Sir James Ramsay-Gibson-Maitland, 4th Baronet (29 March 1848 – 9 November 1897) was a Scottish

aquaculturist Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lo ...

who dedicated his life to experimenting on the practices of husbandry in fish. He gained recognition for his work by being awarded several diplomas.

Early life

James Maitland was born on 29 March 1848, his father was Sir Alexander Ramsay-Gibson-Maitland of Clifton Hall, and his mother was Thomasina Maitland (née Hunt), and two brothers William and Keith. Sir Anthony was a descendant of the

Earl of Lauderdale Earl of Lauderdale is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. The current holder of the title is Ian Maitland, 18th Earl of Lauderdale. The title was created in 1624 for John Maitland, 2nd Lord Maitland of Thirlestane, Berwickshire. The second Ea ...

; however, it was through his father's marriage to Susan Ramsay that he inherited the Ramsay title and lands, as all other male descendants were deceased. Sir Anthony became the 3rd Baronet of Barnton,

Sauchie Sauchie is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies north of the River Forth and south of the Ochil Hills, within the council area of Clackmannanshire. Sauchie has a population of around 6000 and is located northeast of Alloa and ...

and

Bannockburn Bannockburn ( Scottish Gaelic ''Allt a' Bhonnaich'') is an area immediately south of the centre of Stirling in Scotland. It is part of the City of Stirling. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a stream running through the town before flowing i ...

. James was educated at

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

before leaving to attend the Royal Military College at Sandhurst; however, after joining the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and becoming a Captain in the Highland Borderers, he left after one year. He married Fanny White, daughter of Sir Thomas Woollaston White, 2nd Baronet of

Tuxford Tuxford is a historic market town and a civil parish in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 2,516, increasing to 2,649 at the 2011 census. Geography Nearby towns are Ollerton, Ret ...

and

Wallingwells Wallingwells is a small civil parish and hamlet in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England, with a population at the 2001 census of 22. The population remained less than 100 at the 2011 census. Details are included in the civil pa ...

in 1869, near

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, and they moved to Craigend in 1873. James and Fanny had two daughters.

Howietoun Fishery

Howietoun Fishery was established in 1873, Maitland had previously been experimenting in another site; however, the site was prone to flooding which meant that Maitland and a team of men had to try and recapture the escaped Swiss trout. Howietoun was an ideal spot as it had a water supply from Lake Coulter and a steady supply of spring water also. Maitland believed that fish could be raised in a similar way as farm animals, in that animal

husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, startin ...

could also be successful when applied to a fishery. Maitland's approach to experimentation was a scientific one; he would only change one variable during an experiment and then would hypothesise how the outcome had happened. This meant that he was able to work out that breeding young stock of fish gave a result of weak offspring; instead, he realised older stock must be used to gain strong offspring. He worked out that the female fish must be stripped of their eggs and male milt collected in October; he then worked on hatching boxes for the live ova. After the fry hatched, then they were transferred to rearing boxes before being transferred to plank ponds. Maitland was meticulous in writing up his experiments; this means that every change that he made in the diet, transport and selective breeding of the fish was documented. There are even pictures with measurements of the instruments Maitland was inventing to make rearing fish easier. Maitland also experimented on the diet of the trout and salmon at the fishery; he worked out that horse spleen when ingested by trout caused blindness and nutritional cataracts. He worked on several options before concluding that the best option for feeding trout and salmon was horsemeat, shellfish and eggs. One of his most important experiments was finding ways to transport large quantities of live ova, at the time live ova were sent in crammed packages and when they arrived most did not survive, Maitland took three attempts to work out how to insulate the cargo to stop fluctuations in temperature. Successful shipments were then sent to Wellington, Dunedin and Otago in the specially designed shipment boxes that Maitland had designed himself.

Awards

The work of Maitland at Howietoun fishery meant that he was awarded several diplomas in fish culture and two gold medals in 1883 and 1885, at the

International Fisheries Exhibition The International Fisheries Exhibition was a Victorian era scientific, cultural, and animal exhibition open in South Kensington, London, United Kingdom, between May 12 and October 31, 1883. (The busiest day was May 15, when the official visitor co ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Death and legacy

Maitland died on 9 November 1897, his daughter Mary Steel-Maitland and her husband

Arthur Steel-Maitland Sir Arthur Herbert Drummond Ramsay Steel-Maitland, 1st Baronet (5 July 1876 – 30 March 1935) was a British Conservative politician. He was the first Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1911 to 1916 and held junior office from 1915 to 191 ...

took over the running of Howietoun. Howietoun Fishery was then amalgamated into the Northern Fisheries Company in 1914 before the Maitland family sold it in 1969. It became a part of the University of Stirling Aquaculture Institute in 1979. The majority of brown trout re-stocking in Scotland is achieved through the stock of Howietoun Fishery.

References

External links