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Thomas Maxwell was born in Dundee sometime between the years 1847 and 1850. He was the
son of Thomas Maxwell, a weaver, and Margaret Duff. As a young man Thomas became a merchant seaman, working as a fireman on many different merchant ships. On November 28, 1871
he married Margaret Gow, the daughter of John Gow and Mary Flannery, in Dundee. At the time of his marriage, his occupation was
given as merchant seaman. On August 23, 1872 the couple's first, and probably only, child was born-a daughter whom they named Jessie.
The 1881 census finds Thomas aboard the vessel "Ella" enumerated at Middlesbrough, York, England. Thomas was also listed as a fireman aboard this ship. On the 6th of January of
1882, Thomas signed a crew agreement for the ship Benalder bound from Dundee to Glasgow. The agreement notes that Thomas had previously been a crewman aboard the Circassia of West Hartlepool.
On the morning of January 10, 1882, the Benalder was in the harbor at Longhope, Orkney. At approximately 5:00 am Thomas Maxwell went overboard, drowning in the waters there.
The marine Register Book for Returns of Deaths at Sea records the death of Thomas Maxwell, aged 31 of Dundee, a fireman aboard the ship Benalder on January 10, 1882. The official cause of
death recorded as "Suicide by drowning."
A search of newspapers in both Dundee and Glasgow failed to turn up any information regarding the incident. In Orkney, The Orcadian for January 14th 1882 contained the following article:
LONGHOPE On Monday, April 3, 1882 the following article appeared within the pages of The Scotsman:
GALLANTRY REWARDED
And on March 25, 1882, The Times reported on a meeting of the Royal Humane Society stating:
The medallion was also awarded to James Harvie, for attempting to save Thomas Maxwell, who jumped into Longhope Bay, Orkney, on the 10th of January
The archives of the Royal Humane Society for case #21562 provide the most detailed account of what transpired on that morning. They record the incident as
occurring at 4:30 am in the Bay at Longhope on a cloudy and dark morning. The particulars of the incident reveal that the
ship was at anchor when Thomas jumped overboard, "with the intention of committing suicide." At the time of the event, there was a strong
wind with the ship rolling at the anchor. The particulars also record that no rescue boat was lowered until 15 minutes after the event.
The information documented in the RHS records also paints a rather clear, but tragic picture of
the brave attempt by James Harvie to rescue Thomas Maxwell.
Harvie rushed on deck threw a rope over, then instantly jumped in, he succeeded in catching hold of
the man and assisted him to the rope which he tried to make the man grasp but without avail. Owing to mismanagement on board, the rope was pulled too
far out of the water, then when the men on board were called to, they slackened too much, thus immersing both men who were clinging to it under the water. The
mate was obliged to let go his hold of the man only to save himself and not until he thought him dead.
Even in light of the information provided by these documents many questions still remain. Why did Thomas Maxwell committ suicide? What might have caused him to become so 'insensible' that the attempt at
rescuing him was unsuccessful? And does it not seem a bit odd that someone would committ suicide from a ship lying in harbor? Why was the rescue boat not lowered until it was too late? Was Thomas body ever recovered? Was he finally buried on
land or lost forever at sea?
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