Lieutenant General The Right Honourable Sir Thomas Maitland GCB GCH (10 March 1760 – 17 January 1824) was a British soldier and colonial governor. He also served as a Member of Parliament for Haddington from 1790–96, 1802–06 and 1812–13. He was made a Privy Councillor on 23 November 1803. He was the second surviving son of James Maitland, 7th Earl of Lauderdale and the younger brother of James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale. Maitland never married.
Maitland was commissioned into the Edinburgh Light Horse, shortly after his birth, but did not take up his commission until he joined the 78th Foot as a Captain in 1778. He transferred to the 72nd Foot, and then to the 62nd Foot as a Major in 1790. He was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in 1794 and Colonel and Brigadier-General in 1798.
While serving at St. Domingue, he proactively dealt with Toussaint Louverture, who was then a general in the French colonial force, to disengage Britain. Elkins and McKitrick write: