Name Ian 15th | ||
Ian Colin Maitland, 15th Earl of Lauderdale DL (30 January 1891 – 17 February 1953), styled Viscount Maitland between 1924 and 1931, was a representative peer for Scotland in the House of Lords from 1931 to 1945.
Maitland was the only child of Frederick Maitland, 14th Earl of Lauderdale by his wife Gwendoline Lucy (d. 30 January 1929), daughter of Robert Vaughan Williams, a judge, of Bodlonfa, Flintshire. He succeeded to the titles upon his father's death in 1931.
Educated at Eton College, Maitland saw active service in the First World War. He was a Major in the 3rd Reserve Battalion of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in 1915-1916, and in 1918 was Aide-de-Camp to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
He was also a member of the Royal Company of Archers, the King's Bodyguard for Scotland, and a Deputy Lieutenant for Berwickshire.
He was President of the Southampton Conservative Association, 1931–1935, and Honorary President of the Association of Certified and Corporate Accountants from 1931 to 1945.
In 1943, he was caught having sex with a kitchen porter, Robert Wilson, in an alleyway in Soho. So deferential was society in those days that the judge ordered the jury to find him not guilty, even though Wilson was jailed for nine months for engaging in homosexual sex, which at the time was illegal.
Family
Lord Lauderdale married Ethel Mary Ivy (d. 1971 or 1972), eldest daughter of James Jardine Bell-Irving of Makerstoun, Roxburghshire, on 11 November 1912. They resided at Thirlestane Castle, near Lauder, Berwickshire, and had two children: