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Major J D Makgill Crichton Maitland
Late Grenadier Guards
by Captain the Hon J A Forbes
formerly Grenadier Guards
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 David Makgill Crichton Maitland, who has died aged 89, was a scion of the Earls of Lauderdale. He was born on 10th September 1925, the elder son of Colonel M E Makgill Crichton Maitland CVO, DSO, DL and his wife the former Patience Fleetwood Fuller. His father commanded 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards during the Great War and was Lieutenant Colonel Commanding the Regiment at the beginning of the Second War. David was educated at Eton and, following in his father’s footsteps, was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards in May 1944.
He was attached to the Irish Guards before joining 1st (Motor) Battalion in BAOR in April 1945. In 1946, he was granted a Regular Commission and joined the newly formed Guards Independent Parachute Company as the first platoon commander of 1 Platoon in 1948. The Company was responsible for the pathfinding role - the securing, marking by visual and radar means, and defending parachute dropping zones. David attended a three month Pathfinder Course at the United States Airborne School in Georgia and obtained an excellent result.
In 1951 he spent four months in BAOR with 2nd Battalion and then joined 3rd Battalion in the Canal Zone. In 1952, David served on the staff of HQ 1st Guards Brigade during a period of intensive internal security operations and was rated by the Brigade Major, David Fraser, (later General Sir David Fraser VCGS) to be a first class staff officer and problem solver. The following year he returned to 3rd Battalion as commander of Headquarter Company during its hand-over in the Canal Zone and subsequent move to London. In 1956, David deployed with 3rd Battalion, first to Malta during the Suez Crisis, and then to Cyprus during the emergency as 3 Company Commander. The tour involved cordon and search operations in the Troodos Mountains. Over several months the Army had reduced 16 terrorist gangs to five, 69 EOKA had been killed and rioting and looting virtually stopped. In all his commands David led by example showing a great deal of imagination and dedication.
He retired from the Army as a Major in 1957 to live at and run the Estate of Houston in Renfrewshire to which he devoted his considerable energies and expertise. He greatly improved both the estate and the farm bringing them into today’s world. He had a strong sense of public duty and was much liked and respected throughout Renfrewshire where he was President of SSAFA. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant in 1962, Vice Lord Lieutenant in 1972 and Lord Lieutenant from 1980 until 1994. He appreciated all aspects of the countryside and its future management and handed the estate and farm over to his son in 1995.
He married first in 1954, Jean (Patsy) Creagh, only daughter of Major General Sir Michael O’Moore Creagh KBE, MC and Lady O’Moore Creagh. She predeceased him in 1985 and he married secondly Mary Ann Curzon (née Ogilvy) in 1987 and moved to Daluaine in Aberdeenshire. He continued to assist with SSAFA and laid a wreath at the Rhynie war memorial every Armistice Day in his Guards Independent Parachute Company beret, as well as attending the annual Regimental Remembrance Day in London in his bowler hat. Combining humour with ability he was a delightful and popular Grenadier. David loved shooting and he and Mary Ann enjoyed entertaining their friends and family at Daluaine as well as trips to London to the ballet and theatre. She survives him with his son, Mark and daughter, Mary from his first marriage.
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