George Loch 1811 – 1887

George Loch 1811 – 1887 was a British politician. He was elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Wick in 1868, resigning in 1872 by becoming Steward of the Manor of Northstead.

George Loch was a participant in the Association for the Trial of Preventative and Curative Treatment in the Cattle Plague by the Homeopathic Method in 1866,

George Loch’s daughter Emily was Lady in Waiting to Queen Victoria’s third daughter, Princess Christian,

George Loch was a friend of Granville Leveson Gower 1st Earl Granville, and his brother James worked for George Granville Sutherland Leveson Gower 2nd Duke of Sutherland,

In 1866, Colonel Maude was part of the of the Association for the Trial of Preventative and Curative Treatment in the Cattle Plague by the Homeopathic Method, with William Pitt Amherst 2nd Earl Amherst, Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset 8th Duke of Beaufort, Ralph Buchan, William Alleyne Cecil Lord Burghley 3rd Marquess of Exeter, George Thomas Keppel 6th Earl of Albemarle, William Coutts Keppel Viscount Bury 7th Earl of Albemarle (the Earl of Albemarle’s son), James Key Caird 1st Baronet, Colonel Challoner, George Grimston Craven 3rd Earl of Craven, Henry William Dashwood 5th Baronet, C J Dring, Patrick Dudgeon, Robert Grosvenor 1st Baron Ebury, Francis Richard Charteris 10th Earl of Wemyss Lord Elcho, Arthur Algernon Capell 6th Earl of Essex, Philip Howard Frere, Richard Grosvenor Earl Grosvenor 2nd Marquess of Westminster, Edward Kerrison, Henry Charles Keith Petty Fitzmaurice 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, Lord Llanover, Colonel Farnaby Lennard, George Loch, Archibald Keppel MacDonald, Arthur de Vere Capell Viscount Malden, John Villiers Shelley, John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough (Chairman), William Miles, James Moore, Charles Gordon Lennox 5th Duke of Richmond, Charles Marsham 3rd Earl of Romney, Sir Anthony Rothschild, John Robert Townshend 1st Earl Sydney, Lt. Colonel Charles Towneley, Augustus Henry Vernon, William Warren Vernon, Arthur Richard Wellesley 2nd Duke of Wellington (1807-1884) , William Wells,

In 1866, the Treasury placed rooms at Adelphi Terrace at the disposal of John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough, who was the Chairman of the Association for the Trial of Preventative and Curative Treatment in the Cattle Plague by the Homeopathic Method, based on the research done in Belgium by Edward Hamilton, with John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough overseeing the work of Edward Hamilton, George Lennox Moore, James Moore and Alfred Crosby Pope.

William Coutts Keppel Viscount Bury 7th Earl of Albemarle issued an address or report for the Association for the Trial of Preventative and Curative Treatment in the Cattle Plague by the Homeopathic Method in 1866. Bury reported that the Dutch had experienced such success with homeopathy against that cattle plague, that they had authorised Edward Hamilton to visit Holland to investigate this.

Edward Hamilton discovered that the Dutch had treated 4798 cattle, 1031 were destroyed = 3767 were treated (with a mixture of allopathic and homeopathic treatments), the survival rate for the beasts treated was 45%, and the survival rate for the beasts treated only by homeopathy was 72-5%.

The Dutch Government had agreed to allow E Seutin, a homeopathic chemist, the total control of infected cattle in Matterness, and initially, E Seutin saved 70% of the cattle, though latterly, he had saved 9 out of every 10 beasts brought to him for treatment, and E Seutin’s use of homeoprophylaxic treatment of unifected beasts brought the epidemic under control entirely within four weeks. Matterness was pronounced free from infection and it has remained thus ever since. The remedies used were arsenicum, phosphorus, phos ac, rhus tox and sulphur.

In 1866, George Lennox Moore became involved with Association for the Trial of Preventative and Curative Treatment in the Cattle Plague by the Homeopathic Method, alongside Edward Hamilton and Alfred Crosby Pope, and overseen by John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough.

George Lennox Moore wrote a detailed report on these trials, including a refutation of the falsities published in _The Lancet__ _regarding the homeopathic treatment of the cattle plague, attacking William Coutts Keppel Viscount Bury 7th Earl of Albemarle and accusing him of ‘being completely misinformed on this matter‘, and inventing a trail of misleading mistruths about the situation.

The orthodox statistics of this clinical trial revealed 8640 cases, 8% killed, 77% died and 15% recovered, though John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough subsequently issued the interim homeopathic results claiming up to 50% recovery rates with arsenicum, belladonna, phosphorus, rhus tox and turpentine as the main homeopathic remedies used.

The Times wrote an article wishing the homeopaths success in these homeopathic trials, but they also made a pithy comment that the allopaths would probably rather see all the cattle die than have homeopathy proved successfull.

The final report on the homeopathic trials in the treatment of cattle plague was issued by John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough. The orthodox statistics of this clinical trial revealed 8640 cases, 8% killed, 77% died and 15% recovered, though John Winston Spencer Churchill 7th Duke of Marlborough subsequently issued the interim homeopathic results claiming up to 50% recovery rates with arsenicum, belladonna, phosphorus, rhus tox and turpentine as the main homeopathic remedies used.

Of course, the ‘valuable and so far successful’ results of the homeopathic trials so far outstripped orthodox treatments, the homeopathic trials were immediately postponed by ‘orthodox sources’.

Of interest:

Alice Loch 1840 - 1932, daughter of George Loch,

Pale green satin leaf, signed A.H. LOCH: The name Alix, together with the decoration of holly, mistletoe and Christmas roses and the date 1881, indicates that this was a Christmas present to the future Queen Alexandra of Denmark in 1881.

The donor was Queen Victoria, who is know to have commissioned fans from Alice Loch (who signed the recto) at this period. As the fan box bears the trade label of Duvelleroy’s London branch, it seems clear that this firm was employed to mount Alice Loch’s painted leaves onto their mother of pearl guards and sticks.

Alice Loch (1840-1932) lived at The Cottage, Bishopsgate, close to the south eastern boundary of Windsor Great Park. The eldest of the five daughters of George Loch, QC, MP, she studied painting in Paris in the 1860s and won an Honourable Mention for an unmounted fan leaf at the Fan Makers Exhibition in 1878.

Between 1883 and 1923 Alice’s sister, Emily (1848-1931), was Lady in Waiting to Queen Victoria’s third daughter, Princess Christian, whose chief residence was Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park, close to Bishopsgate. According to Princess Marie Louise (Princess Christian’s daughter), during the troubled period of her marriage in the 1890s it was suggested that she should travel overseas.

‘My mother suggested that I should be accompanied by Alice Loch, the elder sister of her own lady in waiting. Alice was the greatest fun imaginable; brilliantly clever, she painted beautifully, was absolutely devoted to me, and we were the closest friends.’

A preliminary sketch for this fan is in the collection of Duncan and Judith Poore, members of the Loch family. Another Alice Loch fan with royal provenance is painted with orange blossom. It appears to have been produced as a wedding gift - probably also from Queen Victoria - to Princess Louise of Prussia, who married (in March 1879) Queen Victoria’s third son, Prince Arthur of Connaught. A small number of other Loch fans are known.

Emily Loch 1848 - 1931, daughter of George Loch, was Lady in Waiting to Queen Victoria’s third daughter, Princess Christian,

James Loch 1780 – 1855 was a Scottish estate commissioner and later a Member of Parliament.

James Loch was an employee of George Granville Sutherland Leveson Gower 2nd Duke of Sutherland,