Louisa Pitt (1754/56–1791) was the second daughter of the British diplomat and politician George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers (1721–1803), and his wife, Penelope Atkins. Pitt was born in 1754 (or 1756) in Stratfield Saye,

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England. She married Sir Peter Beckford (1740–1811) on 22 March 1773 in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

. Sir Peter Beckford was a writer, a huntsman, and the cousin of the English novelist

William Thomas Beckford William Thomas Beckford (29 September 1760 – 2 May 1844) was an English novelist, art critic, planter and politician. He was reputed at one stage to be England's richest commoner. He was the son of William Beckford (politician), William Beckf ...

(1760–1844), author of the famous

Gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean ...

Vathek ''Vathek'' (alternatively titled ''Vathek, an Arabian Tale'' or ''The History of the Caliph Vathek'') is a Gothic novel written by William Beckford. It was composed in French beginning in 1782, and then translated into English by Reverend Sa ...

''. They had several children, of whom the surviving son became the 3rd Baron Rivers, succeeding his maternal uncle and maternal grandfather by special remainder. After her marriage, Louisa Beckford had an affair with her husband's cousin William Beckford; at one point, totally smitten and desperate to regain his attention, she offered to participate in a ''

ménage à trois A () is a domestic arrangement or committed relationship consisting of three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together. The phrase is a loan from French meaning "household of three". ...

'' at an infamous house party at Fonthill. She died of tuberculosis in 1791 in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and was buried in the Old English Cemetery in Livorno, Italy.

References

External links

Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

Classicartrepro.com
1750s births 1791 deaths 18th-century deaths from tuberculosis 18th-century English nobility 18th-century English women Louisa Daughters of barons Tuberculosis deaths in Italy People from Southampton Pitt family Infectious disease deaths in Tuscany {{UK-noble-stub