Gavin maxwell author biography

Gavin Maxwell (Writer) 1914-1968

Gavin Maxwell, the author who became a household name in the 20th century through his writing, is undoubtedly the best known of the Maxwells of Monreith and probably the best known of all the Maxwells.

Gavin, who was my father's younger brother, was born in 1914.

His father, Aymer who was to be killed a few weeks after his birth in the First World War, was the heir apparent to Monreith, then a substantial and prosperous agricultural estate of about 17,000 acres including four villages around Monreith House.

The Monreith Maxwells were descended from a younger brother of the first Lord Maxwell and had prospered over the five centuries since leaving Caerlaverock.

The Monreith Maxwells were more than local "pillars of society".

They had been created Baronets in 1681 and would have been considered members of London as well as Scottish Society. Gavin's mother, Lady Mary, was a daughter of the Duke of Northumberland who was one of the richest a