Sue Young Histories

William Pitt Amherst 2nd Earl Amherst 1805 - 1886

August 25, 2009

East GrinsteadWilliam Pitt Amherst 2nd Earl Amherst 1805 - 1886

In 1866, Earl Amherst was on the Committee of the Association for the Trial of Preventative and Curative Treatment in the Cattle Plague by the Homeopathic Method.

In 1866, Earl Amherst was on the Committee of the Association for the Trial of Preventative and Curative Treatment in the Cattle Plague by the Homeopathic Method, with Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset 8th Duke of Beaufort, Ralph Buchan, William Alleyne Cecil Lord Burghley 3rd Marquess of Exeter, George Thomas Keppel 6th Earl of Albemarle, William Coutts Keppel Viscount Bury 7th Earl of Albemarle (the Earl of Albemarle’s son), James Key Caird 1st Baronet (Vice Chairman), Colonel Challoner, George Grimston Craven 3rd Earl of Craven, Henry William Dashwood 5th Baronet, Patrick Dudgeon, Robert Grosvenor 1st Baron Ebury, Francis Richard Charteris 10th Earl of Wemyss Lord Elcho, Arthur Algernon Capell 6th Earl of Essex, Richard Grosvenor Earl Grosvenor 2nd Marquess of Westminster, Philip Howard Frere, Edward Kerrison, Henry Charles Keith Petty Fitzmaurice 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, Lord Llanover, Colonel Farnaby Lennard, George Loch, Archibald Keppel MacDonald, Arthur de Vere Capell Viscount Malden, John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough (Chairman), Frederick Francis Maude, William Miles, James Moore, Charles Gordon Lennox 5th Duke of Richmond, Charles Marsham 3rd Earl of Romney, Sir Anthony Rothschild, John Villiers Shelley, John Robert Townshend 1st Earl Sydney, Lt. Colonel Charles Towneley, Augustus Henry Vernon, William Warren Vernon, Arthur Richard Wellesley 2nd Duke of Wellington (1807-1884), William Wells,

In 1866, the Treasury placed rooms at Adelphi Terrace at the disposal of John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough, who was the Chairman of the Association for the Trial of Preventative and Curative Treatment in the Cattle Plague by the Homeopathic Method, based on the research done in Belgium by Edward Hamilton, with John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough overseeing the work of Edward Hamilton, George Lennox Moore, James Moore and Alfred Crosby Pope.

William Coutts Keppel Viscount Bury 7th Earl of Albemarle issued an address or report for the Association for the Trial of Preventative and Curative Treatment in the Cattle Plague by the Homeopathic Method in 1866. Bury reported that the Dutch had experienced such success with homeopathy against that cattle plague, that they had authorised Edward Hamilton to visit Holland to investigate this.

Edward Hamilton discovered that the Dutch had treated 4798 cattle, 1031 were destroyed = 3767 were treated (with a mixture of allopathic and homeopathic treatments), the survival rate for the beasts treated was 45%, and the survival rate for the beasts treated only by homeopathy was 72-5%.

The Dutch Government had agreed to allow E Seutin, a homeopathic chemist, the total control of infected cattle in Matterness, and initially, E Seutin saved 70% of the cattle, though latterly, he had saved 9 out of every 10 beasts brought to him for treatment, and E Seutin’s use of homeoprophylaxic treatment of unifected beasts brought the epidemic under control entirely within four weeks. Matterness was pronounced free from infection and it has remained thus ever since. The remedies used were arsenicum, phosphorus, phos ac, rhus tox and sulphur.

In 1866, George Lennox Moore became involved with Association for the Trial of Preventative and Curative Treatment in the Cattle Plague by the Homeopathic Method, alongside Edward Hamilton and Alfred Crosby Pope, and overseen by John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough.

George Lennox Moore wrote a detailed report on these trials, including a refutation of the falsities published in _The Lancet__ _regarding the homeopathic treatment of the cattle plague, attacking William Coutts Keppel Viscount Bury 7th Earl of Albemarle and accusing him of ‘being completely misinformed on this matter‘, and inventing a trail of misleading mistruths about the situation.

The orthodox statistics of this clinical trial revealed 8640 cases, 8% killed, 77% died and 15% recovered, though John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough subsequently issued the interim homeopathic results claiming up to 50% recovery rates with arsenicum, belladonna, phosphorus, rhus tox and turpentine as the main homeopathic remedies used.

The Times wrote an article wishing the homeopaths success in these homeopathic trials, but they also made a pithy comment that the allopaths would probably rather see all the cattle die than have homeopathy proved successfull.

The final report on the homeopathic trials in the treatment of cattle plague was issued by John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough. The orthodox statistics of this clinical trial revealed 8640 cases, 8% killed, 77% died and 15% recovered, though John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough subsequently issued the interim homeopathic results claiming up to 50% recovery rates with arsenicum, belladonna, phosphorus, rhus tox and turpentine as the main homeopathic remedies used.

Of course, the ‘valuable and so far successful’ results of the homeopathic trials so far outstripped orthodox treatments, the homeopathic trials were immediately postponed by ‘orthodox sources’.

William Pitt Amherst, 2nd Earl Amherst of Arracan was born on 3 September 1805 at Lower Grosvenor Street, London, England.  He was the son of William Pitt Amherst 1st Earl Amherst and Hon. Sarah Archer.

He married Gertrude Percy, daughter of Rt. Rev. Hon. Hugh Percy and Mary Manners Sutton, on 12 July 1834.

He died on 26 March 1886 at age 80 at Montreal, Sevenoaks, Kent, England.  He was buried at Riverhead, Sevenoaks, Kent, England.  His will (dated 28 August 1862 to 29 October 1877) was probated on 23 July 1886, at over £109,000 personally.

William Pitt Amherst, 2nd Earl Amherst of Arracan was educated at Westminster School, Westminster, London, England. He was styled as Viscount Holmesdale between 1826 and 1857.

He graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, in 1828 with a Bachelor of Arts (2nd class, classics) (B.A.).

He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for East Grinstead between 1829 and 1832.  He succeeded to the title of 2nd Earl Amherst of Arracan, in the East Indies on 13 March 1857.  He succeeded to the title of 3rd Baron Amherst of Montreal, Kent  on 13 March 1857.  He succeeded to the title of 2nd Viscount Holmesdale, in Kent   on 13 March 1857.

Children of William Pitt Amherst, 2nd Earl Amherst of Arracan and Gertrude Percy

  • William Archer Amherst, 3rd Earl Amherst of Arracan b. 26 Mar 1836, d. 14 Aug 1910
  • Lady Mary Sarah Percy Amherst+ b. 8 May 1837, d. 17 Dec 1892
  • Hon. Frederick Amherst b. 6 Dec 1838, d. 1895
  • Hon. Percy Arthur Amherst b. 30 Nov 1839
  • Lady Gertrude Elizabeth Amherst b. 4 Feb 1842, d. 1862
  • Lady Constance Harriet Amherst+ b. 1843, d. 7 Oct 1879
  • Jeffery Charles Amherst b. 3 Oct 1844
  • Josceline George Herbert Amherst b. 7 Jun 1846
  • Lady Margaret Catherine Amherst b. 1848
  • Lady Charlotte Forentia Amherst b. 1851
  • Hugh Amherst, 4th Earl Amherst of Arracan+ b. 30 Jan 1856, d. 7 Mar 1927

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