Maxwell Hendry Maxwell-Anderson

For other people with similar names, see Maxwell Anderson (disambiguation).

Captain Sir Maxwell Hendry Maxwell-Anderson CBE, KC, RN (retd.) (23 March 1879 – buried 12 June 1951) (also Maxwell Hendry Anderson) was a British naval officer, barrister and judge who was Chief Justice of Fiji and Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific.

Biography

The Main Arch, The Portsmouth Grammar School

Early life

He was born Maxwell Hendry Anderson in Ashwell Thorpe, Norfolk.[1] His father was John Hendry Anderson (1853–1913),[2] a curate in Norfolk who was later Rector of Tooting Graveney and Mayor of Wandsworth. His mother was Alice Hornor, born in Norwich.

HMS Sparrow in c. 1900

Soon after his birth the family moved to the south coast when his father was appointed assistant master at Portsmouth Grammar School.[3] Anderson probably attended the school which had (and still retains) naval links; he subsequently joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman aged 14, on 15 July 1893.[4]

He passed his first-class navigating exams and was promoted Navigating Lieutenant (acting). In 1900 he sailed on the Redbreast class gunboat HMS Sparrow for a three-year posting to the Australia Station. Sparrow joined Pylades, Torch and Archer at their base in Sydney. Sparrow escorted the royal yacht SS Ophir around the New Zealand coast during the visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (the future George V and Queen Mary) in June 1901,[5][6] receiving his promotion to Lieutenant at the end of the cruise on 30 June.[7]

The Sparrow made two three-month visits to the Solomon Islands, one in 1901 [8] and one in 1902. During the second of these a Fijian woman was murdered, and Sparrow engaged in some gunboat diplomacy by firing a few blank shells into implicated villages. Anderson wrote an extensive and interesting report on the 1902 cruise of the Sparrow, which was printed in the Sydney Morning Herald.[9] He was in Wellington, New Zealand in March 1903.[10] Sparrow's commission ran out while she was still in the Pacific, and Anderson probably returned to Britain in 1904 with the other officers and crew by mail steamer.[11]

HMS Hermes in Simon's Bay on George V's Coronation Day, 1911

He left the Active list on 30 June 1909 on his promotion to acting Commander (retd.)[12] According to the 1911 census he was on HMS Hermes, stationed in Simonstown, South Africa, serving at the Cape Station.

In 1913 both his father and his young sister died. The same year he married Mildred Florence Hughes-Jones (b. Pembrokeshire c1878–5 June 1945); they had one daughter, Meriol.

World War I and the Prize Court

On the outbreak of war Anderson was attached to HMS President for "Special Service at the Admiralty".[13] In 1916 he was nominally attached to the Trade Division of the Admiralty Staff.[14][Note 1] Having qualified as a barrister, from March 1916 onwards he acted as counsel for the Admiralty in the many prize law claims arising from the capture or sinking of enemy vessels by British ships during the war.

Although many countries (including Germany and the USA) had abjured the use of prize money by 1914, Britain and France signed an agreement that November establishing government jurisdiction over prizes captured singly or jointly by the signatories.[15] Russia and Italy acceded in March 1915 and January 1917 respectively.[16][17]

In Britain, until the passing of the Navy Prize Act 1918 a bounty was paid to all ships present at an enemy vessel's actual destruction; each man on board the victorious ship(s), without distinction of rank, shared the money awarded by the court, based on the sum of £5 ($25) for each man on board the enemy ship.[18] For example, a captured or sunk battleship with a complement of 453 officers and men (confirmed as soon as possible by affidavit) was worth £2,265.

Anderson published his preparatory research into the legal questions surrounding the subject in his book Navy and prize: an essay (Anderson 1916). This concise volume reviewed the state of maritime law regarding prize bounty, salvage, and recapture.

The war-time claims were heard in the Prize Court, part of the Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice; its President at the time was Sir Samuel Evans. The Admiralty's counsel appeared on behalf of the ships' officers and crew, and the Crown counsel's job (according to Anderson) was partly to ensure that the court was not over-generous in its awards.[19]

Action between Carmania and Cap Trafalgar off Trindade

Anderson appeared for the Admiralty in the first of these cases, which involved the sinking of SMS Cap Trafalgar by HMS Carmania in September 1914 (case heard 27 March 1916).[20] The court upheld the claim, and many others. Anderson's later cases in the Prize Court include:

In addition to the purely Naval cases, Anderson successfully presented the claims of British airmen involved in the sinking or destruction of enemy ships. Among these were:

These cases established a precedent relating to the application in the air of the principles of maritime prize law: it eventually found its way into UK legislation in the Prize Act 1939, replacing the Naval Prize Acts of 1864 and 1918.[27]

He was a member of the Grotius Society, and Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, 1917–1919.[28]

His book, The Elements of Pilotage and Navigation was re-published in 1917.[29] He was awarded the OBE in January 1918,[30] and by January 1919 he had taken silk, been promoted Captain (retd.) and been awarded the rank's attendant CBE.

Colonial service

After the war Anderson served in the judiciary of the Colonial Service. From 1919–1929 he was Attorney General of Gibraltar.[31] He was known as Maxwell Maxwell-Anderson from 1919, although he didn't officially change his name until 1932. Anderson was a Freemason, and he was appointed District Grand Master of the Western Mediterranean in 1926.[32][33] Anderson was appointed Chief Justice of Fiji and Chief Judicial Commissioner of the Western Pacific, 5 September 1929[34] He officially changed his name by deed poll to Maxwell Hendry Maxwell-Anderson in December 1932.[35] He was knighted in 1934[36] and retired from the Navy in February 1936.

Later life and death

He retired with his wife Mildred to Malta, where they lived at "Villa Gloria", Ta' Xbiex. He was a member of the United Service Club and Union Club (Malta).[37] He was involved with several Masonic lodges:[38]

During the Siege of Malta the Temple of his Masonic lodge (Villa Blye, Paola) was destroyed; its rebuilding in 1944 was largely due to his efforts.[41]

His wife Mildred died in Malta on 5 June 1945, a month after VE Day. In August 1947, aged 68, he returned to the colonial judiciary: he was appointed 2nd Class Magistrate in a 2nd Class Court in Trans Nzoia District, Rift Valley Province, Kenya.[42]

He possibly died in Kenya, and was buried in Ta' Braxia cemetery, Gwardamangia, Malta, 12 June 1951.[Note 4]

Selected works

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Working closely with the Ministry of Shipping, the Admiralty Trade Division was responsible for the protection of maritime trade and troop transport, by organising merchant convoys with RN escorts and by the fitting of armaments in merchant vessels.National Archives, Records of Naval Staff Departments.
  2. ↑ Bellone was the flagship of the French squadron involved in the defence of the Île de France (Mauritius) at the Battle of Grand Port, and was captured when the island fell on 8 December 1810 after combined British Army and Naval operations.
  3. ↑ Order of the Red Cross of Constantine, Division of Melita (Mediterranean), Malta (const. 1880, disbanded 1972)
  4. ↑ Gravestone inscriptions in Ta' Braxia cemetery:
    • Mildred Maxwell-Anderson, aged 67 years, born in Pembrokeshire, the wife of Sir Maxwell Maxwell-Anderson, died 5th June 1945
    • Maxwell Hendry Maxwell-Anderson, aged 71 years, born in Aberdeen, Captain, Royal Navy retired, buried 12th June 1951.
    Source: Index of Ta' Braxia cemetery at Malta Family History. Retrieved 18 November 2013. (N.B. He was almost certainly not born in Aberdeen, but in Ashwell Thorpe. He may have liked to emphasise his Scottish ancestry.)
Citations
  1. ↑ UK Census 1881, 1159:8,9. Retrieved 19 November 2013
  2. ↑ The London Gazette, 20 January 1914
  3. ↑ Slatter, Howard (2012). "John Hendry Anderson". genealogy.rootsweb.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  4. ↑ National Archives catalogue reference ADM 196/142 document 203/203
  5. ↑ "Arrival of the warships at Lyttleton". The Press (Canterbury, N.Z.). LVIII (10996). 20 June 1901. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  6. ↑ "NZS Amokura 1906–1955". New Zealand Maritime Record. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
  7. ↑ The Navy List, October 1914, p. 664a, pdf p. 896
  8. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald, 20 November 1901, p.5 col. 6
  9. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald, 31 October 1902, pp. 5-6
  10. ↑ "Personal Matters". "Following is a list of callers at the Tourist Department" : ... Lieutenant Maxwell H. Anderson ... Wellington Evening Post, 23 March 1903 LXV:69,5 col.2.
  11. ↑ "The Sparrow is unlikely to return to England: in all probability the Officers and crew will return Home by mail steamer". "The Australian Squadron". Manawatu Standard XL (7714). 7 December 1903.
  12. ↑ The Navy List, April 1916, pp. 4 & 597
  13. ↑ The Navy List, December 1914 p. 372, pdf p. 512
  14. ↑ The Navy List, October 1916
  15. ↑ Convention Relating to Prizes Captured during the Present European War. American Journal of International Law, 10:20-25
  16. ↑ Text of Russian letter of accession: American Journal of International Law, 10:26-27/
  17. ↑ Text of Italian letter of accession: American Journal of International Law, 11:130-131
  18. ↑ "$25 for each enemy sailor drowned". Current History (New York Times) 5 (1): 50–51. 1917.
  19. ↑ The Times, 28 March 1916, p. 3. Transcript at Volturno pages on searlecanada.org
  20. ↑ Straits Times, 10 May 1916
  21. ↑ Fleet annual 1917, p. 7, pdf p.74.
  22. ↑ Fleet annual 1917, p. 46.
  23. ↑ Current History 1917, p. 50.
  24. ↑ Fleet annual 1917, p. 36.
  25. ↑ Flight magazine Archive 6 February 1919, page 181 and page 190
  26. ↑ Woodhouse 1920, p. 159.
  27. ↑ Parry 1940, p. 289.
  28. ↑ Zoological Society of London (1921). A list of the Fellows ... of the Zoological Society of London. London: Printed by William Clowes and Son. p. 12.
  29. ↑ Anderson 1917a.
  30. ↑ "Order of the British Empire". The London Gazette. 4 January 1918. In 1919 his OBE was transferred to the newly created Military Division. "Order of the British Empire". The London Gazette. 15 April 1919.
  31. ↑ Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law, Third Series, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1929), pp. 210-215.
  32. ↑ Freemasonry: Reports from the provinces. The Glasgow Herald, 6 August 1926, p. 11 col. 6
  33. ↑ A short history of the Memorial Stone dedicated to the members of St. Andrew’s Lodge No. 310 (42nd Regt. or Royal Highlanders). Retrieved 18 November 2013
  34. ↑ The London Gazette, February 1936
  35. ↑ The London Gazette, 23 December 1932, p. 8267
  36. ↑ The London Gazette, 3 July 1934, p. 4223
  37. ↑ Stationed in Malta. Friends of Malta Archives. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  38. ↑ Freemasons in Malta 1800 - 1950, index at Malta Family History. Retrieved 18 November 2013
  39. ↑ Side Orders of Freemasonry
  40. ↑ Freemasonry Degrees
  41. ↑ English Masonic Lodges in Malta at MaltaMasons.org. Retrieved 18 November 2013
  42. ↑ The Kenya Gazette, 19 August 1947, p. 440
Sources
  • Black, Nicholas (2009). The British Naval Staff in the First World War. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell. ISBN 978-1-84383-442-7. 
  • High Court of Justice: Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division. (1923). The organisation and work of the British Prize Court, London, 1914-1923. London: H.M.S.O. 
  • Parry, Clive (April 1940). "The Prize Act, 1939". The Modern Law Review (Oxford: Blackwell) 3 (4): 298–302. JSTOR 1089930. 
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