Sir Richard Maitland, Lord Lethington

Wikipedia Biographical Summary

"Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington and Thirlstane (1496 – 1 August 1586) was a Senator of the College of Justice, an Ordinary Lord of Session from 1561 until 1584, and notable Scottish poet. He was served heir to his father, Sir William Maitland of Lethington, Haddingtonshire, and Thirlestane, Berwickshire, on 15 October 1515. He held the political office of Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland and was also the Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland, from 1563 to 1567, and was succeeded in this post by his son Sir John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane...

...In his later years he was blind, and occupied himself by writing a history of The House and Surname of Seaton, and by writing poems, e.g., On the New Year, On the Queene's Maryage, etc. He held various offices, chiefly legal, but appears to have kept as far as possible out of the fierce political struggles of his time, and to have been a genially satirical humorist...

He married Mariotta (or Margaret) (d.March 1586), daughter of Sir Thomas Cranstoun of Corsbie, in Berwickshire. They had three sons and four daughters, including:

• William Maitland of Lethington, Secretary of State to Mary, Queen of Scots, and
• Sir John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane, Lord Chancellor of Scotland; and
• Mary (d. January 1596), who married (as his first wife) Sir Alexander Lauder of Haltoun, Knt., (buried in Holyrood Abbey 14 November 1627), Sheriff Principal of Edinburgh.
• Elizabeth, who married William Douglas of Whittinghame."

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Richard Maitland', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 4 April 2012, 17:50 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Maitland&oldid=48...> [accessed 11 September 2012]

• The Thirlestane Castle Trust
• Thirlestane Castle From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia