4th Baronet

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(1715–1784), of

Penicuik Penicuik ( ; sco, Penicuik; gd, Peighinn na Cuthaig) is a town and former burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk. It lies on the A701 midway between Edinburgh and Peebles, east of the Pentland Hills. Na ...

(simply Clerk prior to his marriage), was a Scottish landowner who served as the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer in Exchequer (1741), Commissioner of Customs (1763), a Trustee for Improving Fisheries and Manufactures in Scotland, and as a Commissioner for the Annexed Forfeited Estates.

Life

George Clerk was born in Edinburgh on 31 October 1715, the second son of

Sir John Clerk, 2nd Baronet Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, 2nd Baronet (1676–1755) was a Scottish politician, lawyer, judge and composer. He was Vice-President of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, the pre-eminent learned society of the Scottish Enlightenment. He w ...

of Penicuik, and Janet Inglis, daughter of

Sir John Inglis, 2nd Baronet Sir John Inglis of Cramond, 2nd Baronet (September 1683 – 3 March 1771) was Postmaster General for Scotland, the son and heir of Sir James Inglis, 1st Baronet of Cramond, Edinburghshire by his spouse Anne, daughter of Sir Patrick Houstoun, 1st ...

Cramond Cramond Village (; gd, Cathair Amain) is a village and suburb in the north-west of Edinburgh, Scotland, at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth. The Cramond area has evidence of Mesolithic, Bronze Age and Roman ac ...

. He was educated at the universities of Edinburgh and

Leyden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration with ...

. From his father he received in patrimony the lands of Drumcrieff in Annandale, and by marriage with his cousin Dorothea Clerk-Maxwell, daughter of his uncle William by Agnes Maxwell, heiress of

Middlebie Middlebie is a hamlet and parish in the historic county of Dumfriesshire in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is approximately east of Ecclefechan, and north-east of Annan, on the banks of the Middlebie Burn. Middlebie Parish c ...

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

, he obtained the lands of Middlebie, adopting thereupon his wife's name, Clerk Maxwell. He was a commissioner of the customs, king's remembrancer in the exchequer, and one of the trustees for improving fisheries and manufactures in Scotland. Both in his private and public capacity he promoted the agricultural and commercial interests of the country. At Dumfries he erected at considerable expense a linen manufactory, and he set on foot a variety of projects for the mining of lead and copper in the county. In 1755 he addressed two letters to the trustees for the improvement of the fisheries and manufactures of Scotland, regarding the common mode of treating wool, which were published by direction of the board in 1756. He was also the author of a paper on shallow ploughing, read before the members of the

Philosophical Society 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 ...

, and published in the third volume of their essays. He was a remarkably clever draughtsman, and etched a variety of views of Scotland. On the death of his elder brother in 1782, he succeeded to the baronetcy and estates of Penicuik. In 1783 he was one of the joint founders 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 ...

. He died 29 January 1784. George's father, his brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and himself were friends of

James Hutton James Hutton (; 3 June O.S.172614 June 1726 New Style. – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, agriculturalist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist and physician. Often referred to as the father of modern geology, he played a key role i ...

Family

He married Dorothea Clerk Maxwell of Middlebie. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son John Clerk. He had four other sons and four daughters. He was the great-grandfather of the famous physicist

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and ligh ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerk-Maxwell, George People from Penicuik 1715 births 1784 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia Members of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh Founder Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish knights Scottish landowners Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Leiden University alumni Scottish chief executives Tax collectors Scottish politicians People of the Industrial Revolution Scottish businesspeople