Biography of William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham 1708-1778

On 15th November 1708 William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham was born to Robert Pitt [aged 28] and Harriet Villiers.

On 21st May 1727 [his father] Robert Pitt [aged 47] died.

Around 1754. William Hoare [aged 47]. Portrait of William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 45].

On 16th November 1754 William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 46] and Hester Granville Countess Chatham [aged 34] were married. She the daughter of Richard Granville.

On 19th October 1755 [his daughter] Hester Pitt was born to William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 46] and [his wife] Hester Granville Countess Chatham [aged 34]. She married 19th December 1774 her half second cousin Charles Stanhope 3rd Earl Stanhope, son of Philip Stanhope 2nd Earl Stanhope and Grizel Hamilton Countess Stanhope, and had issue.

Around 1756 Burton Pynsent House, Somerset was built for William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 47].

On 9th October 1756 [his son] John Pitt 2nd Earl Chatham was born to William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 47] and [his wife] Hester Granville Countess Chatham [aged 35]. He married 10th July 1783 his half fifth cousin once removed Mary Elizabeth Townshend Countess Chatham, daughter of Thomas Townshend 1st Viscount Sydney and Elizabeth Powys Viscountess Sydney.

In 1758 [his daughter] Harriet Pitt was born to William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 49] and [his wife] Hester Granville Countess Chatham [aged 37]. She married 1785 Edward James Eliot, son of Edward Craggs Eliot 1st Baron Eliot and Catherine Elliston Baroness Eliott, and had issue.

On 28th May 1759 [his son] William "The Younger" Pitt was born to William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 50] and [his wife] Hester Granville Countess Chatham [aged 38].

In 1761 [his son] James Charles Pitt was born to William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 52] and [his wife] Hester Granville Countess Chatham [aged 40].

On 8th January 1765 William Pynsent 2nd Baronet [aged 86] died having outlived his three daughters and his son, none of whom had issue. Baronet Pynsent of Erthfont extinct. He left his estate to William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 56] who was no relation and who he had never met. Pitt erected the Burton Pynsent Monument nearby at a cost of £2,000.

In 1766 William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 57] was appointed Prime Minister.

On 4th August 1766 William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 57] was created 1st Earl Chatham. [his wife] Hester Granville Countess Chatham [aged 45] by marriage Countess Chatham.

On 19th December 1774 [his son-in-law] Charles Stanhope 3rd Earl Stanhope [aged 21] and Hester Pitt [aged 19] were married. She the daughter of William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 66] and Hester Granville Countess Chatham [aged 54]. He the son of Philip Stanhope 2nd Earl Stanhope [aged 60] and Grizel Hamilton Countess Stanhope. They were half second cousins.

On 11th May 1778 William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham [aged 69] died. His son John [aged 21] succeeded 2nd Earl Chatham. He was initally bured at Hayes. After an address by the Commons to the king praying that the deceased statesman might be buried with the honours of a public funeral a sum was voted for a public monument which was erected over a new grave in Westminster Abbey. The monument, by the sculptor John Bacon, has a figure of Pitt above statues of Britannia and Neptune with figures representing Prudence, Fortitude, the Earth and also a sea creature. See Photograph by John Benjamin Stone

On 9th April 1803 [his former wife] Hester Granville Countess Chatham [aged 82] died. Her son John [aged 46] succeeded 2nd Baron Chatham of Chatham in Kent.

1896. John Benjamin Stone [aged 57]. Photograph of the monument of William "The Elder" Pitt 1st Earl Chatham at Westminster Abbey.

[his father] Robert Pitt and [his mother] Harriet Villiers were married.