Claudius Amyand (10 August 1718 – 1 April 1774) was an English Whig politician and government official. He was the eldest son of Claudius Amyand, a distinguished surgeon and

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

, born on 10 August 1718. Educated at

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

and Christ Church, Oxford, he attended Lincoln's Inn and was called to the bar in 1742. Appointed Keeper of the King's Library in 1745, he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Tregony Tregony ( kw, Trerigoni), sometimes in the past Tregoney, is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Tregony with Cuby, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the River Fal. In the village there is a post office (now ...

in the general election of 1747. He was appointed junior under secretary to the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle ...

in 1750, becoming senior under-secretary to the

Earl of Holderness The title Earl of Holderness also known as Holdernesse existed in the late 11th and early 12th centuries as a feudal lordship and was officially created three times in the Peerage of England namely in 1621, in 1644 as a subsidiary title to that of ...

the following year. He was offered the seat at Bossiney for the election of 1754, but declined due to a lack of funds. Instead, he was elected at

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

. He retained his office under Thomas Robinson and Henry Fox until William Pitt removed him to the

Board of Customs HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of England (and then of Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use si ...

in 1756. He served on that board until 1765 when he became Receiver of the Land Tax for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

and London, a post he held until his death. On 26 November 1761 he married Frances, the widow of

George Compton, 6th Earl of Northampton George Compton, 6th Earl of Northampton (1692 – 6 December 1758), known as the Honourable George Compton until 1754, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1727 to 1754. Compton was the second son of George Compton, 4th E ...

. She was described by Claudius' brother as "a very amiable woman with a

jointure Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the de ...

of £2,500 per annum." The couple had no children. Claudius Amyand died in London on 1 April 1774.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amyand, Claudius 1718 births 1774 deaths British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British civil servants 18th-century English people People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn