Earls of Panmure (1646)

1^st Earl of Panmure, Patrick Maule, b.1585, a.1646, d.1661

The Maule family traced its roots back to the town of Maule in Normandy, and a scion of that family, Peter de Maule, came over with William the Conqueror. His son Robert became associated with David of Huntingdon, later King David I of Scotland, and from then on the family features often in Scottish history, most often as soldiers. Peter Maule was Lord High Chamberlain to William the Lion and obtained the lands of Panmure in Forfarshire. Patrick Maule accompanied James VI & I to England in 1603 and was Lord of the Bedchamber to both him and Charles I. In 1639 he purchased the lordship of Brechin and Navar from the Earl of Mar. He was of necessity a Royalist during the Civil Wars, and in 1646 was created 1^st Earl of Panmure and 1^st Lord Brechin and Navar. He remained with Charles during the King’s captivity and was fined substantially by the Commonwealth. An old man by then, he took no part in the events preceding the Restoration.

2^nd Earl of Panmure, George Maule, b.1619, a.1661, d.1671

Son of the 1^st Earl and Frances Stanhope (b.?, d.1623-1624).

3^rd Earl of Panmure, George Maule, b.1650, a.1671, d.1686

Son of the 2^nd Earl and ? Campbell, daughter of John Campbell, 1^st Earl of Loudoun. He was a Privy Counsellor to Charles II and James II.

4^th Earl of Panmure, James Maule, b.1658, a.1686, d.1723

Younger brother of the 3^rd Earl. He was a supporter of James II in the Scottish Convention, and when that King was replaced by William and Mary, he walked out. When the Earl of Mar raised the Jacobite standard in rebellion, the Maule family were obliged to take part, and he commanded a regiment at the Battle of Sheriffmuir. When the rebellion failed, he was attainted and left to join the Prince in Europe. He had married Lady Margaret Hamilton (b.1668, d.1731), daughter of Sir William Douglas-Hamilton, 1^st Earl of Selkirk. After his death, she and his younger brother Harry Maule (b.?, d.1731) tried to halt the sale of the Panmure estates, but failed, although they obtained leases of two of the principal properties. Harry’s son William Maule (b.?, d.1782), who had reached the rank of General, become an MP for Forfar in 1735 and was created 1^st Earl of Panmure in the Peerage of Ireland, managed to purchase the estates from the ailing bank that owned them. When he died, all the Panmure estates passed by marriage via his sister Jean Maule (b.?, d.1769) to the Earls of Dalhousie. On the death of George Ramsay, 8^th Earl of Dalhousie, the estates went to William Ramsay, his second son, who changed his surname to Maule. He became an MP for Forfarshire and was created 1^st Baron Panmure of Brechin and Navar in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1831. His son Fox Maule (named after the prominent Whig politician) became 11^th Earl of Dalhousie, but died without children and that earldom, and all the Maule estates, reverted to another branch of the Ramsay family, with the UK barony becoming extinct.

(Last updated: 02/09/2009)