William Babington Maxwell (1866–1938) was a British novelist and playwright.
Early life
Born on 4 June 1866, William Babington Maxwell was the son of novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Irish businessman John Maxwell. The family lived at Lichfield House, Richmond, spending holidays in the New Forest. Maxwell's formal education ended at the age of 14 as his mother had a fear of 'over-education'.
Career
Originally training as an artist, Maxwell turned his back on art and began to write short stories to help cope with depression. His first story was published in The World by Edmund Yates for £5. He also wrote stories for Truth and Temple Bar. On his coming of age, his father gave him control of the failing magazine Mistletoe Bough which he tried unsuccessfully to turn around. He wrote The Last Man In, a drama, produced 14 March 1910, at the Royalty Theatre, Glasgow, by the Scottish Repertory Company; and, with George Paston (i.e. Emily Morse Symonds), a farce, The Naked Truth, which was first played at Wyndham's Theatre, London in April 1910, and in which Charles Hawtrey played Bernard Darrell. His 1913 novel The Devil's Garden was banned by the Libraries Association.
He was a friend of Edward VII whom he described as "the biggest swell in Europe". Maxwell was promoted to Lieutenant on 3 September 1914. From Colchester, Maxwell continued training, moving to Andover and Salisbury Plain before being sent to the front line in 1915. In his autobiography, Time Gathered, under the chapter 'Wasted Years', Maxwell talks about his time as a Regimental Transport Officer, transporting men, equipment, bombs and machine guns to the front line, alongside food and water. He was stationed at Berles-Aux-Bois, a mile from the front line and fought in the Battle of the Somme. for his duties to crown and country. He then moved to Mametz Wood which he nicknames 'Death Valley'. In a routine transportation of equipment, a shell exploded a bomb pile which had previously been dropped off at the front line by Maxwell. Luckily, he reported being uninjured in the blast, without a scratch to his uniform. This was his first brush with death. His second brush with death happened in the trenches with his commanding officer. They hit the floor as the shell hit the trench, and the two men landed down in the dirt. Maxwell discusses in his autobiography how he was sure he had a hole in his back, although yet again escaped unscathed.
In 1917, Maxwell's military career came to an end when he was ordered home by his commander and friend, Reggie Barnes, on the grounds of health; as Barnes was concerned that Maxwell would not survive another winter on the western front. In 1918, Maxwell was officially out of the army.
Bibliography
Maxwell wrote his first novel at the age of 35