John Pitt (1698–1754) 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. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Army officer,

colonial administrator Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...

and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...

between 1720 and 1734. Pitt was the youngest son of Governor Thomas "Diamond" Pitt who made a fortune while in India and returned to Britain to found a political dynasty. He attended

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, and went into the army where he rose to the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and served as an aide-de-camp to

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria ( fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgoruk ...

. Pitt served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Hindon from 1720 to 1722,

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now 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 re ...

from 1724 to 1726 and

Camelford Camelford ( kw, Reskammel) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Bodmin and is governed by ...

from 1727 to 1734. From 1728 to 1737 he served as

Governor of Bermuda The Governor of Bermuda (fully the ''Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Somers Isles (alias the Islands of Bermuda)'') is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Bermuda. For the purposes of this a ...

. Pitt was cut out of his father's will after a dispute.Douglas p.24 He was the brother-in-law of

James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope (c. 16735 February 1721) was a British soldier, diplomat and statesman who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He is also the last Chancellor of the Exchequer to sit in the House of Lor ...

, the effective Prime Minister between 1717 and 1721, and the uncle of William Pitt. He was married to

Mary Belasyse Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, the daughter of the

Viscount Fauconberg Viscount Fauconberg, of Henknowle in the Bishopric of Durham, was a title in the Peerage of England held by the head of the Belasyse family. This family descended from Sir Henry Belasyse, High Sheriff of Yorkshire from 1603 to 1604, who was creat ...

References

Bibliography

* Black, Jeremy. ''Pitt the Elder''. Cambridge University Press, 1992. * Brown, Peter Douglas. ''William Pitt, Earl of Chatham: The Great Commoner''. George Allen & Unwin, 1978. 1698 births 1754 deaths 18th-century British Army personnel People educated at Eton College Governors of Bermuda

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 Grenadier Guards officers {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub