Theodore Maxwell, MD (1847-1914) was an English doctor medical missionary, founder of the Kashmir Mission Hospital, and published author.
Maxwell left England for Kashmir shortly after receiving his MB from King's College, Cambridge, and serving as a physician in Addenbrooke's Hospital.
[1] His mother, Mary Hogg Maxwell, was sister to General John Nicholson, which provided Theodore with an important connection later in his life.
The death of Dr. William Jackson Elmslie in late 1872 left the Kashmir Mission desperate for a new missionary to take his place.
His deceased uncle, General John Nicholson, was instrumental in establishing the role of Maharajah, the British-installed ruler of the Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir, during the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846.
The hospital was maintained and furnished largely due to Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook, who supported many of Maxwell's efforts to improve the state of the mission in Kashmir.
[7] Maxwell played a large role in the incorporation of native doctors, who were once viewed as "worse than useless",[8] into the medical work in the hospital and the country.
[7] However, in early September 1875, Maxwell began to suffer from "faintings" and after consultation with another doctor in the area, decided that he was unwell and must return to Europe as soon as possible.
[7] Maxwell was replaced in the mission by Dr. Edmund Downes who served as a religious missionary prior to qualifying as a physician.
[9] Most notably, Maxwell authored Terminologia Medica Polyglotta: A Concise International Dictionary of Medical Terms, which is still regarded as an important cultural and knowledge source.