Researching John Maxwell

John Preston Maxwell was born on 5 December 1871 in Birmingham, where his father Dr James Laidlaw Maxwell, practised medicine. He attended University College School and University College London, before taking his clinical training at St Bartholomew's Hospital, from which he emerged with a gold medal in obstetrics and went on to work as a resident at St Bartholomew's. Then, following his devout Presbyterian faith, Maxwell became a Medical missionary for the English Presbyterian Church and, in about 1898, went to Fujian in China, where he spent the majority of his professional life. He worked at Yungchun Hospital, Fujian, from 1899 to 1919, and Changpoo, Amoy.

He specialised in obstetrics and was a leading authority on foetal osteomalacia. He became a Director of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Union Medical College in Beijing (a teaching hospital funded by the Rockefeller Foundation), President of the Chinese Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and worked as secretary to the medical committee of the Lord Mayor's Fund for the Relief of Distress in China. He was awarded the Army and Navy Medal by the Chinese Republic and was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1929. Maxwell returned to England at some point after 1935 (possibly as a result of the invasion of Beijing by the Japanese in 1937) and lived at Brinkley, Cambridgeshire. He was elected consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the nearby Newmarket General Hospital. He married Edith Lilly Isaacson in 1899 (who, as a proficient artist, illustrated some of her husband's research papers) and they had one daughter, Marjorie Gordon Maxwell (later Steen), born in 1908. John Maxwell died suddenly near his home on 25 July 1961, at the age of 89, his wife having predeceased him on 14 October 1954.

A species of Chinese snake, Opisthotropis maxwelli, is named in his honor.

Maxwell spoke at the May 1, 2005 rededication of Rowan Oak, William Faulkner's home in Oxford, Mississippi that is operated as a museum by the University of Mississippi.

In 2006, he received the "Best Actor" Award at the Atlanta Film Festival for the film version of Oh, Mr Faulkner, Do You Write?.

Born in Dalbeattie in Kirkcudbrightshire, Maxwell studied at Edinburgh College of Art from 1921 to 1927 and then, with the aid of a travelling scholarship, from 1927 to 1928 at the Académie Moderne in Paris under Léger and Ozenfant. He also travelled to Italy and Spain during this period, where he discovered the work of Chagall and the Symbolists.

These experiences influenced his work for the remainder of his career. Maxwell was a lifelong friend of William Gillies with whom he frequently travelled on painting trips. Along with Gillies, he was one of the group of artists who became known as The Edinburgh School. Maxwell taught intermittently at Edinburgh College of Art from 1928 to 1933, 1935 to 1946, and 1955 to 1961. He first exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1935 and became a full member in 1949.

Maxwell grew up in Muirkirk, Ayrshire. He joined the Manchester City Police in 1901 and served as Chief Constable from 1927 to November 1942. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1936 New Year Honours and knighted in the 1941 New Year Honours.

Maxwell's involvement in the 1940/1941 Greenfield case over his dismissal of a fireman resulted in considerable negative publicity.

With BIP (which was renamed Associated British Picture Corporation in 1933) John Maxwell began a major production programme. Maxwell imported top filmmakers from Europe as well as signing up leading British talent such as Alfred Hitchcock. Under Maxwell's leadership BIP produced several masterpieces of late silent cinema. With Hitchcock's Blackmail (1929) the company successfully made the transition to sound. While it continued to make some more expensive films, it increasingly relied on large numbers of medium or low-budget comedies and musicals aimed at the British rather than the international market.

By the mid-1930s BIP had been overtaken by its rival Gaumont British as the largest British producer. Maxwell bought a stake in Gaumont, intending this as a first step to a takeover that would allow him to merge the two companies to create a giant firm. However, he discovered that he had acquired non-voting shares, which brought him no actual control over the company. He took legal action and a court case followed.

Maxwell died in 1940. A giant British studio, similar to that envisaged by Maxwell, was created soon afterwards as J. Arthur Rank's Rank Organisation.