Career
James Maitland served for twenty-five years in the army. And was appointed Lieutenant-colonel of the 16th Regiment of Foot on 20 September 1745. He resigned his commission upon the promotion of a junior officer above him.
He was also unlucky under the Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Acting 1746 which abolished heritable jurisdictions, when he got for the Regality of Thirlestane and bailiary of Lauderdale £1000, instead of the £8000 he claimed.
He was a Lord of Police from February 1766 until the abolition of that board in 1782. And Rector of Glasgow University from 1779 to 1781.
Lord Lauderdale died at Haltoun House. They had twelve children, 6 boys and 6 girls.
This thinking was later developed and systematised by Lord Keynes.
The third son was Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Maitland, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, GCH (1759–1824), governor and commander-in-chief at Ceylon, then of Malta and the Ionian Islands.
