Sir John Maxwell Stirling-Maxwell, 10th Baronet,
KT,
DL,
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 Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...
(6 June 1866 – 30 May 1956) was a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
landowner,
Tory
A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
politician and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
.
Life

The eldest son of
Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, 9th Baronet and Lady Anna Maria Leslie-Melville, second daughter of
David Leslie-Melville, 8th Earl of Leven and Elizabeth Anne Campbell, he was educated at
Eton College
Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
and at
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
. He succeeded his father to the baronetcy in 1878.
He was
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
Member of Parliament for
the College Division of Glasgow between 1895 and 1906, and later served as Chairman of the
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England.
The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...
from 1929–1932. He was also Chairman of the
Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland, and a Trustee of the
National Galleries of Scotland
The National Galleries of Scotland (, sometimes also known as National Galleries Scotland) is the executive non-departmental public body that controls the three national galleries of Scotland and two partner galleries, forming one of the Nation ...
, Chairman of
Ancient Monuments Board
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, li ...
. He was a
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
in the
Royal Company of Archers and an active
Freemason
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
, being a member of The Pollokshaws Royal Arch Lodge No. 153, a founding member of Lodge Blythswood No. 817, and an honorary member of Lodge Pollok, Pollokshields No. 772.
He was a founder member of the
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...
(1931), becoming one of its first Vice-Presidents and President from 1943 until his death. He realised the importance of green spaces within a city. In this context, he was determined to protect the
Pollok Estate and give the people of Glasgow access to it, which he undertook in 1911.
Stirling-Maxwell was also involved in trying to resolve the protracted problem of finding a home for the art treasures presented to Glasgow in 1944 by Sir
William Burrell. After his death, his daughter gave
Pollok House, a substantial proportion of the
estate and her father's art collection to the
Glasgow Corporation
Glasgow City Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Ghlaschu'') is the local government authority for Glasgow City council area, Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Glasgow was formerly governed by a corporation, also kno ...
. This gift of land eventually allowed the Glasgow city fathers to erect a building to hold the
Burrell Collection
The Burrell Collection is a museum in Glasgow, Scotland, managed by Glasgow Museums. It houses the art collection of William Burrell, Sir William Burrell and Constance Burrell, Constance, Lady Burrell. The museum opened in 1983 and reopened on ...
.
In 1929 he was appointed a
Knight of the Thistle. He held the honorary degree of
LLD from the
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...
, the
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...
and
Edinburgh University
The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...
. Hon.
RSA; Hon.
RIBA
''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130
; Hon.
RWS; Hon.
RSW and a
DL. Sir John and Lady Stirling-Maxwell were both elected Fellows of the
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
in 1902.
In 1938 he was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) 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 establis ...
. His proposers were Sir
Ernest Wedderburn, Sir John Sutherland, Sir
Thomas Henry Holland
Sir Thomas Henry Holland (22 November 1868 – 15 May 1947) was a British geologist who worked in India with the Geological Survey of India, serving as its director from 1903 to 1910. He later worked as an educational administrator at Ed ...
and Sir
William Wright Smith.
Sir John Stirling-Maxwell died at Pollok House on 30 May 1956.
Family
On 12 November 1901 he married Ann Christian Maxwell, daughter of The Rt. Hon.
Sir Herbert Maxwell, 7th Baronet, at Mochrum Parish Church in
Mochrum in
Wigtownshire
Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the Counties of Scotland, historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an counties of Scotland, administrative county used for ...
. The couple had one daughter,
Dame Anne Maxwell Macdonald, 11th Baronetess.
References
Sources
*Kidd, Charles & Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stirling-Maxwell, Sir John, 10th Baronet
1866 births
1956 deaths
Nobility from Glasgow
20th-century Scottish landowners
Scottish philanthropists
10
Deputy lieutenants of Inverness-shire
Anglo-Scots
Knights of the Thistle
Scottish Tory MPs (pre-1912)
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies
UK MPs 1895–1900
UK MPs 1900–1906
People educated at Eton College
Members of the Royal Company of Archers
John, 10
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
* Second E ...
National Trust for Scotland people
Scottish male painters