b. 1803-02-02
d. 1878-09-01
Maitland was the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Station from
May 1860 to October 1862. He was stationed in
Esquimalt for his tenure in the Pacific; he provided naval assistance during a territorial
dispute over
San Juan Island, the burgeoning of colony populations in light of the gold rush, and conflicts between
Indigenous peoples and colonists. The exigencies of colonial administration at
Vancouver Island and
British Columbia led to the relocation of the Pacific Station headquarters from
Valparaiso to
Esquimalt, in
1865.
Maitland joined the Navy at the age of 13 and served for 57 years, eventually retiring
as an Admiral in
1873. He served as the Aide-De-Camp to
Queen Victoria from
1866 until 1873, when he was also appointed Knight Grand Cross (G.C.B.). Maitland also received the Cross of Charles III in
1837, awarded for his efforts during the First Carlist War; he was promoted to Admiral
of the Fleet on the retired list in
1877.
Maitland's family line is rich with distinctions, K.C.B., G.C.B., K.T (Knight, Order
of the Thistle), General, and Admiral, but Admiral of the Fleet is the crowning achievement. He married
Amelia Young in
February 1828 and they had four children, of which only two survived beyond him.
Upon the death of his cousin, Anthony Maitland, on 22 March 1863, Thomas succeeded as the 11th Lord of Thirlestane and Boltoun, 11th Earl of Lauderdale,
11th Viscount Maitland, 7th Baronet Maitland, 12th Lord Maitland of Thirlestane, and
11th Viscount of Lauderdale.
- 1. Romaine to Rogers, 29 August 1861, 7861, CO 305/18, 48; Corry to Merivale, 29 June 1858, 6214, CO 305/9, 291; Pennell to Under-Secretary of State, 15 July 1861, 6402, CO 305/18, 17.
- 2. Peter Davis, Thomas Maitland R.N., The Victorian Royal Navy (website). http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowBiog.php?id=272
- 3. Darryl Lundy, Admiral Thomas Maitland, 11th Earl of Lauderdale, The Peerage.; Shaw, William Arthur. V. Adm. Thomas Maitland, llth Earl of Lauderdale., The Knights of England. A Complete record from the earliest time to the present day
of the knights of all the orders of chivalry in England, Scotland, Ireland, and of
knights bachelors, incorporating a complete list of knights bachelors dubbed in Ireland. (London: Sherratt and Hughes, 1906), 196.
- 4. Laughton, J. K., rev. Roger Morris, Maitland, Thomas, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
- 5. Lundy, Maitland.
- 6. Ibid.
- 7. Ibid.