Frederick Maitland
Encyclopedia
General Frederick Maitland (3 September 1763 - 27 January 1848) was the youngest son of the hon. Sir Alexander Maitland Baronet and Penelope, daughter of Martin Madan (MP)
and Judith Madan
the poet. He was also the grandson of Charles Maitland, 6th Earl of Lauderdale and a first cousin of Frederick Lewis Maitland (Rear Admiral)
(1779–1837).
In 1779 the age of 16 Maitland joined the 14th regiment, serving as a Marine
on HMS Union
at the siege of Gibraltar
in 1781. Maitland subsequently served in the West Indies on the staff of the quarter master-general, General Cuyler. He was promoted from Ensign to Brevet Major and also served as aide-de-camp to Sir Charles Grey
, at the relief of Nieuport
on the Dutch
coast in 1793.
Maitland was engaged in two naval actions during this period; the first in 1793 involving the sloop
Fairy
(18 guns, commanded by Captain later Admiral John Laforey
), in which Maitland commanded the Marines, in an engagement with a French 32-gun frigate
, which escaped. The second involved the frigate Arethusa
(38 guns, commanded by Captain Woolley), where Maitland commanded the cabin guns of the frigate at the capture of the French corvette
, La Gaieté in 1797.
In 1796 Maitland was appointed secretary to General Sir Ralph Abercromby
and travelled with him to the West Indies.
As Colonel, Maitland was appointed quarter master general in the West Indies in 1800. He commanded a brigade at the capture of St Bartholemew St Thomas, St Martin and Santa Cruz in 1801. He was also second in command at the taking of Surinam in 1804. In 1805 Maitland was appointed Governor of Grenada
at the express command of George III
. In 1807 he saw further action during the recapture of St Thomas and Santa Cruz which had been returned after the Treaty of Amiens
in 1802. Coincidentally Maitland received the surrender of St Thomas from Van Schogen, the same Dutch Governor he had captured it of in 1801. In 1809 he commanded a brigade during the Invasion of Martinique
.
In 1811 Maitland was appointed second in command of the Army in Sicily under Lord William Bentinck
. The following year he led a diversionary army of 6,550 men to the East Coast of Spain where General Louis Gabriel Suchet
held Barcelona
, Tarragona
and Valencia with 28,000 men. His forces landed at Alicante
, but Maitland, his health apparently impaired after many years service in the Indies, fell ill and returned to England.
In recognition of his services Maitland was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Dominica
.
He married Catherine, daughter of John Prettyjohn of Barbadoes. They had nine children, but only three survived him, including Charlotte Garth (b. 1799 d. 1868), who married Captain Thomas Garth RN of Haines Hill in Berkshire
.
Frederick Maitland died at Tunbridge Wells on 27 January 1848. He is interred at the St. Thomas Cathedral, Mumbai.
Martin Madan (MP)
Colonel Martin Madan was groom of the bedchamber to Frederick, Prince of Wales, and MP forWootton Basset from 1742 to 1747. Madan also served as a colonel in the Dragoon Guards.-Family:...
and Judith Madan
Judith Madan
Judith Madan was an English poet. She was the grand daughter of Lady Sarah Cowper , the diarist....
the poet. He was also the grandson of Charles Maitland, 6th Earl of Lauderdale and a first cousin of Frederick Lewis Maitland (Rear Admiral)
Frederick Lewis Maitland (Rear Admiral)
Rear Admiral Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland, KCB was an officer in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He rose to the rank of rear admiral and held a number of commands...
(1779–1837).
In 1779 the age of 16 Maitland joined the 14th regiment, serving as a Marine
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
on HMS Union
HMS Union (1756)
HMS Union was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched on 25 September 1756....
at the siege of Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
in 1781. Maitland subsequently served in the West Indies on the staff of the quarter master-general, General Cuyler. He was promoted from Ensign to Brevet Major and also served as aide-de-camp to Sir Charles Grey
Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey
Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, KB PC was one of the most important British generals of the 18th century. He was the fourth son of Sir Henry Grey, 1st Baronet, of Howick in Northumberland. He served in the Seven Years' War, American War of Independence and French Revolutionary War...
, at the relief of Nieuport
Nieuwpoort (Netherlands)
Nieuwpoort is a tiny city in the Netherlands in the municipality of Liesveld. It has the number of inhabitants to be called a village, but because the place was given city rights in 1283, it still is called a city....
on the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
coast in 1793.
Maitland was engaged in two naval actions during this period; the first in 1793 involving the sloop
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
Fairy
HMS Fairy
Several ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Fairy:, a 16-gun Swan class ship sloop, built in 1778 at Sheerness, and broken up in 1811., an 18-gun , built in 1812 at Bideford and broken up in 1821., a 10-gun , built in 1826 at Chatham, and lost in 1840., a built by Fairfields, launched on...
(18 guns, commanded by Captain later Admiral John Laforey
John Laforey
Sir John Laforey, 1st Baronet was a senior and controversial British naval officer of the 18th century whose extensive career was spent mainly on the North American and West Indian stations...
), in which Maitland commanded the Marines, in an engagement with a French 32-gun frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
, which escaped. The second involved the frigate Arethusa
HMS Arethusa (1781)
HMS Arethusa was a 38-gun Minerva-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy built at Bristol in 1781.She took part in the Action of 23 April 1794, capturing Pomone....
(38 guns, commanded by Captain Woolley), where Maitland commanded the cabin guns of the frigate at the capture of the French corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
, La Gaieté in 1797.
In 1796 Maitland was appointed secretary to General Sir Ralph Abercromby
Ralph Abercromby
Sir Ralph Abercromby was a Scottish soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was noted for his services during the Napoleonic Wars, and served as Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.He twice served as MP for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire, and was...
and travelled with him to the West Indies.
As Colonel, Maitland was appointed quarter master general in the West Indies in 1800. He commanded a brigade at the capture of St Bartholemew St Thomas, St Martin and Santa Cruz in 1801. He was also second in command at the taking of Surinam in 1804. In 1805 Maitland was appointed Governor of Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
at the express command of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
. In 1807 he saw further action during the recapture of St Thomas and Santa Cruz which had been returned after the Treaty of Amiens
Treaty of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens temporarily ended hostilities between the French Republic and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802 , by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace"...
in 1802. Coincidentally Maitland received the surrender of St Thomas from Van Schogen, the same Dutch Governor he had captured it of in 1801. In 1809 he commanded a brigade during the Invasion of Martinique
Invasion of Martinique (1809)
The invasion of Martinique of 1809 was a successful British amphibious operation against the French West Indian island of Martinique that took place between 30 January and 24 February 1809 during the Napoleonic Wars...
.
In 1811 Maitland was appointed second in command of the Army in Sicily under Lord William Bentinck
Lord William Bentinck
Lieutenant-General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck GCB, GCH, PC , known as Lord William Bentinck, was a British soldier and statesman...
. The following year he led a diversionary army of 6,550 men to the East Coast of Spain where General Louis Gabriel Suchet
Louis Gabriel Suchet
Louis Gabriel Suchet, 1st Duc d'Albufera was a Marshal of France and one of Napoleon's most brilliant generals.-Early career:...
held Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Tarragona
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
and Valencia with 28,000 men. His forces landed at Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
, but Maitland, his health apparently impaired after many years service in the Indies, fell ill and returned to England.
In recognition of his services Maitland was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
.
He married Catherine, daughter of John Prettyjohn of Barbadoes. They had nine children, but only three survived him, including Charlotte Garth (b. 1799 d. 1868), who married Captain Thomas Garth RN of Haines Hill in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
.
Frederick Maitland died at Tunbridge Wells on 27 January 1848. He is interred at the St. Thomas Cathedral, Mumbai.