# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Maxwell, Robert (1695-1765)

​MAXWELL, ROBERT (1695–1765), writer on agriculture, eldest son of James Maxwell of Arkland, Kirkpatrick-Durham, Kircudbrightshire, by his wife Margaret, daughter of Robert Neilson of Barncaillie, in the same parish, was born at Arkland in 1695. The Maxwells had been settled at Arkland since the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the Neilsons, descended from the house of Craigcaffie, Wigton, had been proprietors of Barncaillie since 1537. After receiving an education 'becoming his rank,' Maxwell engaged in agriculture, and about 1723 took on a lease of four periods of nineteen years a farm of 130 acres, all arable, at Cliftonhall, near Edinburgh, the rent of which, paid in money, was 50l. From this time he devoted himself to the improvement of agriculture, and during the first half of the eighteenth century he probably did more than any other to introduce or encourage the practice of new methods. If he did not initiate he was one of the earliest and most active members of the Society of Improvers in the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scotland, which was established at Edinburgh on 8 June 1723. In 1739 he proposed to the Society for the Propagation of Christianity in Scotland a scheme for the application of certain funds in their possession to the education of boys in the new principles of agriculture. The society invited him to give a full account of the uses of the root crops which he proposed to grow, and the Society of Improvers encouraged him, but the scheme fell through. Meanwhile Maxwell had taken the largest share of the work of the Society of Improvers. He wrote 'not a little that was laid before them,' and replied to most of the inquiries which were sent in from all parts of the country. He had besides the management of his own farm, where he appears to have paid more attention to experiments than to making a profit, and he supervised improvements on the estates of the great land proprietors. Among those who availed themselves of his advice and assistance was John, second earl of Stair. In 1743 he published 'Select Transactions of the Society of Improvers,' &c., Edinburgh, 8vo. This valuable work, a large portion of which consists of Maxwell's contributions, contains many suggestions which were then new to Scotland, such as the efficacy and the mode of burning clay or subsoil, the method of cutting seed potatoes and of planting them, the rotation of crops, root crops, and the enclosing of land, in addition to much useful information on the agriculture and manufactures of Scotland. On the dissolution of the Society of Improvers, in consequence of the death of nearly all its founders, Maxwell transferred his energies to the Edinburgh Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Sciences, Manufactures, and Agriculture, which took its place.
In 1745 Maxwell succeeded his father in the estate of Arkland, but by this time he had exhausted his somewhat slender resources. He had to surrender the lease of his farm at Cliftonhall, and in 1749 he became insolvent. At the instance of his creditors Arkland was sold, 9 Jan. 1750, for 10,304l. Scots to John Coltart of Areeming.
After this period Maxwell earned his living by acting as land valuer and supervisor of improvements, while his wife probably became a shopkeeper 'betwixt James's and Wardrop's Courts in the north side of the Lawn Market at Edinburgh' (Advertisement in the Practical Beemaster, 2nd edit. 1750). He did not, however, relax his efforts for the improvement of agriculture. He had before this time endeavoured to obtain the establishment of a lectureship or a class in agriculture at Edinburgh University, and Lord Stair and the Society of Improvers had been favourable to the scheme. Unable, however, to accomplish this design, Maxwell, 'without the patronage of any public body, and encouraged by individuals only,' gave public lectures on agriculture in Edinburgh in 1756. His lectures, probably the first of the kind delivered in Great Britain, were attended by many of the farmers and landowners in the district, and he was strongly urged to publish them. Two of them were printed in the 'Practical Husbandman, being a Collection of Miscellaneous Papers on Husbandry,' Edinburgh, 1757, 8vo. He died at Renfrew, in the house ​ of his son-in-law, James King, on 17 May 1765.
Maxwell married Margaret, daughter of Bailie Montgomery of Edinburgh, who predeceased him, leaving six daughters.
In addition to the works mentioned above, Maxwell probably edited and wrote parts of 'A Treatise concerning the Manner of Fallowing of Ground, c., by the Society for Improving in the Knowledge of Agriculture,' Edinburgh, 17:24, 8vo. He also published 'The Practical Beemaster,' &c., Edinburgh, 1747, 8vo; 2nd edit. 1750; reprinted in John Reid's ' Scots Gardiner,' Edinburgh, 1756.
[Select Transactions of the Society of Improvers, passim ; Thomas Murray's Literary History of Galloway, 2nd edit. pp. 167-74; M'Kerlie's Lands and their Owners in Galloway, iv. 227, 303.]
W. A. S. H.