Fonds WEM - Papers of William Edward Maxwell

Zone d'identification

Cote

GB 891 WEM

Titre

Papers of William Edward Maxwell

Date(s)

  • 18th Jan 1889 (Création/Production)

Niveau de description

Fonds

Étendue matérielle et support

1 item handwritten

Zone du contexte

Nom du producteur

Notice biographique

William Edward Maxwell, born in 1846, was the son of Sir Peter Benson Maxwell, the Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements. Maxwell followed in his father's footsteps, training in the legal profession and working within colonial administration. In 1883, Maxwell was appointed Commissioner of Land Titles in the Straits Settlements, and, therefore, Member of the Executive and Legislative Councils of those Settlements. In 1889, he was appointed the Resident of Selangor. He became the Colonial Secretary of the Straits Settlements in 1892, and was acting governor from 30 August 1893 to 1 February 1894. During this time Maxwell was actively involved with the Singapore Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, serving as President, Vice-President, and Editor of the Journal, to which he contributed a number of articles. He was avidly interested in the Malay language.

In 1895, he was transferred to be Governor of the Gold Coast (Ghana). Maxwell died at sea, from malaria, near the Canary Isles, in 1897, and was buried at sea. He requested that all his private papers and diaries were burnt. Fortunately, this did not include the many manuscripts which he had collected. These were bequeathed to the Royal Asiatic Society.

Nom du producteur

Notice biographique

Histoire archivistique

The letter was sent to William Edward Maxwell when he British resident at Selangor.

Source immédiate d'acquisition ou de transfert

It is unknown how the letter became part of the Society's collections. However Maxwell made a large bequest of Malay manuscripts to the Society. It is likely that the letter came with these.

Zone du contenu et de la structure

Portée et contenu

The papers consist of a single letter from John Haffenden, Malaysian Agency, British and Foreign Bible Society, to William Edward Maxwell to send two copies of the "Acts of the Apostle" in Malay (Arabic character) which had been printed in Europe by the Society. Haffenden asks Maxwell for his opinion on the type with which the book has been printed. The letter is dated Singapore, 18 January 1889.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation

Conditions d’accès

Open. Please contact the archivist. Details can be found here : https://royalasiaticarchives.org/. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.

Conditions governing reproduction

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

Language of material

  • anglais

Script of material

    Language and script notes

    Caractéristiques matérielle et contraintes techniques

    Finding aids

    Zone des sources complémentaires

    Existence and location of originals

    Existence and location of copies

    Related units of description

    Maxwell's bequest was of a large number of Malay manuscripts which now form part of the Library's collections. Several of these have been digitised and can be viewed on our Digital Library: https://royalasiaticcollections.org/.

    Descriptions associées

    Zone des notes

    Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)

    Mots-clés

    Mots-clés - Sujets

    Mots-clés - Noms

    Mots-clés - Genre

    Zone du contrôle de la description

    Identifiant de la description

    gb891-wem

    Identifiant du service d'archives

    Rules and/or conventions used

    Statut

    Niveau de détail

    Dates of creation revision deletion

    Langue(s)

      Écriture(s)

        Sources

        Archivist's note

        This material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2022.

        Accession area