Thomas Maitland (British Army officer)

Thomas Maitland (British Army officer)

Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Maitland, GCB, GCH (1759–1824) was a British soldier and colonial governor. He also served as a Member of Parliament for Haddington from 1790–96, 1802–06 and 1812–13. He was made a Privy Councillor on 23 November 1803. He was the third son of James Maitland, 7th Earl of Lauderdale and younger brother of James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale.

Military service

Maitland was commissioned into the Edinburgh Light Horse, shortly after his birth, but did not take up his commission until he joined the 78th Foot as a Captain in 1778. He transferred to the 72nd Foot, and then to the 62nd Foot as a Major in 1790. He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in 1794 and Colonel and Brigadier-General in 1798.

Historical love story at Ceylon

Whilst he was working in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) as the governor in charge during the period of 1805–1811, he was attracted to a place at "Galkissa" (Mount Lavinia) and decided to construct his palace there.

During this time the governor "Sir Thomas Maitland" fell in love with a dancing girl named "Lovina" who had been born to Portuguese and Sinhalese parents. During the construction, the governor gave instructions for the construction of a secret tunnel to "Lovina" 's house which was located close to the governor's palace. One end of the tunnel was inside the well of "Lovina"'s house and the other end was in a wine cellar inside the governor's palace. When the governor came to reside there the two lovers met secretly using the tunnel.

"Sir Thomas Maitland" left Ceylon in 1811 and transferred to Malta, where he lived and died as a bachelor. He also served as governor of Corfu during the British administration of the island.

After some time in 1920 the tunnel was sealed up and the Gypsy village that surrounded the Governor’s mansion developed into a modern bustling city. Later the city of "Galkissa" was named as "Mount Lavinia" referring to the name of beautiful "Lovina".

The hotel's bicentenary celebration was held in 2005, some of "Sir Thomas Maitland"'s relatives living in UK were also invited, and they highly enjoyed the ceremony. cite web | title = History of the Mount Lavinia hotel | publisher = Hotel's Website| url = http://www.mountlaviniahotel.com/sir-thomas-maitland.html | format =html | accessdate = 2007-09-29]

ee also

*Mount Lavinia Hotel

References

External links

* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org worldstatesmen.org]
* [http://www.regiments.org regiments.org]
* The Louverture Project: [http://thelouvertureproject.org/index.php?title=Thomas_Maitland Thomas Maitland] - Thomas Maitland and the Haitian Revolution.

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