A family with roots that stretch back to the twelfth century, the Maxwells accrued distinction and high honours that include two earldoms.
• Their name derives from ‘Maccus’, a Saxon nobleman who found refuge in Scotland in the wake of the Norman Conquest of Anglo-Saxon England in 1066.
• Granted lands in the Borders on the banks of the River Tweed, near Kelso, a son of Maccus was appointed Sheriff of Teviotdale, while ‘Maxwell’ was adopted as the family name.