Biography
Thomas Pitt was born circa 1705 to Robert Pitt (1680-1727) and Harriet Villiers (c1569-1736) and died 5 July 1761 of unspecified causes. He married Christian Lyttelton (c1711-1750) 1736 . He married Anna-Maria Murray (c1714) 1752 .
Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc (c. 1705 – 17 July 1761) was the Lord Warden of the Stannaries until 1751, when the Cornish Stannary Parliament last met. He was the grandson and namesake of the better known Thomas Pitt, the son of Robert Pitt and elder brother of William Pitt the Elder. He married the sister of Lord Lyttelton and was the father of the first Baron Camelford.
As head of the family, Pitt inherited both his grandfather's immense fortune and his parliamentary boroughs - he had the complete power to nominate both MPs at Old Sarum and one of the two at Okehampton, as well as considerable influence in at least two Cornish boroughs, Camelford and Grampound. He had himself elected Member of Parliament for Okehampton in 1727, the first election after he came of age, and represented the borough until 1754; but on a number of occasions he was also elected for Old Sarum, which meant that when he chose to sit for Okehampton the Old Sarum seat was free to offer at a by-election to somebody else who had failed to get into Parliament.
Pitt was ambitious for political influence and, attaching himself to the retinue of Frederick, Prince of Wales, managed the general elections of 1741 and 1747 in Cornwall in the Prince's interests; but this involved massive expenditure - especially at the notoriously-corrupt Grampound, where he spent huge sums both on bribing the voters and on lawsuits attempting to deprive the most rapacious of their votes.
By 1751 Pitt had bankrupted himself, and the death that year of the Prince of Wales destroyed his hopes of securing influence or patronage for his efforts. He mortgaged his boroughs to the Treasury, allowing the government to name two MPs at Old Sarum and one at Okehampton in return for a pension of £1000 a year. After sitting briefly for Old Sarum in the 1754 Parliament, he resigned his seat and fled the country.
Returning to England in 1761, however, Pitt persuaded the government to allow him to be once more elected for Old Sarum - a temporary measure, he promised, to prevent his being arrested for debt until he was able satisfy his creditors. (MPs were immune from civil arrest.) He promised to relinquish the seat at the earliest possible moment and allow the government to name his replacement in accordance with the original arrangement; but he died a few months later, still MP for Old Sarum, and his son Thomas repudiated the arrangement, choosing himself as MP when he inherited the borough.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford (1737-1793) | 3 March 1737 Boconnoc, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom | 19 January 1793 Florence, Italy | Anne Wilkinson (1738-1803) |
| Amelia Pitt (c1739) | |||
| Christian Pitt (c1741) | |||
| (son) Pitt (c1743) | |||
References
- Robert Beatson, "A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament" (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]
- Lewis Namier, "The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III" (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1961)
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Robert Pitt John Crowley |
Member of Parliament for Okehampton with William Northmore 1727-1734 George Lyttelton 1734-1754 1727–1754 |
Succeeded by George Lyttelton Robert Vyner |
| Preceded by John Pitt George Pitt |
Member of Parliament for Old Sarum with The Earl of Londonderry 1727–1728 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Londonderry Matthew St. Quintin |
| Preceded by Matthew St. Quintin Thomas Harrison |
Member of Parliament for Old Sarum with Robert Nedham 1734–1735 |
Succeeded by Robert Nedham William Pitt |
| Preceded by William Pitt Edward Willes |
Member of Parliament for Old Sarum with Sir William Irby, Bt 1747 |
Succeeded by Earl of Middlesex The Viscount Doneraile |
| Preceded by Earl of Middlesex Simon Fanshawe |
Member of Parliament for Old Sarum with Viscount Pulteney 1754–1755 |
Succeeded by Viscount Pulteney Sir William Calvert |
| Preceded by Viscount Pulteney Sir William Calvert |
Member of Parliament for Old Sarum with Howell Gwynne 1761 |
Succeeded by Howell Gwynne Thomas Pitt |
| Political offices | ||
| Vacant Title last held by Richard Edgcume
|
Lord Warden of the Stannaries 1742–1751 |
Succeeded by The Earl Waldegrave |
Footnotes (including sources)
| ‡ General |
| This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |