As a young man, James Maxwell worked as a road surveyor in the Scottish town of Mauchline, in Ayrshire. In 1853, aged 42 years, James emigrated with his family from Scotland to Australia, and settled in Kyneton, Victoria, where he and his wife lived out their days. James had a distinguished career as a surveyor and engineer in the Kyneton area. He worked for the Lauriston and Edgecombe Road Board from 1859 to 1864, variously as secretary and engineer. In 1865 he was appointed to be a mining surveyor for the Fryer’s Creek division of the Castlemaine mining district centred around Kyneton. James also acted as an agent for the Lands department, conducting surveys under the Land Act of 1865. It is not known when he retired from the workforce, but surviving records would suggest the late 1860s.

It seems that surveying and engineering was in the blood of the family of James Maxwell. James had 5 sons and 5 daughters, three of the daughters surviving childhood. Of the 5 sons, four of them went on to follow a similar line of work as their father.

John was the oldest son of James. As a 21 year old (shortly after the family arrived from Scotland), he worked as an overseer for a road contracting company.⁵ He filled such positions for Tylden and Trentham, Lauriston and Edgecombe and Carlsruhe District Road Boards between 1859 and 1865.⁶ John was appointed engineer and surveyor for Kyneton shire when the shire was first constituted in 1865. His appointment was no small achievement, as 20 applications were received for the position; 16 of the 25 councillors voted to appoint him.⁷ He worked for Kyneton Shire until his death in 1900.

Robert, second son of James, also followed in his father’s footsteps by working as a surveyor. He passed the examination for the office of mining surveyor in 1867, aged 30.⁸ His career is not well documented; it is known he was working as a surveyor and located in the Carlsruhe area in 1879.⁹ In 1885, he was a surveyor in nearby Tylden.¹⁰ After his passing, it was noted that he was known as a professional with ‘thorough accuracy’.¹¹

Third son of James was also named James, often distinguished from his father by being referred to as ‘J. R.’ or ‘James Rolland’. He worked as a surveyor in the Kyneton area.¹² In addition to his surveying work, he was also a farmer.

George (fifth son of James) also followed in the family tradition by becoming a surveyor. His lived and worked in the Wangaratta area. There are records of his work as a surveyor in Wangaratta in between 1888 and 1917.¹³

It was not just the sons of James Maxwell who went into engineering and surveying as further generations also followed the career path. James Maxwell, grandson of James and son of John, was recommended and appointed as Kyneton Shire engineer when the role became vacant due to the death of his father in 1900. Despite expressing misgivings about his own qualifications and age (he was only 22 years of age at the time), the councillors felt confident in appointing him and made allowances for his age.¹⁴ James and his father John made a significant contribution to the region of Kyneton; their successive appointments as shire engineer spanned almost 100 years.

Oswald Clowes Maxwell was a grandson of James Maxwell, being son of James Rolland Maxwell. Oswald worked for a time in Wangaratta, but spent considerable time in Uralla, NSW, where he was not only surveyor, but also town mayor and coroner. He met a sweetheart in Uralla and married her there, but the First World War saw both of his brothers die. This meant he was the sole remaining son in the family and hence returned to Victoria to assist with the family farm. He later settled in the small township of Byrneside, where he remained and built a long career, doing surveying work through much of the Goulburn Valley. He combined his surveying work with farming.

Another grandson of the patriarch James Maxwell was Steele Maxwell (another son of James Rolland), who trained to be a surveyor with his uncle George. Steele went on to work as a surveyor with Sambell Brothers, a Melbourne surveying and engineering company. Steele’s career was cut short when he died while serving in World War One.¹⁵

I imagine James Maxwell would be astonished, and proud, to know that, almost 120 years after his arrival in Australia, there are still engineers in his Australian family, even amongst his great, great, great grandchildren.

Reference list
¹ Census record for James Maxwell, aged 30, Pathhead, Mauchline, Ayrshire, 1841 Scotland Census, National Records of Scotland, Census 604/2/5, Ancestry.com, accessed 2 June 2019.
² ‘Lauriston and Edgecombe Road Board’, Kyneton Observer, 19 July 1859, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240896783; Coroner’s Inquest, Bendigo Advertiser, 13 December 1860, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87948679; ‘Lauriston and Edgecombe Road Board’, Kyneton Observer, 8 September 1864, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24079315
³ ‘The Gazette’, Argus, 8 November 1865, p. 5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5771478.
⁴ No title, Kyneton Observer, 8 June 1875, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240920032
⁵ ‘Death of Mr John Maxwell’, Kyneton Observer, 28 June 1900, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240991785
⁶ ‘The Late Mr John Maxwell’, Kyneton Observer, 10 July 1900, p. 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240992215
⁷‘Death of Mr John Maxwell’.
⁸ No title, Argus, 19 October 1867, p. 5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5781113
⁹ ‘Woodend Police Court’, Kyneton Guardian, 8 October 1879, p. 2, http://.gov.au/nla.news-article232773382
¹⁰ ‘No title’, Kyneton Observer, 25 April 1885, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240948696
¹¹ ‘Wangaratta District’, Ovens and Murray Advertiser, 12 April 1902, p. 9, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199787514
¹² ‘Personal’, Australasian, 5 November 1932, p. 10, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article141366405
¹³ ‘Wangaratta’, Benalla Standard, 28 August 1908, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155339621; Wangaratta, Ovens and Murray Advertiser, 27 January 1917, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87888340; ‘The Federal Council’, Leader, 28 January 1888, p. 31, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198022938
¹⁴ ‘The Late Mr John Maxwell’.
¹⁵ ‘Signaller Steele Maxwell’, Kyneton Guardian, 2 August 1918, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129613646