William Maxwell (co-operator)

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Sir William Maxwell (1841–1929) was a Scottish co‑operative activist. Born in Glasgow and raised mainly in Paisley, he moved back to Glasgow at ten and became an apprentice coachbuilder at twelve. After finishing his apprenticeship, he studied at the Glasgow School of Design and travelled for work. In the mid‑1860s he returned to Glasgow and joined the local trade union movement. He moved to Edinburgh in the early 1870s and joined the St. Cuthbert's Co‑operative Society, becoming its secretary in 1878 for four years. This led to prominence in the Scottish Co‑operative Wholesale Society (SCWS), where he sat on the board from 1880 and served as president from 1908. He was keen on cooperative production and visited the United States in 1884 to learn new ideas. Back in Scotland, he oversaw the building of Shieldhall factories for the SCWS. Maxwell regularly led the Co‑operative Congress and, from 1907 to 1921, was president of the International Co‑operative Alliance. He also dabbled in politics, standing as Liberal‑Labour in Glasgow Tradeston in 1900. In 1910 he wrote History of Co-operation in Scotland, was knighted in 1919, and retired in 1921 due to ill health, moving to Rothesay, where he died in 1929.