Person

Amherst of Arracan, William Pitt Amherst, Earl, 1773-1857

1773-1857

William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst, was born on January 14, 1773, in Bath, England.

He was a British diplomat and colonial administrator. He was the grand-nephew of Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, and succeeded to his title in 1797 according to a special remainder in the letters patent. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. After serving as British envoy at the court of Naples (1809–1811), he was sent to China (1816) to negotiate commercial matters. At the imperial court, however, Amherst declined to perform the kowtow (to strike his forehead on the ground nine times in obeisance), and his mission failed. Amherst was Governor-General of India from August 1823 to February 1828. The principal events of his government were the annexation of Assam leading to the first Burmese war of 1824, resulting in the cession of Arakan and Tenasserim to the British Empire. He was created Earl in 1826.

In 1800, he married Sarah, Dowager Countess of Plymouth (1762–1838), and in 1839, he remarried Mary, Dowager Countess of Plymouth (1792–1864). He died on March 13, 1857, in Kent, England.