Robert Pitt
Robert Pitt (1680 – 21 May 1727) was a British politician who sat as Member of Parliament for Old Sarum from 1705, a pocket borough controlled by his family. He was the eldest son of Governor Thomas 'Diamond' Pitt, a businessman who had made a fortune while in India.[1] Governor Pitt built the family's wealth on his acquisition of the Pitt Diamond which he then sold on for a large profit. The diamond was brought into Britain in the heel of Robert Pitt's boot.[2] Unlike the rest of his family, who were Whigs, Robert Pitt became a Tory possibly partly in resistance to his domineering Whig father.[3]
Pitt married Harriet Villiers,[4] the daughter of Edward Villiers-FitzGerald and the Irish heiress Katherine FitzGerald.
Robert Pitt is best known for being the father of William Pitt the Elder, a British statesmen who led the country three times between 1756–57, 1757–62 and 1766–68. Another son Thomas Pitt was also an MP who sat for Okehampton. He was also brother-in-law to General James Stanhope, through his sister Lucy Pitt. His grandson William Pitt the Younger became Prime Minister in 1783.
Pitt inherited the family estate of Boconnoc following his father's death in 1726. However, he died the next year and the estate passed entirely to his son Thomas Pitt.
References
- ↑ Black p.1-5
- ↑ Brown p.15-16
- ↑ Brown p.17
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Bibliography
- Black, Jeremy. Pitt the Elder. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
- Brown, Peter Douglas. William Pitt, Earl of Chatham: The Great Commoner. Allen & Unwin, 1978.
| Parliament of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Old Sarum 1705–1707 With: Charles Mompesson |
Succeeded by Parliament of Great Britain |
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by
Parliament of England
|
Member of Parliament for Old Sarum 1707–1710 With: Charles Mompesson 1707–1708 William Harvey 1708–1710 |
Succeeded by Thomas Pitt William Harvey |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Salisbury 1710–1713 With: Charles Fox |
Succeeded by Charles Fox Richard Jones |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Old Sarum 1713–1722 With: Thomas Pitt 1713–1716, 1722 Sir William Strickland 1716–1722 |
Succeeded by Thomas Pitt George Morton Pitt |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Okehampton 1722–1727 With: John Crowley |
Succeeded by William Northmore Thomas Pitt |
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- EngvarB from August 2014
- Use dmy dates from August 2014
- 1680 births
- 1727 deaths
- British MPs 1707–08
- British MPs 1708–10
- British MPs 1710–13
- British MPs 1722–27
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
- English MPs 1705–07
- British MPs 1713–15
- British MPs 1715–22
- Pitt family
- Parliament of England (pre-1707) MP stubs
- Great Britain MP (1707–1800) for England stubs
