Anthony Maitland

Admiral Anthony Maitland, 10th Earl of Lauderdale, (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. 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. 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. 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 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. On 26 February 1820 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. For his services Maitland was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 6 April 1832. Upon his death, Maitland's Scottish titles were inherited by his cousin Thomas Maitland while his English titles became extinct. 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.

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