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. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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. ...

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 statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...

and

William Pitt the younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

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, the daughter of Edward Villiers-FitzGerald and the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

heiress Katherine FitzGerald.

Political career

In 1705 Pitt was returned 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

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 ...

, 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 1832, which had a very small electorat ...

controlled by his family. He retained the seat at the

1708 general election Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

, but in 1710 was not put forward by his father and was returned instead on his own account as MP for

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

. 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. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based i ...

, 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 a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

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

Death and family

Pitt inherited the family estate of

Boconnoc Boconnoc ( kw, Boskennek) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, approximately four miles east of the town of Lostwithiel. According to the UK census 2011, 2011 census the parish had a population of 9 ...

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) of Blandford St Mary in Dorset, later of Stratford in Wiltshire and of Boconnoc in Cornwall, known during life commonly as ''Governor Pitt'', as ''Captain Pitt'', or posthumously, as ''"Diamond" ...

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 statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...

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

William Corbet William Corbet (17 August 1779 – 12 August 1842) was an Anglo-Irish soldier in the service of France. In September 1798 he accompanied Napper Tandy in an aborted French mission to Ireland in support of the United Irish insurrection. After t ...

. His grandson

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

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 '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

Parents of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Okehampton