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William the Queen's secretary Maitland, of Lethington

b. 1525, d. 9 June 1573

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William Maitland of Lethington

Birth

William the Queen's secretary Maitland, of Lethington, was born in 1525.¹

Parents

Father	Richard ("the poet who inspired the Maitland Club") Maitland, of Thirlestane (Berwickshire) and Lethington (Haddingtonshire) (b. 1496, d. 1 August 1586)
Mother	Mariota Cranstoun (b. circa 1510)

Family life

William the Queen's secretary Maitland, of Lethington, and Mary ("one of the Four Marys") Fleming were married on 6 January 1567 in Stirling.^1,2,3,4

Children with Mary ("one of the Four Marys") Fleming (b. 1543, d. after 1584)

Son	James Maitland (b. circa 1570)
Daughter	Margaret Maitland+ (b. circa 1572, d. before 1613)

Working life

Circa 1560 William the Queen's secretary Maitland, of Lethington, was occupied as Ambassador in England.⁵
On 12 September 1570 William the Queen's secretary Maitland, of Lethington, was occupied as secretary to the queen in Edinburgh.²

Property

William the Queen's secretary Maitland, of Lethington, possessed was granted the greatest part of her lands by the Abbess of Haddington in 1567 in Haddington in East Lothian.⁶^5,7 He possessed his father's Castle was taken from him by force in the name of the King in 1570 in Lethington Castle.⁸ He possessed his father's Castle was occupied by Lord Lindsay on 13 March 1572 in Lethington Castle.⁹ He possessed their estates were granted a tack of the teind shaves of the parish kirk of Lawder to go to his heir for 19 years after 1584 in Kirk of Lawder.¹⁰

Death

William the Queen's secretary Maitland, of Lethington, died suicide by poison in order to avoid the humiliation of public execution on 9 June 1573 at age ~48 at Tollbooth in Leith.^11,1,3,4

Citations

[S2] Various contributors, "Wikipaedia," database, Commons, Wikipaedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/: accessed 11 March 2025), William Maitland of Lethington.
[S43] Scotland Court of Exchequer, editor, Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum: The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland (Edinburgh: General Register House, 1912), vol iv, ch 1927, p. 497; online image, Internet Archive, archive.org (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101038096846&seq=7&q1=flemyng : accessed 12 April 2025.
[S5] William Hunter, Biggar and the House of Fleming: an account of the Biggar District, Archeological, Historical and Biographical, second edition (Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1867), p 524.
[S111] Joseph Robertson, Editor, Inventaires de la Royne Descosse Douairiere de France: Catalogues of the Jewels, Dresses, Furniture, Books and Paintings (Edinburgh: The Bannatyne Club, 1863), p xlviii-xlx, notes 3 and 1; online image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/inventairesdela00robegoog/page/n8/mode/2up?q=fleming : viewed 12 May 2025.
[S2] Various contributors, "Wikipaedia," database, Commons, Wikipaedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/: online 10 November 2023), Mary, Queen of Scots at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Queen_of_Scots.
[S123] John Bain, Editor, The Poems of Sir Richard Maitland of Lethingtoun: with an Appendix of selections from the poems of Sir John Maitland and of Thomas Maitland (Glasgow: The Maitland Club, 1830), p xxxvii; online image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/poemsofsirrichar00mait : viewed 19 May 2025.
[S5] William Hunter, Biggar and the House of Fleming: an account of the Biggar District, Archeological, Historical and Biographical, second edition (Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1867), p 533.
[S123] John Bain, Editor, The Poems of Sir Richard Maitland of Lethingtoun: with an Appendix of selections from the poems of Sir John Maitland and of Thomas Maitland (Glasgow: The Maitland Club, 1830), p xliv; online image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/poemsofsirrichar00mait : viewed 19 May 2025.
[S123] John Bain, Editor, The Poems of Sir Richard Maitland of Lethingtoun: with an Appendix of selections from the poems of Sir John Maitland and of Thomas Maitland (Glasgow: The Maitland Club, 1830), p xlvii, note *; online image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/poemsofsirrichar00mait : viewed 19 May 2025.
[S113] John Spottiswoode, Editor, Liber S. Marie de Dryburgh: Registrum cartarum Abbacie Premonstratensis de Dryburgh (Edinburgh: The Bannatyne Club, 1847), p 324; online image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/libersmariededry00bann/page/324/mode/2up?q=fleming : viewed 12 May 2025.
[S68] KM Brown and others, Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, online (St Andrews: University of St Andrews, between 2007 and 2025), 1584/5/40; online transcription and translation, (https://www.rps.ac.uk/ : accessed 11 March 2025.

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Context	Ch forebears (#1) Ch forebears (#2)
Last Edited	19 May 2025