Sir George Amyand, 1st Baronet (26 September 1720 – 16 August 1766) was a British Whig politician, physician and merchant.

Origins

He was the second son of Claudius Amyand, Surgeon-in-Ordinary to King George II, by his wife Mary Rabache, and was baptised at the fashionable

St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, United Kingdom. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. T ...

. Claudius's father was a

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 ...

who had quitted France following the

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to practice their religion without s ...

in 1685.

Career

Amyand was an assistant to the

Russia Company The Muscovy Company (also called the Russia Company or the Muscovy Trading Company russian: Московская компания, Moskovskaya kompaniya) was an English trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major chartered joint s ...

in March 1756, an army contractor during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

, who collaborated with

Nicholas Magens Esq. Nicholas Magens or Nicolaus Paul Magens (1697 or 1704–1764) was an attorney, a merchant on Spain and her colonies in America, and an expert on ship insurance, general average and bottomry who gained a great reputation in commercial mat ...

and

Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, PC (28 September 1705 – 1 July 1774), of Holland House in Kensington and of Holland House in Kingsgate, Kent, was a leading British politician. He identified primarily with the Whig faction. He held the posts o ...

. He was a director of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

in 1760 and 1763. In that year, he bought the manor of

Frilsham Frilsham is a village and civil parish from Newbury, in the English county of Berkshire. Geography Frilsham is near the Berkshire Downs, with the M4 to the north. The nucleated village is on a hill, with the parish church of St Widefride ...

, Berkshire from

Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon (16 January 1740 – 26 September 1799), styled Lord Norreys from 1745 to 1760, was an English peer and music patron. Bertie was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the second eldest son of Willoughby Bert ...

. Between 1754 and 1766, Amyand sat as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

, in North

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. He lived nearby at

Great George Street Great George Street is a street in Westminster, London, leading from Parliament Square to Birdcage Walk. The area of the current street was occupied by a number of small roads and yards housing inns and tenements. In the 1750s these were demol ...

. On 9 August 1764, he was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of

Moccas Court Moccas Court is an 18th-century country house which sits in sloping grounds overlooking the River Wye north of the village of Moccas, Herefordshire, England. It is now a luxury guest house and function venue. The house was built in 1775–81 by t ...

, in the County of Hereford.

Marriage and issue

In 1748 he married Anna Maria Korten (d. 1767), daughter and heiress of John Abraham Korten (1690-1742) a German merchant from

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a docu ...

who in 1718 had become a naturalised English subject, having become established at premises in Mincing Lance in the City of London, where he was engaged in exporting textiles and linen from Russia and Europe to the Caribbean, and importing from there Sugar, also importing tobacco and fur from North America. By his wife he had two sons and four daughters: *

Sir George Cornewall, 2nd Baronet Sir George Cornewall, 2nd Baronet (8 November 1748 – 26 August 1819) of Moccas Court, Herefordshire, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807. Origins Born George Amyand, he was the eldest son and heir o ...

(1748–1819), eldest son and heir, who changed his surname and arms to Cornewall following his marriage to the heiress of that family. * John Amyand (1751–1780 ), MP for

Camelford Camelford ( kw, Reskammel) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Bodmin and is governed by ...

. * Anna-Maria Amyand (1752–1829), married Gilbert Elliot, 1st Earl of Minto (after whom the '' Lady Elliot'' was probably named). * Anne and Caroline Amyand, twin daughters, bapt. 6 Jun 1754 & died 1754 * Harriet Maria Amyand (1761–1830), married

James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury, GCB (21 April 1746 – 21 November 1820) was an English diplomat. Early life (1746 – 1768) Born at Salisbury, the son of James Harris, an MP and the author of ''Hermes'', and Elizabeth Clarke of Sandfor ...

Death and burial

Amyand died on 16 August 1766, aged 45, from unknown causes, and was buried at

Carshalton Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton ...

a week later.

Monument

In the outer south aisle of All Saints Church, Carshalton is a white marble urn, with an inscription in his memory.

Barnstaple organ donation

He donated the present organ in St Peter's Church, Barnstaple, one of the largest in Devon, made by John Crang in 1764. It is decorated with his armorials: ''Vert, a chevron between three garbs or'' with an inescutcheon of pretenceIndicating that his wife was an heraldic heiress ''Or, on a chief azure a crescent argent'' (Korten?).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amyand, Sir George, 1st Baronet 1720 births 1766 deaths British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Barnstaple Directors of the British East India Company 18th-century British people Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain