Peregrine Maitland

Sir Peregrine Maitland, KCB, GCB (July 6, 1777 – May 30, 1854) was a British soldier and colonial administrator who played first-class cricket from 1798 to 1808.

Born at Long Parish House, Hurstbourne, Hampshire, the eldest of five sons of Thomas Maitland of Lyndhurst, Hampshire, (d. 1798) by his spouse Jane, daughter of Edward Mathew, General of the Coldstream Guards by his wife Lady Jane (1757 - 1830), daughter of Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven. Thomas Maitland possessed plantations in the parish of St. Thomas Middle Island on the island of St. Christopher.

First-class cricket career

Maitland was an amateur first-class cricketer who made 27 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1798 to 1808.

He was mainly associated with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and he also played for Surrey and Hampshire Arthur Haygarth, "Scores & Biographies", Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862] .

Military career

He joined the Grenadier Guards at the age of 15 as an Ensign. He went on to serve in Flanders in 1794 and both Corunna and Walcheren in 1809. During the later stages of the Peninsula War Maitland commanded his regiment and he became a Major General in 1813

He served with distinction at the Battle of Waterloo and was dubbed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, June 22, 1815. He was appointed lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada in 1818 and supported the Family Compact that dominated the province. He attempted to suppress and reform pro-American tendencies in the colony and resisted demands of radicals in the government. His tenure in Upper Canada ended in 1828 when he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia serving there from 1828 until 1834.

Maitland went to India and became commander in chief of the Madras army in 1836 serving for two years. In 1844 he became governor of the Cape of Good Hope, but was removed during the Xhosa War. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on April 6, 1852.

Family

He married twice: (1) in 1803, Louisa (d. 1805), daughter of Sir Edward Crofton, 2nd Baronet, and (2) at the Duke of Wellington's HQ during the occupation of Paris, October 9, 1815, Lady Sarah (1792 - 1873), daughter of the 4th Duke of Richmond. By his second wife he had an eldest daughter Sarah (1817 - 1900), who married Thomas Bowes Forster (1802 - 1870), Lieutenant-Colonel in the Madras Army.

Maitland in popular fiction

In his novel "Les Misérables" Victor Hugo credits Maitland (or Colville) with asking for the surrender of the Imperial Guard and receiving General Cambronne's reply of "Merde". ( [http://www.online-literature.com/victor_hugo/les_miserables/84/ Chapter XIV. The Last Square] )

References

Further reading

* Sherwood, George, editor, "The Pedigree Register", London, September, 1908, pps:154-5.
* Bannerman, W. Bruce, FSA, editor, "Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica", 4th series, London, 1908, vol.2, p.317.
* Summerville, Christopher J. (2007) "Who Was Who At Waterloo", Pearson Education pps:257-261 ISBN 978-0-582-78405-5

External sources

* [http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/37/37253/37253.html CricketArchive record]
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4051 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]