Thomas Pitt, 1st Earl of Londonderry

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Thomas Innes Pitt, 1st Earl of Londonderry
Pitt arms.svg
Arms of Pitt: Sable, a fesse chequy argent and azure between three bezants
Bornc. 1688
DiedSeptember 12, 1729(1729-09-12) (aged 40–41)
St. Kitts, Leeward Islands
NationalityBritish
Alma materMr Meure's academy at Soho Square
Occupation(s)British Army officer, speculator, Whig politician
Title
  • Earl of Londonderry
  • Baron Londonderry
  • Viscount Gallen-Ridgeway
Term1728–1729
PredecessorJohn Hart
SuccessorWilliam Cosby (acting)
SpouseLady Frances Ridgeway
Children
  • Thomas Pitt, 2nd Earl of Londonderry (1717-1734)
  • Ridgeway Pitt, 3rd Earl of Londonderry (1722-1765)
  • Lucy Pitt (married Pierce Meyrick)
Parent(s)Thomas Pitt and Jane Innes
Relatives
  • Nephew: William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham ("Pitt the Elder")
  • Great-nephew: William Pitt the Younger

Thomas Innes Pitt, 1st Earl of Londonderry (c. 1688 – 12 September 1729) was a British Army officer, speculator [1] and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1713 to 1728. He served as Governor of the Leeward Islands from 1728 to his death in 1729.

Contents

Origins

He was the second son of Thomas Pitt (1653-1726) of Boconnoc in Cornwall, a wealthy merchant and President of Madras, by his wife Jane Innes, a daughter of James Innes. His nephew was William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham ("Pitt the Elder"), the father of William Pitt the Younger, both prime ministers of Great Britain. His father had been born at Blandford Forum in Dorset, the son of the Reverend John Pitt, rector of Blandford St Mary.

Career

He attended Mr Meure's academy at Soho Square in London from 1703 to 1706. In 1708 he joined the army and served as an ensign in the 9th Foot until April 1709. He was then a captain in Killigrew's Dragoons until February 1715. [2]

In the 1713 general election Pitt was returned as a Whig Member of Parliament for Wilton, in Wiltshire, a rotten borough owned by his father. He voted against the expulsion of Richard Steele.

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. 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. He was said to have lost over £50,000 in the South Sea Bubble. He was returned again for Wilton at the 1722 general election. He became Colonel of Prince George of Denmark's Regiment in 1726. At the 1727 general election he was returned as a Member of Parliament for the notorious rotten borough of Old Sarum in Wiltshire. In 1728 he was appointed Governor of the Leeward Islands and vacated his seat in the House of Commons. [3]

Marriage and children

Arms of Ridgeway: Sable, a pair of wings conjoined and elevated argent RidgewayArms.png
Arms of Ridgeway: Sable, a pair of wings conjoined and elevated argent

On 10 March 1717, he married Lady Frances Ridgeway (d.18 May 1772), the younger of the two daughters and co-heiresses [4] of Robert Ridgeway, 4th Earl of Londonderry (also "Lord Baron of Gallen Ridgeway" [5] ) (d.1714) of Tor Mohun in Devon. In 1726 Pitt was created Earl of Londonderry in the title's second creation, which his great-nephew Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford characterised as "he bought the honours that were extinct in her father". [6] 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: [7]

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. [8] He was succeeded in his peerages by his eldest son Thomas Pitt, 2nd Earl of Londonderry.

Sources

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References

  1. ↑ Larry Neal (2012). "I Am Not Master of Events": The Speculations of John Law and Lord Londonderry in the Mississippi and South Sea Bubbles. Yale University Press. p. 167. ISBN   978-0-300-15316-3.
  2. ↑ "PITT, Thomas II (c.1688-1729), of Hanover Square, Mdx. and Pall Mall". History of Parliament Online (1690-1715. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "PITT, Thomas (c.1688-1729), of Pall Mall, London". History of Parliament Online (1715-1754). Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  4. ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.647, pedigree of Ridgeway
  5. ↑ Vivian, p.647
  6. ↑ Romney R. Sedgwick, biography of PITT, Thomas (c.1688-1729), of Pall Mall, London, published in History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
  7. ↑ Barker
  8. ↑ Barker
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Wilton
1713–1727
With: John London 1713–1722
Robert Sawyer Herbert 1722–1727 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Old Sarum
1727–1728
With: Thomas Pitt 1727–1728
Matthew St Quintin 1728 		Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by
John Bland
 Colonel of The Princess of Wales's Own Regiment of Horse
1715–1726		Succeeded by
Preceded by Colonel of Prince George of Denmark's Regiment
1726–1729		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of the Leeward Islands
1728–1729		Succeeded by
William Cosby
(acting)
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Earl of Londonderry
1726–1729		Succeeded by
Baron Londonderry
1719–1729
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