Amherst

Amherst, Jeffery Amherst, Baron, 1717-97, British army officer. He served in the War of the Austrian Succession and in the early part of the Seven Years War. In 1758 he was sent to America as a major general to lead the Louisburg campaign in the last of the French and Indian Wars. The capture (1758) of the French fortress gave Britain her first important victory in the war, and Amherst replaced James Abercromby as supreme commander in America. The next year (1759), pushing northward from Albany, he took Crown Point and Ticonderoga, but he arrived too late to help General Wolfe take Quebec. He directed (1760) the capture of Montreal and returned (1763) to England. In the American Revolution, Amherst refused to command British troops in New England, but in 1778 he became commander in chief of home defenses. Amherst, for whom Amherst and Amherst College is named, was created baron in 1776 and was made a field marshal in 1796.

Amherst, town (1991 pop. 9,742), N central N.S., Canada. Amherst has a variety of light industries and is a service center for the surrounding agricultural region. Nearby are salt beds. Across the border in New Brunswick is Fort Beausejour National Historic Park. Sir Charles Tupper, the Canadian statesman, was born in Amherst.

Amherst, town (1990 pop. 35,228), Hampshire co., central Mass., in a fertile farm area; inc. 1759. Named for Lord Jeffery Amherst, it is a college town. Emily Dickinson was born and lived there all her life. Helen Hunt Jackson was also born there, and Ray Stannard Baker, Eugene Field, Robert Frost, and Noah Webster lived in the town. It is the seat of the Univ. of Massachusetts, Hampshire College, and Amherst College. The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is there.

Private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S., chartered in 1825. Noah Webster was one of its founders. Consistently ranked as one of the finest colleges in the U.S., it offers a wide range of courses in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Originally a men's college, it became coeducational in 1975. It participates in an exchange program with nearby Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith colleges and the University of Massachusetts.

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Amherst may refer to:

Colleges

• Amherst College, in Amherst, Massachusetts
• University of Massachusetts Amherst

People

• Baron Amherst, in particular:
• Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, 18th century British army officer
• William Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst, Governor-General of India from August 1823 to February 1828
• Josceline Amherst, Australian politician

Video Games

• A city in the game MapleStory located in Maple Island.

Places

Named for Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst:

Australia

• Amherst, Victoria

Burma

• Kyaikkami, Myanmar, formerly known as Amherst

Canada

• Amherst Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Middle Amherst Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Upper Amherst Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Amherst, Nova Scotia
• Amherst Head, Nova Scotia
• Amherst Point, Nova Scotia
• Amherst Shore, Nova Scotia
• East Amherst, Nova Scotia
• West Amherst, Nova Scotia
• Amherst Island, Ontario
• Amherst Pointe, Ontario
• Amherstburg, Ontario
• Amherstview, Ontario
• Amherst, Quebec
• Saint-Rémi-d'Amherst, Quebec

United States

• Amherst, Colorado
• Amherst, Maine
• Amherst, Massachusetts
• Amherst, Nebraska
• Amherst, New Hampshire
• Amherst, New York
• Amherst, Ohio
• Amherst Township, Lorain County, Ohio
• Amherst, Texas
• Amherst, Virginia
• Amherst County, Virginia
• Amherst, Wisconsin

Other

• Amherst (automobile), manufactured briefly in Canada
• Amherst Records