John Maitland was born at Lethington (now Lennoxlove, East Lothian) on 24 May 1616. He was the son of John, 2nd Lord Maitland of Thirlestane, 1st Earl of Lauderdale (d. 1645), and the great-nephew of William Maitland of Lethington (c. 1528-1573), Secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots. Like most of the nobility in Scotland, and largely for career reasons, he signed the National Covenant - an instrument which affirmed a direct Scottish relationship with God and without Kings and Bishops as intermediaries. In 1641 he represented the Scottish Assembly in London and was a Commissioner for the Solemn League and Covenant and for the effort to take the instrument through Parliament. By 1647 however, Maitland was one of three Commissioners (the others were John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun, and William Hamilton, Earl of Lanark) who secretly engaged to support the return of Charles I to London and the throne in exchange for his support for Presbyterianism in England. Maitland had also privately assured the King that the Covenant would not be pressed. Though a little ahead of its time, the 'Engagement' broke the unity of the Covenanters and in 1648 the 'Engagers' themselves were defeated at Preston, though Maitland was not present there. In 1650 he was in the Netherlands persuading Charles II to come to Scotland for coronation. He followed the King southwards to England and was taken prisoner at Worcester in 1651 and was held at the Tower of London until 1660 and Charles' Restoration. Now quite close to the King, Maitland contested for power over Scottish affairs. His aim was to make the Crown absolute both in State and Church. During the two decades that he wielded power, corruption and deceit were manifest, and any positions of power were occupied by himself or his friends. Maitland succeeded to the Earldom of Lauderdale in 1645 and was created a Duke in 1672. In 1674 he became Earl of Guildford and Baron Petersham. He remodelled the ancestral Thirlestane Castle, at Lauder, Berwickshire, between 1670 and 1676. John Maitland, 2nd Earl of Lauderdale, 1st Duke of Lauderdale died at Tunbridge Wells in August 1682. He was buried at Haddington, East Lothian, on 5 April 1683. Maitland died without an heir and Lethington was sold to Charles Stewart, Duke of Richmond and Lennox. When Stewart's wife, Frances (a favourite of Charles II), died in 1702, she willed that Lethington be called Lennoxlove. It is now the home of the Duke of Hamilton. Thirlestane is still the home of the Earls of Lauderdale.
From the guide to the Correspondence relating to John Maitland, 2nd Earl of Lauderdale, 1st Duke of Lauderdale (1616-1682), 17th century, (Edinburgh University Library)
