Sir Peregrine Maitland

Maitland, Sir Peregrine

 Sir Peregrine Maitland, soldier, civil administrator (b in Hampshire, Eng 6 July 1777; d at London, Eng 30 May 1854). At age 15 he joined the Grenadier Guards. He served with distinction at the Battle of Waterloo and was knighted in 1815. In 1818 he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, where he became identified ideologically with the conservative element later known as the FAMILY COMPACT. Continually at the centre of political controversy, he believed that democratic and American tendencies in Upper Canadian society had to be resisted to maintain the imperial connection. By the end of his tenure, Reform elements were demanding that the lieutenant-governor choose his advisers from elected members of the Legislative Assembly, one of the issues that led to the REBELLIONS OF 1837. As lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia 1828-34 he left little mark on the province's political history. Appointed commander in chief of the Madras army in 1836, he resigned 2 years later. In 1844 he became governor of Cape of Good Hope, but was replaced during the Kaffir War, being considered ineffective.