Maxwell was born in 1860 in Workington, Cumberland of Irish-born parents William and Mary Maxwell, his father was an Insurance Agent. Maxwell was described in 1881 as a "Reporter on Newspaper".
War correspondent
Maxwell was a war correspondent for the London Standard, covering the Anglo-Egyptian victory at Battle of Omdurman. He forwarded reports to London from South Africa throughout the Second Boer War. He survived enteric fever and reported the Siege of Ladysmith. He followed Lord Roberts' campaign from the capture of Bloemfontein through battles at Lydenberg and the Komatipoort. In 1905, he resigned from the Standard, becoming a foreign correspondent for the London Daily Mail during the Russo-Japanese War. Prior to the outbreak of the Great War in Europe, he covered the Balkan War. During the First World War, he reported the First Battle of the Marne for the London Daily Telegraph. Shortly afterwards, he enlisted with the rank of captain and assignment to the general staff.
Military Censor
As the Chief Field Censor on the staff of General Sir Ian Hamilton in the Gallipoli campaign, Captain Maxwell played a central and crucial role in the unsuccessful attempt to mitigate reports about events unfolding in the Dardanelles and on the Turkish coast in 1915. Press correspondents at Gallipoli were required to submit all their writing to Captain William Maxwell, whose approval was necessary under regulations drawn up by and enforced by the British Army. Although many later questioned the level of censorship at Gallipoli, most accepted the censorship as an essential element of wartime reporting. Gallipoli's geographic isolation made Maxwell's task was made easier by the isolation of the area that he oversaw. The Gallipoli campaign was fought on the edge of a virtually uninhabited mountain range. The only way to cable messages from Gallipoli was through the official channels.
Later life
After the war Maxwell became a section chief in the Secret Service. Maxwell never married and he died at "Longfield" his home in Wraysbury on 23 December 1928, aged 66.
