General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Sir Peregrine Maitland, GCB (6 July 1777 – 30 May 1854) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. He also was a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er from 1798 to 1808 and an early advocate for the establishment of what would become the Canadian Indian residential school system. Born at Longparish House in Longparish, 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 The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

by his wife Lady Jane (d. 21 August 1793), daughter of

Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven (29 April 16861 January 1742), styled The Honourable Peregrine Bertie between 1686 and 1704, Lord Willoughby de Eresby between 1704 and 1715 and Marquess of Lindsey between 1715 and 1723, was ...

. Thomas Maitland possessed plantations in the parish of St. Thomas Middle Island on the island of St. Christopher in the West Indies.

Military career

After joining the

1st Foot Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

at the age of 15 as an ensign he went on to serve in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

in 1794, by which time he had achieved his promotion to lieutenant. In 1798, he took part in the unsuccessful landing at Ostend. In the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...

, he served at both the Battle of

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...

, and at Corunna, for which he was awarded a medal. He took part in the Walcheren in 1809. During the later stages of the Peninsula War was second in command of his regiment at Cadiz, and later at the Battle of Seville. He served with distinction at Quatre Bras and the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Sevent ...

. Promoted in early June (3June 1815) to major general, he was assigned to the First Corps, under overall command of the

Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands. The titl ...

. On 18June, the day of Waterloo, he commanded two battalions of the

1st Foot Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

, each 1000-men strong and led the Guards in repelling the final assault of the French Imperial Guard. For his service at Waterloo, Maitland was created a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

, (KCB) on 22June 1815, the Dutch Order of William and the Russian Order of St. Vladimir. For their part, the

1st Foot Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

were granted the honorary title of 'First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards'. He was appointed lieutenant governor of Upper Canada in 1818 and supported the

Family Compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in ...

that dominated the province. He attempted to suppress and reform pro-American tendencies in the colony and resisted demands of radicals in the government. In his role Maitland was the first to propose the civilizing techniques that would eventually lead to the establishment of the Canadian Indian residential school system. He believed that while a shift from hunting to agricultural pursuits would assist with civilizing Indigenous populations, it was gaining the influence of children that would lead to success. In an 1820 report to the Colonial Office he argued for the introduction of industrial schools to minimize the children's exposure to the savage influence of their families. His tenure in Upper Canada ended in 1828 when he was appointed lieutenant-governor of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

serving there from 1828 until 1834. Maitland went to India and became commander in chief of the

Madras Army The Madras Army was the army of the Presidency of Madras, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company until the Government ...

in 1836 serving for two years. In 1843 he was appointed Colonel of the 17th (Leicestershire) Regiment and in 1844 Governor of the Cape Colony, but was removed during the Xhosa War. He is still highly respected in the Kingdom of

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a population ...

for his judgment on the border issue between the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Cast ...

s and the Basotho of King

Moshoeshoe I Moshoeshoe I () ( – 11 March 1870) was the first king of Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bamokoteli lineage, a branch of the Koena (crocodile) clan. In his youth, he helped his father gain power over so ...

, which, had it been implemented, would have secured the economic future of the kingdom. He was made a

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...

on 6 April 1852.

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia

Maitland became the

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia The lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia () is the viceregal representative in Nova Scotia of the , who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada, as well as the other Commonweal ...

on 29 Nov. 1828, with the added responsibility of commander-in-chief of the forces in the Atlantic region. He was popular. Certainly, his strongly moral conduct influenced Halifax's society. By insisting on walking to church, he effectively ended the garrison parades on Sunday, the city's major social event, and he publicly denounced the open market that day. Maitland was responsible for the settlement reached for Pictou Academy. In dealing with immigration and settlement, he had lands laid out in Cape Breton at crown expense so that the 4,000 immigrants expected that year could be legally placed and systematically settled. In October 1832 Maitland went to England on leave, presumably because of his health, and the government was placed in charge of Thomas Nickleson Jeffery. Though he continued to conduct official correspondence from England, he never returned to North America and he was succeeded in Nova Scotia by Sir Colin Campbell in July 1834.

First-class cricket career

Maitland was an amateur

er who made 27 known appearances in

matches from 1798 to 1808. He was mainly associated with

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influe ...

(MCC) and he also played for

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...

, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862

Family

Peregrine Maitland was the eldest of five sons of Thomas Maitland (died 1797) and Jane Mathew (1759-1830), daughter of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Edward Mathew and Jane Bertie. He had three sisters, and his eldest sister Jane married in 1800 a

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

Warren of the Third Foot Guards. Maitland's maternal aunt married James Austen, brother of

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

. Maitland married twice: (1) on 8 June 1803, in St George's, Hanover Square, (

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

), to Louisa (d. 1805), daughter of Sir Edward Crofton, 2nd Baronet, and (2) at the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister ...

's HQ during the occupation of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, 9 October 1815, Lady Sarah Lennox (1792–1873), one of the daughters of the 4th

Duke of Richmond Duke of Richmond is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created four times in British history. It has been held by members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families. The current dukedom of Richmond was created in 1675 for Charles ...

. Despite the initial opposition of her father, the marriage took place after the intervention and support of the Duke of Wellington. When the Duke of Richmond was appointed Governor-in-Chief of Canada, he appointed Maitland as Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. By his first wife, he had one son, Peregrine Maitland b. 1 May 1804. By his second wife he had at least seven children: * Sarah (1817–1900), who married Thomas Bowes Forster (1802–1870),

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

in the

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Army. * Charlotte Caroline Maitland (9 Dec 1817-8 Jan 1897), married John George Turnbull (10 Aug 1790-2 Jan 1872) on 17 Jul 1837 * Charles Lennox Brownlow Maitland (27 Sep 1823-5 Jan 1891) * Jane Bertie Maitland (abt 1826-27 Apr 1885) * Emily Sophia Maitland (1827-16 Dec 1891), married Frederick Herbert Kerr (30 Sep 1818-Jan 1896) on 13 Jan 1846 * George Maitland (1830-1831) (buried at St. Paul's Church (Halifax)) * Eliza Mary Maitland (1832), married John Desborough (24 Jan 1824-14 Jan 1918) on 14 Jul 1857 * Georgina Louisa Maitland (aft 1832-5 Jan 1852), married Thomas Eardley Wilmot Blomefield (died 15 Jan 1896) on 2 Jan 1844 * Horatio Lennox Arthur Maitland (13 Mar 1834-29 Mar 1904) He was buried at St Paul's Church in Tongham in Surrey.

Maitland in popular fiction

In his novel ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

credits Maitland (or Colville) with asking for the surrender of the

Imperial Guard An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the Emperor or Empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial forces, i ...

and receiving General Cambronne's reply of "'' Merde''".
Chapter XIV. The Last Square

Legacy

Maitland, Hants County, Nova Scotia Maitland, East Hants, Nova Scotia (originally known as Jean Peter's Village) is a village in East Hants, Nova Scotia. It is home to the historic Lawrence House Museum, which is part of the Nova Scotia Museum. The community was part of the Douglas ...

is named after him. Maitland Street, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia is named after him, as is Maitland Street in London, Ontario., as is Maitland Street, Maitland Place and Maitland Terrace in Toronto, Ontario. The Church of St. John the Evangelist

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the Canada 2016 Census, 2016 census. It is part of the List of census ...

was constructed in 1825 largely through the efforts of Lieutenant-Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland. The church remained in regular use until 1957.Ontario Heritage Trust Church of St. John the Evangelist
Maitland, Ontario, on the St. Lawrence River is named after him. In New South Wales, Australia, the town of Maitland bears his name. It is one of a series of settlements founded in the years following Waterloo named for Wellington and his subordinate commanders, both from Waterloo and the Peninsula. These include Wellington, Orange, Picton, Grahamstown (Sir Thomas Graham), Pakenham (Sir Edward Pakenham) and Beresfield (Sir William Carr Beresford - misspelt). In South Africa

Maitland, Cape Town Maitland is a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. Maitland is situated along a number of important transport networks connecting the Cape Town city bowl to the rest of the city. The most important being the railway line that runs through the m ...

, a light industrial and residential suburb, the Maitland River west of

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, So ...

and numerous streets in the country are named after him.

References

External sources

CricketArchive record

Sir Peregrine Maitland Letter RG 244
Brock University Library Digital Repository , , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Maitland, Peregrine 1777 births 1854 deaths People from Test Valley Lieutenant-Governors of Upper Canada English Anglicans Governors of the Colony of Nova Scotia British Army generals British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Governors of the Cape Colony Grenadier Guards officers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath English cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Hampshire cricketers Surrey cricketers Surrey and Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class Knights Third Class of the Military Order of William Recipients of the Waterloo Medal Residential schools in Canada Lord Yarmouth's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club and Homerton cricketers

Military career

Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia

First-class cricket career

Family

Maitland in popular fiction

Legacy

References

Further reading

External sources