By Aftab Ali

THE Queen’s representative in Renfrewshire has appointed a new deputy to work alongside him to help uphold the dignity of the Crown in the council area.

Lord-Lieutenant Guy Clark has named Mark Crichton Maitland of Houston as Deputy Lord-Lieutenant, who was gazetted into the role last month.

The deputy is meant to help in the performance of any public duty performed by the Lord-Lieutenant, and also provides local knowledge for the Lord-Lieutenant in a part of the community they know well.

In his role, Mr Maitland will also work together with Mr Clark and encourage a spirit of co-operation in the voluntary services and benevolent organisations.

Mr Maitland, 61, is currently the owner of Elderslie Estates which covers around 4,000 acres of agricultural and forestry land in between Houston, Kilmacolm and Bridge of Weir.

Mr Maitland’s sons, Archie, 28, and Nicholas, 26, are increasingly playing a greater role in the running of the estate. According to Elderslie Estates, Mr Maitland has said: “Nothing could give a father more pleasure than seeing his children taking an interest in what he has been doing and intending to pick it up and run with it for the next generation.”

Educated at Eton College in Windsor, Mr Maitland qualified as a chartered surveyor in 1979 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 1993.

He is a former chairman of Timber Growers’ Association, now Confor, the body which represents private woodland owners in the UK and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

As well as this, Mr Maitland is also the director of a renewables company.

He said: “It’s an honour. My father was Lord-Lieutenant for Renfrewshire for years. It runs in the family.”

Mr Clark was appointed Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Renfrewshire in 2007 on the retiral of his predecessor, Mr Cameron Parker.