the son of edward john maxwell, a lumber dealer in montreal, by his marriage to johan macbean, maxwell graduated from the high school of montreal at the age of fourteen and was apprenticed to the firm of shepley, rutan and coolidge at boston. in 1891 the firm was instructed to design a new building for the montreal board of trade, and maxwell returned home to montreal to supervise its construction, helped by having good relations with influential members of the board. in 1892, the jeweller henry birks hired him to design a new shop in phillips square. maxwell also designed several stations and hotels for the canadian pacific railway, including the west vancouver station (1897) and the mcadam station (1900). in 1899 he designed a country house for louis-joseph forget at senneville, montreal island, a good example of his domestic work.