William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney, (25 April 1835 – 16 January 1909) was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament and collector of books and works of art.

Background and education

Born William Amhurst Daniel-Tyssen, he was the eldest son of William George Daniel-Tyssen, High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1843, who was the son of William George Daniel, of Foley House, near

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

, Kent, High Sheriff of Kent in 1825, and his wife Amelia Amherst, the daughter of Captain John Amherst and Mary Tyssen, heiress of Foulden Hall, Norfolk. Amherst's mother was Mary, daughter of Andrew Fountaine, of Narford Hall, Norfolk. In 1852, he and his father assumed by Royal licence the surname of Tyssen-Amhurst. However, in 1877 he again changed it, to Tyssen-Amherst, also by Royal licence. Tyssen-Amherst was educated at Eton and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

Political career

In 1880, he was elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for West Norfolk, a seat he held until 1885, and then represented South West Norfolk until 1892. The latter year he was raised to the peerage as Baron Amherst of Hackney, in the County of London, with remainder, in default of male issue, to his eldest daughter Mary and her issue male. Apart from his parliamentary career Tyssen-Amherst also served as High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1866 and as deputy lieutenant of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

and was a justice of the peace for Norfolk, Middlesex and

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

Collector

Tyssen-Amherst is chiefly remembered as a collector of books, manuscripts, antique furniture and other works of art. He became famous for his Egyptian collection. In his country home, Didlington Hall, he built a museum for his rapidly growing Egyptian collection. In 1906, he was forced to sell a large portion of his collection after discovering that his estate and certain trust funds had been entirely dissipated at the hands of an untrustworthy solicitor, Charles Cheston, under whose management they had been placed. He lived only six weeks following the first

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

auction from this collection. His name is noted at the Carter gallery display in the Swaffham Museum in Norfolk, suggesting that Tyssen-Amherst's collection of ancient papyri and Egyptian figures was seen by a young

Howard Carter Howard Carter (9 May 18742 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptology, Egyptologist who Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, discovered Tomb of Tutankhamun, the intact tomb of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty Pharaoh ...

. The Museum records reveal that in 1882 he exhibited six "life size Egyptian figures" at Swaffham assembly rooms. A copy of the catalogue describes the figures he exhibited which included a figure of a Bedouin chief. He also exhibited a

Thutmose III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, (1479–1425 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors, military commanders, and milita ...

brick circa 1330bc, excavated from the banks of the Nile. Amherst's collection included the lower section of a 20th Dynasty tomb robbery papyri otherwise described as the Papyrus Leopold II, which is in the possession of the Morgan Library & Museum, New York. His rare book collection included the "only genuine perfect copy known" of '' Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye'', King Charles I's personal copy of the Cambridge Bible, and a

Gutenberg Bible The Gutenberg Bible, also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42, was the earliest major book printed in Europe using mass-produced metal movable type. It marked the start of the "Printing Revolution, Gutenberg Revolution" an ...

(No. 45).

Family

Lord Amherst of Hackney married Margaret Susan Mitford, only child of Admiral Robert Mitford, in 1856. Susan Mitford was a lineal descendant of politician Robert Mitford and Philadelphia Wharton, first cousin (once removed) of poet and journalist John Mitford, third cousin (three times removed) of both English Attorney General Lord Redesdale and

William Mitford William Mitford (10 February 1744 – 10 February 1827) was an English historian, landowner, and politician. His best known work is ''The History of Greece'', published in ten volumes between 1784 and 1810. Early years William Mitford was bor ...

, a sixth cousin (twice removed) to the "Mitford Sisters", and a distant cousin of author Mary Russell Mitford. They had seven daughters: * Mary Rothes Margaret ("May"), born 1857, who succeeded to his title; *Sybil Margaret ("Sib"), born 1858; *Florence Margaret ("Flo" or "Fluff"), born 1860; *Margaret Mitford ("Maggie"), born 1864; * Alicia Margaret ("Ally"), born 1865, a botanist and author, married Evelyn Cecil, 1st Baron Rockley; *Geraldine Margaret ("Cherry"), born 1867, married Malcolm Drummond of Megginch, parents of John Drummond, 15th Baron Strange and

Victoria Drummond Victoria Alexandrina Drummond, Order of the British Empire#Current classes, MBE (14 October 1894 – 25 December 1978), was the first woman Engine officer, marine engineer in the UK and the first woman member of Institute of Marine Engineering, ...

; *Beatrice Margaret ("Bee"), born 1869. All of the girls were named after their mother, Margaret. Lord Amherst died in London, in January 1909, aged 73, and was succeeded in the barony according to the special remainder by his eldest daughter Mary.

Notes

External links