Earl Amherst
Earl Amherst (/ˈæmərst/), of Arracan in the East Indies, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 19 December 1826 for William Amherst, 2nd Baron Amherst, the Governor-General of India. He was made Viscount Holmesdale, in the County of Kent, at the same time, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Lord Amherst had succeeded his uncle Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, as second Baron Amherst in 1797. The latter was a distinguished military commander best known as one of the victors of the French and Indian War. In 1776 he was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain as Baron Amherst, of Holmesdale in the County of Kent, with normal remainder to heirs male of his body. In 1788 he was created Baron Amherst, of Montreal in the County of Kent, also in the Peerage of Great Britain, with special remainder to his nephew William Pitt Amherst and the heirs male of his body. The barony of 1776 became extinct on his death in 1797 while he was succeeded in the barony of 1778 according to the special remainder by his nephew, the aforementioned second Baron, who was elevated to an earldom in 1826.
The first Earl was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son, the second Earl. He represented East Grinstead in Parliament. On his death the titles passed to his eldest son, the third Earl. He was a soldier and politician. In 1880 he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Amherst. He died childless and was succeeded by his younger brother, the fourth Earl. He was one of the 112 peers who voted against the passing of the Parliament Act 1911. The titles became extinct on the death of his son, the fifth Earl, in 1993.
John Amherst (c. 1718–1778), brother of the first baron, was an admiral in the Royal Navy. William Amherst, brother of the first baron and father of the first earl, was a Lieutenant-General in the British Army.
Barons Amherst; First creation (1776)
- Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst (1717–1797)
Barons Amherst; Second creation (1788)
- Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst (1717–1797)
- William Pitt Amherst, 2nd Baron Amherst (1773–1857) (created Earl Amherst in 1826)
Earls Amherst (1826)
- William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst (1773–1857)
- Hon. Jeffrey Amherst (1802–1826)
- William Pitt Amherst, 2nd Earl Amherst (1805–1886)
- William Archer Amherst, 3rd Earl Amherst (1836–1910)
- Hugh Amherst, 4th Earl Amherst (1856–1927)
- Jeffrey John Archer Amherst, 5th Earl Amherst (1896–1993)