Amherst Road

This particular Plymouth street would appear to take its name from John amherst who also had his name confered upon a battery built at Kingsand in th 1770s when Admiral Amherst, as he was then, was Commander-in-Chief at Plymouth. Born in Kent, Amherst's connection with Plymouth went back at least as far as 1753 when he was appointed captain of the Mars, a guardship then based here. This ship was lost when going into the then newly founded port of Halifa, Nova Scotia (Canada). Amherst, "according to the rules and custom of the service" was tried by court-martial but most "honourably acquitted of all blame". The pilot was said to be at fault. On his return Amherst was appointed to the Deptford and sailed as part of a fleet under Admiral Byng. In an encounter with the French off Minorca, Byng ordered Amherst to quit the English line and later, believing himself to be outmanned and outgunned, Byng withdrew to Gibraltar. There Byng was court-martialled and, despite a recommendation for mercy, was shot to appease the enraged British public - inspiring Voltaire's famous remark about an Admiral being killed in England from time to time... "pour encourager les autres".

Amherst then succeeded Byng, he was made a vice-admiral in 1770, appointed C-i-C Plymouth on 3 January 1776 and was still in that post when he died two years later.

EH 3 February 1996