Thomas Innes Pitt, 1st Earl of Londonderry ( 1688 – 12 September 1729) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer, speculator and Whig 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 1713 to 1728. He served as Governor of the Leeward Islands from 1728 to his death in 1729.

Origins

He was the second son of

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 ...

(1653-1726) 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 ...

in Cornwall, a wealthy merchant and

President of Madras The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an Presidencies and provinces of British India, administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of Indi ...

, by his wife Jane Innes, a daughter of James Innes. His nephew was

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

("Pitt the Elder"), the father of

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 ...

, both prime ministers of Great Britain. His father had been born at

Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ) is a market town in Dorset, England, on the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour, north-west of Poole. It had a population of 10,355 at the United Kingdom 2021 census, 2021 census. The town is notable for its Georgian archit ...

in Dorset, the son of the Reverend John Pitt, rector of

Blandford St Mary Blandford St Mary is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. The village is on the south bank of the River Stour, immediately opposite the larger town of Blandford Forum. The village grew up around the Badger Brewery, owned by Hall and ...

Career

He attended Mr Meure's academy at

Soho Square Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park leasehold estate, let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II of Engla ...

in London from 1703 to 1706. In 1708 he joined the army and served as an ensign in the

9th Foot The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

until April 1709. He was then a captain in Killigrew's Dragoons until February 1715. In the 1713 general election Pitt was returned as a Whig Member of Parliament for Wilton, in Wiltshire, a

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or Electoral district, constituency in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, or the United Kin ...

owned by his father. He voted against the expulsion of

Richard Steele Sir Richard Steele ( – 1 September 1729) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright and politician best known as the co-founder of the magazine ''The Spectator (1711), The Spectator'' alongside his close friend Joseph Addison. Early life Steel ...

. The earldom of Londonderry held by his father-in-law Robert Ridgeway, 4th Earl of Londonderry had become extinct on the latter's death in 1714. In 1719 the Londonderry title was revived for Pitt who was created Baron Londonderry in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

. Seven years later the earldom was also revived when he was created Viscount Gallen-Ridgeway and Earl of Londonderry, again in the Peerage of Ireland. At the 1715 general election he was returned again for Wilton and voted regularly with the Administration. He became Colonel of the Princess of Wales's Own Regiment of Horse in 1715 and served in the

Jacobite Rebellion Jacobitism was a political ideology advocating the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the British throne. When James II of England chose exile after the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, the Parliament of England rule ...

. He was said to have lost over £50,000 in the

South Sea Bubble South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

. He was returned again for Wilton at the 1722 general election. He became

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Prince George of Denmark's Regiment The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army traditionally raised in the English county of Kent and garrisoned at Canterbury. It had a history dating back to 1572 and ...

in 1726. At the 1727 general election he was returned as a Member of Parliament for the notorious rotten borough of

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 ...

in Wiltshire. In 1728 he was appointed Governor of the Leeward Islands and vacated his seat in the House of Commons.

Marriage and children

On 10 March 1717, he married Lady Frances Ridgeway (d.18 May 1772), the younger of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Robert Ridgeway, 4th Earl of Londonderry (also "Lord Baron of Gallen Ridgeway") (d.1714) of

Tor Mohun Tor Mohun (formerly Tor Brewer)Risdon, p.378 is a historic Manorialism, manor and parish on the south coast of Devon, England, now superseded by the Victorian sea-side resort of Torquay and known as Tormohun, an area within that town. In 1876 the ...

in Devon. In 1726 Pitt was created

Earl of Londonderry Earl of Londonderry is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation came in 1622 in favour of Thomas Ridgeway, 1st Earl of Londonderry, Thomas Ridgeway, 1st Baron Ridgeway, who served as Treasurer of I ...

in the title's second creation, which his great-nephew

Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford (3 March 1737 – 19 January 1793) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1761 until 1784 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Camelford. He was an art connoisseur. Early life Pit ...

characterised as "he bought the honours that were extinct in her father". Lady Frances inherited the estate of Cudworth in Yorkshire, and in December 1732, having survived her first husband Thomas Pitt, remarried to Robert Graham, of South Warnborough, Hampshire. By his wife, Pitt had two sons and one daughter: * Thomas Pitt, 2nd Earl of Londonderry (1717-1734), eldest son and heir, who died from a fall from his horse, aged 17. * Ridgeway Pitt, 3rd Earl of Londonderry (1722-1765), who succeeded his elder brother and died unmarried, aged 43, when all the honours became extinct. *Lucy Pitt, who married Pierce Meyrick, the youngest son of Owen Meyrick of Bodorgan, Anglesey.

Death and succession

He died on 12 September 1729, aged 41, at St. Kitts, Leeward Islands, after a year's service as Governor, and was buried in the family vault at Blandford, Dorset.Barker He was succeeded in his peerages by his eldest son Thomas Pitt, 2nd Earl of Londonderry.

Sources

*Barker, George Fisher Russell, biography of "Pitt, Thomas (1688?-1729)", Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 4

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Londonderry, Thomas Pitt, 1st Earl of 1660s births 1729 deaths 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) officers British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) officers Peers of Ireland created by George I Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons Governors of the Leeward Islands Pitt, Thomas

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

Members of the Privy Council of Ireland