MAITLAND (afterwards FULLER MAITLAND), Ebenezer (1780-1858), of Shinfield Park, Berks. and Stansted, Essex.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1807 - 1812
1812 - 1820
1826 - 1830

Family and Education

b. 23 Apr. 1780, o.s. of Ebenezer Maitland of Clapham Common, Surr. by Mary, da. of John Winter of Hanover Square, Mdx. m. 9 Dec. 1800,1 Bethia, da. of Joshua Ellis of London, 4s. 8da. Took name of Fuller before Maitland, in accordance with the wish of his wife’s aunt Sarah Fuller, 20 Nov. 1807. suc. fa. 1834.

Offices Held

Dir. South Sea Co. 1815-d.

Sheriff, Berks. 1825-6, Brec. 1831-2.

Lt.-col. 2 Reading vols. 1804.

Biography

Maitland, whose father was a prominent merchant and a director of the Bank of England, was said to have inherited £500,000 through his marriage to the grand-daughter of William Fuller, a London banker.2 He canvassed the venal borough of Wallingford in 1807, professing support for the royal prerogative and hostility to constitutional innovation, but went no further and was returned instead for Lostwithiel by Lord Mount Edgcumbe, as a supporter of government.3

There is no record of his having opposed the Portland government (unless it was he who was listed as ‘G. Maitland’ among the minority on Cintra, 21 Feb. 1809), but under their successors his behaviour became more unpredictable. If correctly reported, his voting record on the Walcheren controversy was unique. He divided with government on the address, 23 Jan., against them in support of Porchester’s hostile resolution three days later, but with them once more on the issue of Lord Chatham’s narrative, 23 Feb., and cast no vote on 30 Mar. 1810. In mid March the Whigs classified him as a supporter of the government of the day. Maitland subsequently opposed the confinement of Burdett, 5 Apr. 1810, and the leather tax, 1 July 1812, but divided with ministers on the Regency proposals, 1 Jan. 1811, and against the abolition of the sinecure paymastership, 24 Feb. 1812.

His wealth secured his unopposed return for Wallingford in 1812 and again, after a contest, in 1818. Ministers calculated on his support, but it clearly could not be relied on, although infrequent attendance rather than marked independence of outlook was the probable reason. Maitland’s only recorded votes on the ministerial side after 1812 were against Whitbread’s motion concerning the Spanish Liberals, 1 Mar. 1815, for Binning’s appointment to the finance committee, 7 Feb., on the salary of the secretary to the Admiralty, 17 Feb. 1817, and against Tierney’s censure motion, 18 May 1819. At the same time, his recorded wayward votes were few: on the paymaster’s salary, 8 Mar. 1813, the corn exportation bill, 23 May 1814, and the ducal grants, 30 June, 3 July 1815, and 15 Apr. 1818. His reported vote for Morpeth’s censure of the Speaker, 22 Apr. 1814, must be regarded with suspicion, for he was a consistent opponent of Catholic claims. Maitland, who apparently remained silent in the House during this period, was defeated at Wallingford at the 1820 general election. He died 1 Nov. 1858.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: David R. Fisher

Notes

  • 1. The Times , 10 Dec. 1800. Maitland ped. in Misc. Gen. et Her. (ser. 1), ii. 205-13 gives 9 Jan. 1800.
  • 2. B. Flower, Cautionary Hints (1813), p. viii.
  • 3. Reading Mercury, 11 May 1807.