PITT, George (?1663-1735), of Strathfieldsaye, Hants.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

23 Nov. 1694 - 1695
1698 - 1702
1702 - 1705
1705 - 1710
1710 - 1713
1713 - 1715
1715 - 1722
30 May 1726 - 1727

Family and Education

b. ?1663, 1st s. of George Pitt of Strathfieldsaye by Jane, 1st da. of John Savage, M.P., 2nd Earl Rivers wid. of (i) George Brydges, 6th Baron Chandos of Sudeley; (ii) Sir William Sedley, 4th Bt. educ. Wadham Oxf. 26 Mar. 1680, aged 16. m. (1) lic. 14 Mar. 1691, Lucy (d. 17 Nov. 1697), da. of Thomas Pile of Baverstock, Wilts. and Shroton, Dorset, wid. of Laurence Lowe of Shaftesbury, as. 1da.; (2) by 1700, Lora, da. and h. of Audley Grey of Kingston Marwood, in Stinsford, Dorset, 4s. 5da. suc. fa. 1694.

 

Offices Held

Director, South Sea Co. 1711-18.

Biography

George Pitt was descended from Sir William Pitt (d.1636), of a Dorset family, M.P. Wareham 1621-5, whose younger brother, Thomas Pitt of Blandford, Dorset, was ancestor of the great Pitts.1 Sir William’s son Edward, George’s grandfather, bought Strathfieldsaye from the Dabridgecourts in 1629.2 In addition to this estate, George Pitt inherited valuable colliery interests in north Durham, which had been acquired by his father in 1686.3 For many years he was closely associated with his kinsman, Governor Thomas Pitt, who entrusted him with ‘paternal authority’ over his children in 1706 and with the custody of the famous Pitt diamond in 1710. Returned for Wareham and Hampshire in 1715, each of which he had represented in alternate Parliaments under Anne, he opted to sit for the county, leaving Wareham for his son George. A Tory, he voted against the Administration in all recorded divisions, refusing to sign the loyal association in December 1715. Returned by Robert Pitt for Old Sarum in 1726,4 he did not stand again, dying 28 Feb. 1735.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: R. S. Lea

Notes

  • 1. Hutchins, Dorset, iv. 90.
  • 2. VCH Hants iv. 59.
  • 3. E. Hughes, N. Country Life in 18th Cent. 163, 167.
  • 4. HMC Fortescue, i. 22, 33, 43, 56, 61, 78.