John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland, whose father…
1587 CE
John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland, whose father is the blind poet, lawyer, and diplomat Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington, and whose late brother, William Maitland, had been a prominent supporter of Mary Stewart, had succeeded his father as keeper of the privy seal in 1567 and become a lord of session the following year.
He had supported the Marian partisans in their war against the supporters of young James and had been briefly imprisoned in 1573 upon the final defeat of the queen's cause.
Made a privy councilor in 1583, he had by 1586 become the king's principal adviser.
Appointed chancellor in 1587, Maitland is the first person in this century to hold that office who is not a noble or a prelate.