Anthony Maitland, 10th Earl of Lauderdale

The Right Honourable The Earl of Lauderdale GCB KCMG
Anthony Maitland, 10th Earl of Lauderdale, by Colvin Smith
Born	10 June 1785
Died	22 March 1863 (1863-03-23) (aged 77)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1795–1863
Rank	Admiral
Commands	HMS Arrogant HMS Pique HMS Glasgow
Battles / wars	French Revolutionary War Raids on Boulogne Napoleonic Wars War of 1812 Bombardment of Algiers

Admiral Anthony Maitland, 10th Earl of Lauderdale GCB KCMG (10 June 1785 – 22 March 1863) was a British naval officer who served during the French Revolutionary War, Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812. He also participated in the Bombardment of Algiers. He served as Member of Parliament for Haddington Burghs between 1813 and 1818 and Berwickshire between 1826 and 1832. From 1830 until he was promoted to rear-admiral in 1841 he was a naval aide-de-camp to at first King William IV and then Queen Victoria.

Early life

Anthony Maitland was born on 10 June 1785 as the second son of James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale and Eleanor, the only daughter of Anthony Todd.

Naval career

Early career

Maitland joined the Royal Navy on 2 October 1795 as an admiral's servant on the ship-of-the-line HMS Victory, being the flagship of Admiral Sir John Jervis in the Mediterranean Fleet. Maitland's name was born on Victory's books until June 1796. He was promoted to midshipman in October 1798 where he followed Admiral Jervis, now Lord St. Vincent, into the ship-of-the-line HMS Ville de Paris. In January 1801 Maitland transferred to the frigate HMS Triton under Captain John Gore in the English Channel, whom he then followed into the frigate HMS Medusa in April. While serving in Medusa Maitland distinguished himself in an action against the Boulogne Flotilla on 15 August. The boats of Medusa and the rest of the squadron under the command of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson attempted under the cover of darkness to cut out the flotilla, however the French were prepared for the attack and repulsed it. The boats of Medusa attempted to board a brig but were stopped by nets rigged around the ship; they suffered fifty-five casualties, the most of any ship in the squadron, including Maitland who was severely injured.

In December 1803 Maitland left Medusa to re-join Lord St. Vincent as a supernumerary on Victory, still part of the Mediterranean Fleet. In August 1804, still serving on Victory, Maitland was promoted to acting lieutenant in the brig-sloop HMS Childers; he was confirmed as a lieutenant on 2 February 1805 and transferred to the ship-of-the-line HMS Blenheim, flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge in the East Indies. On 6 August Blenheim participated in an indecisive action against the French ship-of-the-line Marengo and frigate Belle Poule. Maitland was promoted to commander on 6 May 1806 and took command of the ship-of-the-line HMS Arrogant, 'an old worn out 74', serving as the guard ship at Bombay.

Post-Captain

Pique takes the American privateer Hawk

Maitland was promoted to post-captain on 25 September of the same year, but his next command was not until 1 August 1811 when he was appointed to the frigate HMS Pique at Woolwich. His command of Pique resulted in some wide-ranging travel, including service on the Downs, Lisbon, South America, and Jamaica Stations. Maitland and Pique sailed for the Leeward Islands on 7 June 1812 to participate in the War of 1812. In August 1813 Maitland had Pique off the east coast of America; he successfully chased and captured the 5-gun American privateer Hawk which surrendered without a fight. On 13 and 19 January 1814 Pique took respectively the Swedish ships Bernat and Margaret and sent them in to Guadeloupe. Maitland and Pique sailed for Portsmouth at the end of 1814, but returned to the West Indies in the spring of 1815.

On 19 February 1816 Maitland was given command of the large frigate HMS Glasgow, in which he joined the fleet of Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew on 20 July off Portsmouth, for service against Algiers. On 27 August the fleet began the Bombardment of Algiers, with Glasgow between the frigate HMS Severn and the Dutch frigate Melampus firing at the gun batteries of the town. When the ship-of-the-line HMS Impregnable signalled to the fleet that she had suffered one hundred and fifty casualties, Maitland volunteered to divert enemy fire from her. While Glasgow left her position in the line and attempted to close with Impregnable, the winds made movement very difficult and after an hour Glasgow had failed to move far from Severn, and was left open to fire from the Algiers fish markets that she had before been hidden from. Glasgow was heavily damaged during the engagement, having ten men killed and thirty-seven more wounded. Maitland was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 19 September for his service at the bombardment. He paid off Glasgow in November of the same year in order that she be repaired from her Algiers services, and recommissioned her again on 21 August 1817 for service in the Mediterranean Sea, where he served until March 1821 when he sailed Glasgow home and went on half-pay. On 26 February 1820 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. In August 1830 he was appointed as a naval aide-de-camp to King William IV and continued as such under Queen Victoria until his promotion to flag rank.

Admiral

Maitland was promoted to rear-admiral as a rear-admiral of the blue on 23 November 1841 through seniority. He became a vice-admiral on 11 June 1851, and was promoted to admiral on 18 June 1857. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 10 November 1862. Maitland died on 22 March 1863 as an admiral of the red, having never served at sea as an admiral.

Political career

Coat of Arms of the Earls of Lauderdale

Maitland was a member of parliament for Haddington Burghs between 1813 and 1818, and Berwickshire between 1826 and 1832; he afterwards became a deputy lieutenant of Berwickshire. These seats were family seats, and when in parliament Maitland voted along the family line with the opposition. For his services Maitland was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 6 April 1832. He became Earl of Lauderdale on 22 August 1860 upon the death of his elder brother James; he was able to sit in the House of Lords as a British peer instead of as a Scottish representative peer because of the subsidiary title Baron Lauderdale that had been granted to his father in 1806. Upon his death, Maitland's Scottish titles were inherited by his cousin Thomas Maitland while his English titles became extinct.

Family

Maitland's uncle was Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Maitland, who served as Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth and then Governor of Malta. Maitland's younger brother Colonel John Maitland died in 1839, while much of the rest of his family also served in the navy, such as his cousin and successor as earl, Admiral Sir Thomas Maitland. Maitland never married.

References

• Burke, John (1864) A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. London: Henry Colburn.
• Marshall, John (1823–1835). "Maitland, Anthony" . Royal Naval Biography. London: Longman and company. p. 188.
• O'Byrne, William R. (1849). "Maitland, Anthony" . A Naval Biographical Dictionary. London: John Murray. p. 712.
• Syrett, David and R.L. DiNardo (1994) The Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy 1660-1815. Aldershot: Scholar Press. ISBN 1 85928 122 2
• Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.

External links

• Ships of the Old Navy