Frederick Maitland

Who was Frederick Maitland?

General Frederick Maitland was the youngest son of the hon. Sir Alexander Maitland Baronet and Penelope, daughter of Martin Madan 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.

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, in which Maitland commanded the Marines, in an engagement with a French 32-gun frigate, which escaped. The second involved the frigate Arethusa, 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.