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Cramond Brig
Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 11
Location: Edinburgh
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 Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 9:27 am Post subject: Private James Hamilton Maxwell |
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As part of my Royal Scots WW1 casualty research, I have found the information below about James Hamilton Maxwell. The garden referred to was one of the many gardens created in a scheme conceived by Patrick Geddes.
You will see that there is a reference to a Cairngorms memorial but I have been unable to find anything about this.
Does anyone have any ideas or any more informationb about this man?
Alistair
Private James Hamilton Maxwell. born Edinburgh in 1893, died 22/05/1915, was the son of Hamilton Maxwell, WS, and Catherine Watson Maxwell, of 13 Albert Terrace, Edinburgh, and the grandson of Colonel James Maxwell, CB. From Merchiston Castle Preparatory School he passed to Trinity College, Glenalmond, and from there to Wadham College, Oxford, where he had entered on his last year of residence when the war broke out. He joined the 9th Royal Scots, and went with the Battalion to France in February. He was slightly wounded at the shelling of the billets at Ypres, which kept him in hospital in Belgium for some weeks, and he only rejoined his regiment shortly before his death in the trenches. In 1925 his parents paid for the creation of Grassmarket Child Garden (now Grassmarket Nursery School) as a memorial to James. In 1930 the Garden was used as grounding for study by the first students of the College of Education so they could learn about social work aimed at helping the children in the overcrowded slum districts, early childhood education and childhood development post-war aiding in the development of society. The School building as a memorial has direct connections with a memorial that was erected in the Cairngorms by the Hamilton Maxwell family. His mother and father felt that the most lasting tribute they could give their son was to start a nursery school in the Grassmarket, so that the children there too, might have freedom and fresh air. |
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Adam Brown
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
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Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)
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| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 1:39 pm Post subject: |
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Alastair
Is it possible to find any family connections in the Cairngorms to try and narrow it down? Did the Maxwells own a house or land in Aberdeenshire perhaps?
I note he died on the same day as the Gretna Rail crash. Don't know if that would mean there is less chance of his death being reported on by local papers at that time?
Adam |
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Cramond Brig
Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 11
Location: Edinburgh
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| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Adam Brown wrote: | Alastair
Is it possible to find any family connections in the Cairngorms to try and narrow it down? Did the Maxwells own a house or land in Aberdeenshire perhaps?
I note he died on the same day as the Gretna Rail crash. Don't know if that would mean there is less chance of his death being reported on by local papers at that time?
Adam |
Adam
I can't see any connection so far. His father was born in India, mother in Forfar. Grandparents seem to be Edinburgh and Forfar connected. There is an image on Scran with a snippet of text referring to the boy's love of the fresh air, but it is incomplete and not available online free.
The Early Learning organisation seem to have the rights to the photo so I have written to them to see if they have any bio material.
Alistair |
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Adam Brown
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
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Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)
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| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 2:10 pm Post subject: |
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Forar is maybe a clue. It is at the foot of the Grampians so perhaps Glen Clova is the place to start looking?
I think we may have someone on the forum with Scran access so hopefully they'll come up with some more.
Adam |
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Cramond Brig
Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 11
Location: Edinburgh
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| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Adam Brown wrote: | Forfar is maybe a clue. It is at the foot of the Grampians so perhaps Glen Clova is the place to start looking?
I think we may have someone on the forum with Scran access so hopefully they'll come up with some more.
Adam |
Could be. My boss, sorry, my wife has access to Scran, I now know, through Edinburgh University - so we will look later.
Alistair |
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Cramond Brig
Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 11
Location: Edinburgh
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| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 2:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Adam Brown wrote: | Alastair
Is it possible to find any family connections in the Cairngorms to try and narrow it down? Did the Maxwells own a house or land in Aberdeenshire perhaps?
I note he died on the same day as the Gretna Rail crash. Don't know if that would mean there is less chance of his death being reported on by local papers at that time?
Adam |
There was a brief report of his death in The Scotsman.
The Scran entry says "Grassmarket Child Garden was built in memory of James Hamilton Maxwell who was killed in the 1914-18 war. He had loved the hills and freedom and on his holidays would travel by bicycle with a homemade tent to the Cairngorms.
The Grassmarket was an area of deprivation and overcrowding and there were no safe places for children to play.
James Hamilton Maxwell loved 'freedom and fresh air' and his parents felt a lasting tribute would be a nursery school in the centre of Edinburgh where the children from the overcrowded tenements could also find freedom and fresh air".
Alistair |
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Adam Brown
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Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)
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| Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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I've been having a think about this one. I wonder if there is no memorial in the Cairngorms?
I think it was James's love for the Cairngorms which inspired the nursery, rather than a memorial in the Cairngorms which inspired it.
It may be worth going back to the original source to see where they got the information about the memorial.
Adam |
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Cramond Brig
Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 11
Location: Edinburgh
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| Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 6:29 am Post subject: |
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| Adam Brown wrote: | I've been having a think about this one. I wonder if there is no memorial in the Cairngorms?
I think it was James's love for the Cairngorms which inspired the nursery, rather than a memorial in the Cairngorms which inspired it.
It may be worth going back to the original source to see where they got the information about the memorial.
Adam |
Good thinking.
Alistair |
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anne park
Our first ever 2000 poster
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Location: Aberdeen
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| Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 7:19 am Post subject: James Hamilton Maxwell |
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| I checked on Ancestry, I put in to search all records and found a photo of him and there is info on the page which needs checking also try contacting the owner and see if more is known.... |
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Cramond Brig
Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 11
Location: Edinburgh
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| Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:14 am Post subject: Re: James Hamilton Maxwell |
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| anne park wrote: | | I checked on Ancestry, I put in to search all records and found a photo of him and there is info on the page which needs checking also try contacting the owner and see if more is known.... |
Hello Anne
The lady on Ancestry actually got the information from me and has asked me if I can find out anything more. I think it is likely that the memorial garden (Grassmarket Child Garden) was one of the 75 gardens that were created by Patrick Geddes for children living in Edinburgh's Old Town in the 1900s. I will keep digging (no pun intended)
Alistair |
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Cramond Brig
Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 11
Location: Edinburgh
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:34 am Post subject: |
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| Adam Brown wrote: | I've been having a think about this one. I wonder if there is no memorial in the Cairngorms?
I think it was James's love for the Cairngorms which inspired the nursery, rather than a memorial in the Cairngorms which inspired it.
It may be worth going back to the original source to see where they got the information about the memorial.
Adam |
Adam
I have just spoken to the Head Teacher at Grassmarket Nursery School. Her brother has seen the memorial which she says is a single stone with something on it about James loving the hills. Unfortunately he can't just remember where it is exactly. The school also got £200 a year from a Maxwell family bequest until it was gobbled up by the "Cooncil".
Alistair |
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Adam Brown
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
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Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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Looks like the hunt is back on then. Somewhere in the Cairngorms. the words needle and haystack sprint to mind!
Cheers
Adam |
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Cramond Brig
Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 11
Location: Edinburgh
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| Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 2:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Adam Brown wrote: | Looks like the hunt is back on then. Somewhere in the Cairngorms. the words needle and haystack sprint to mind!
Cheers
Adam |
I got this information today from Forfar Library.
“The memorial at Rynettin (OS Map Ref: NJ012138) is a white granite stone, on a knoll just to the W of the road. It is dedicated to one James Hamilton Maxwell, a young man from Edinburgh, who was killed at Ypres during the Great War of 1914-1918.”
The source is: Cross, Ernest. Short Walks in the Cairngorms. Edinburgh: Luath Press, 1997.
Looks like it is just off the A939.
Is there anyone in that area who might take a photograph which would get us the text and really complete this.
Alistair |
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Adam Brown
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 7312
Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)
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| Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 4:03 pm Post subject: |
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It is actually marked on the OS map of the area. If you use their Get-a-map service it centres the memorial on NJ012137.
It looks like it is in the wilds, off a B road, off the back road from Boat of Garten to Nethy Bridge. It's probably not even a B road.
There is a photo here: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1471692
Well done Alistair for finding it!
Thanks
Adam |
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Cramond Brig
Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 11
Location: Edinburgh
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| Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Adam Brown wrote: | It is actually marked on the OS map of the area. If you use their Get-a-map service it centres the memorial on NJ012137.
It looks like it is in the wilds, off a B road, off the back road from Boat of Garten to Nethy Bridge. It's probably not even a B road.
There is a photo here: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1471692
Well done Alistair for finding it!
Thanks
Adam |
That really does complete the picture, so to speak.
Alistair |
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