William Maule, 1st Baron Panmure

Lord Panmure, portrait by Thomas Musgrave Joy , 1838

William Maule, 1st Baron Panmure (born Ramsay , born October 27, 1771 , † April 13, 1852 in Brechin Castle ) was a Scottish landowner and politician .

Life

William came from the Ramsay clan and was the second son of George Ramsay, 8th Earl of Dalhousie , from his marriage to Elizabeth Glen. When his great-uncle, William Maule, 1st Earl Panmure , died childless in 1782, he accepted his coat of arms and the family name Maule as his designated general heir in 1782 with a royal license . Due to the fact that he was a minor, he only received his possessions after his father's death in 1787, namely the largest part of the Panmure estate, which was very extensive and comprised a large part of the Angus landscape , particularly around Monikie , Brechin and Edzell . He lived in bothPanmure House east of Monikie as well as in Brechin Castle , which he preferred to live in.

In 1794 he married Patricia Heron Gordon († 1821), with whom he had three sons and six daughters.

• Hon. Patricia Maule (1796-1859) ⚭ Gilbert Young;
• Hon. Elizabeth Maule (1797–1852) ⚭ 1822 Sir Alexander Ramsay, 2nd Baronet;
• Lusinda Maule (1799-1806);
• Hon. Mary Maule (1799–1864) ⚭ James Hamilton;
• Fox Maule-Ramsay, 11th Earl of Dalhousie , 2nd Baron Panmure (1801–1874) ⚭ 1831 Hon. Montague Abercromby, daughter of George Abercromby, 2nd Baron Abercromby ;
• Hon. Georgiana Maule (1803–1833) ⚭ William Henry Dowbiggen;
• Hon. Christian Maule (1805-1888);
• Hon. Lauderdale Maule (1807-1854), MP for Forfarshire;
• Hon. William Maule of Fearn (1809-1859) ⚭ 1844 Elizabeth Binny.

In 1822 he married Elizabeth Barton for the second time. The marriage remained childless.

Lord Panmure was a member of the Freemasons and a Grand Master from 1808 to 1810. Seven lodges were established during his 51-year reign as Grand Master of the Province of Forfarshire. One of them had his name. On St. John's Day 1801 he became an honorary member of the St. Ninian and St. James lodges ; 1818 also the Kilwinning Lodge .

He died on April 13, 1852 at Brechin Castle at the age of 80 and was buried in Brechin Cathedral on April 20 .

Military and political career

In October 1788, he joined the British Army and acquired an officer's license as Cornet of the 11th Regiment of Light Dragoons . In April 1791 he was promoted to captain of an independent infantry company . The company was disbanded that same year and Maule was placed under half pay. In 1793 he became a lieutenant in the West Lowland Fencibles . In the same year he was promoted to captain-lieutenant and in 1794 to captain of this regiment. In 1794 he became the commanding major of the Forfar Fencible Cavalry . In 1825 he left the army.

From April to June 1796 he was the first Whig MP for Forfarshire a member of the House of Commons . In June 1805 he was re-elected for Forfarshire and was able to maintain this mandate in nine consecutive parliamentary elections until 1831. On September 10, 1831 he was raised to hereditary peer with the title Baron Panmure , of Brechin and Navar in the County of Forfar , and thereby became a member of the House of Lords . In 1831 he was made an honorary citizen of Dundee .

He was a supporter of prominent Whig statesman Charles James Fox , after whom he named his eldest son.

Benefits

Many public and charitable institutions benefited from his support. One of his most important acts was the establishment and equipping of the Mechanics' Institute in Brechin, large donations also went to the Dundee Royal Infirmary as well as to the local orphanage and the insane asylum. He paid a handsome pension to Charles James Fox's widow and was the first to reward Grace Darling for her rescue operation. He also supported Niel Gow , the famous Scottish fiddler, and many other artists.

The Improvements Bill of 1824 made it possible to improve conditions in the slums of Dundee. It envisaged the demolition of derelict buildings and a new road connecting the Cowgate to the Meadows . This new street opened in 1839 and was named Panmure Street in recognition of his donations to the Dundee Royal Infirmary ; later the Panmure Terrace was named after him. In 1847 he parted with some of his lands to enable the Monikie and Crombie Reservoirs to be formed.

It is also documented that while the Brechin Cathedral was being renovated, an attempt was made to demolish the famous round tower. Lord Panmure threatened to hang anyone at the top of the tower who removed a stone from him.

Commemoration

The Panmure testimonial

As a token of their gratitude for the suspension of payments on the occasion of the food shortage in 1826, triggered by an unusually hot and dry summer, his tenants erected a 32 meter high column on the Downie Hills in Monikie in 1839 , the Panmure "Live and let Live" testimonial . “ Live and let live ” was also his favorite toast and symbolized his generosity. The hill is 150 meters above sea ​​level , isolated from other hills, and offers an unobstructed view in all directions.

literature

• Margaret Escott: Maule, Hon. William Ramsay (1771-1852), of Panmure and Brechin Castle, Forfar. In: David R. Fisher (Ed.): The History of Parliament. The House of Commons 1820-1832. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009 ( online ).

Web links

• Mr William Maule-Ramsay at Hansard (English)
• William Maule-Ramsay, 1st Lord Panmure on thepeerage.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Iain D. McIntosh: William Maule, 1st Lord Panmure. Provincial Grand Lodge of Forfarshire, 2014, accessed November 1, 2020 . 
2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 13033, HMSO, London, October 11, 1788, p. 493 ( PDF , English).
3. ↑ London Gazette . No. 13299, HMSO, London, April 12, 1791, p. 229 ( PDF , English).
4. ↑ London Gazette . No. 18846, HMSO, London, September 9, 1831, p. 1834 ( PDF , English).
5. ^ Gershom Cumming: Panmure Testimonial . In: Forfarshire Illustrated: being views of gentlemen's seats, antiquities, and scenery in Forfarshire, with descriptive and historical notices . Dundee 1843, p. 48–49 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed November 29, 2020]).
6. ^ Panmure Estates - Panmure Testimonial, Camustane Hill (Category B) (LB17607) . Historic Environment Scotland , accessed November 29, 2020.

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Baron Panmure 1831-1852	Fox Maule