General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

William Maule, 1st Earl Panmure (1700–1782) was a Scottish soldier and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

for 47 years from 1735 to 1782.

Life

Maule was raised in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

by his father the Honourable Henry Maule, younger brother of

James Maule, 4th Earl of Panmure James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and was educated at Leyden (1718) and at the Scots College in Paris (1719). His father had fled to France with his brother James after the failed Jacobite rising of 1715. He returned to Scotland following the general pardon of 1719 and enlisted as an ensign in the

1st Foot The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regimen ...

in October 1727. He became a captain in the

25th Foot The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Ow ...

in 1737, and a captain and lieutenant-colonel in the 3rd Foot Guards in 1741. He was promoted major in 1745 and colonel of the army in 1745. He was appointed Colonel of the

in 1747, transferring as Colonel to the

21st Foot The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Ma ...

in 1752. Further promotion followed to major-general in 1755, lieutenant-general in 1758 and full general on 13 April 1770. He was finally appointed Colonel of the Royal Scots Greys in November 1770, a position he held until his death. In 1742 he acquired Braikie Castle between

Brechin Brechin (; gd, Breichin) is a city and former Royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which continues today ...

and Arbroath. He bought back the family estate of

Brechin Castle Brechin Castle is a castle in Brechin, Angus, Scotland. The castle was constructed in stone during the 13th century. Most of the current building dates to the early 18th century, when extensive reconstruction was carried out by architect Alexan ...

, Forfar and was created Baron Maule, Viscount Maule and Earl Panmure in the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

in 1743, his uncle's earldom having been forfeit by attainder in 1716. From 1735 to 1782 he represented Forfarshire in Parliament. Lord Panmure had no children and, on his death, his estates were divided between a cousin George Ramsay, 8th Earl of Dalhousie, and George's second son,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

References

* Edith Lady Haden-Guest
Maule, William, 1st Earl of Panmure (1700–82), of Kellie, Forfar.
in ''

The History of Parliament The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in w ...

: the House of Commons 1754–1790'' (1964). , - , - , - 1700 births 1782 deaths Royal Scots Fusiliers officers Royal Scots Greys officers British Army generals Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies Maule, William British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 Earls in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George II {{Ireland-earl-stub