[1][2] Born into a seafaring family and orphaned at age 16, Maw was taken into the workshops of the Eastern Counties Railway as an assistant before progressing to the design office as a draughtsman.

During the First World War he served his country as a committee member for the Ministry of Munitions and upon the board of the National Physical Laboratory.

[1] In March 1855 he was taken on as an assistant first in the carriage and then the locomotive workshops of the Eastern Counties Railway at Stratford Works.

Around this time he set up a private engineering consultancy which specialised in workshop and factory design and notably he was responsible for the lay out printing presses of the Daily Telegraph, The Field and The Queen.

[5] When he presented his inaugural address to the members of the latter institution he demonstrated full knowledge of recent developments in the industry, including X-ray technology; new metal alloys and renovations in turbines and gearing systems; despite being 83 years old at this time.

[1] Maw was created an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Glasgow in 1909 for his contributions to mechanical engineering.