Robert Pitt (1680 – 21 May 1727) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1705 to 1727. He was the father and grandfather of two prime ministers,

William Pitt the elder William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him "Chatham" or "Pitt the Elder" to distinguish him from his son ...

and

William Pitt the younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...

Early life

Pitt was the eldest son of Governor Thomas 'Diamond' Pitt, a businessman who had made a fortune while in India. 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. In 1704, Pitt married

Harriet Villiers Lady Harriet Pitt (née Villiers; 1680 – 21 October 1736) was an Anglo-Irish noblewoman who was the mother and grandmother of two British prime ministers, William Pitt the elder and William Pitt the younger. Family Villiers was born into Anglo ...

, the daughter of Edward Villiers-FitzGerald and the Irish heiress Katherine FitzGerald.

Political career

In 1705 Pitt was returned as Member of Parliament for

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest recor ...

, a

pocket borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act of 1832, which had a very small electo ...

controlled by his family. He retained the seat at the 1708 general election, but in

1710 In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Saturday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 1 – In Prussia, Cölln is merged with Alt-Berlin ...

was not put forward by his father and was returned instead on his own account as MP for

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

. He came third in the poll at Salisbury at the 1713 general election but his father then put him up at Old Sarun again where he was returned. At the 1715 general election Pitt stood for Parliament at Old Sarum and Salisbury but was only returned for Old Sarum. At the 1722 general election he stood at Old Sarum and

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 7,313, which was slightly more than the 7,104 recorded at the 2011 census. Th ...

, and chose to take the seat at Okehampton, where he remained until his death. Unlike the rest of his family, who were Whigs, Robert Pitt became a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

possibly partly in resistance to his domineering Whig father.Brown p. 17

Death and family

Pitt inherited the family estate of

Boconnoc Boconnoc () is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, approximately east of the town of Lostwithiel. According to the UK census 2011, 2011 census the parish had a population of 96. The parish is rural ...

following his father's death in 1726. However, he died the next year. He left two sons and five daughters. His elder son

Thomas Pitt Thomas Pitt (5 July 1653 – 28 April 1726) was an English merchant, colonial administrator and politician who served as the president of Fort St. George from 1698 to 1709. Born in Blandford Forum, Dorset, he eventually went to the Indian ...

was also an MP who sat for

and the Pitt estate passed entirely to him. His second son was

William Pitt the Elder William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him "Chatham" or "Pitt the Elder" to distinguish him from his son ...

, a British statesmen who led the country three times in 1756–57, 1757–1762 and 1766–1768. His daughter Harriott married William Corbet. His other daughter Catherine married

Robert Nedham Robert Nedham (1703 – August 1762) was a British-Jamaican plantation owner and politician who sat in the House of Commons for the rotten borough of Old Sarum from 1734 to 1741. Early life Robert Nedham was the son of Robert Nedham, a slave own ...

. His grandson

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...

became Prime Minister in 1783. Pitt was also brother-in-law to General James Stanhope, through his sister Lucy Pitt.

References

Bibliography

* Black, Jeremy. ''Pitt the Elder''. Cambridge University Press, 1992. * Brown, Peter Douglas. ''William Pitt, Earl of Chatham: The Great Commoner''. Allen & Unwin, 1978. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitt, Robert 1680 births 1727 deaths British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1722–1727 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies English MPs 1705–1707 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

Parents of prime ministers of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Okehampton Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Old Sarum