William Pitt | Biography, Youngest Prime Minister & Death

May 20, 2020 by Santosh Bhunia

William Pitt the Younger (Born on May 28, 1759, in Hayes, Bromley, United Kingdom – Died on January 23, 1806, in Putney, Surrey, England) Is a statesman British in the late 18th and beginning of the 19th century. He became the youngest British Prime Minister when he was elected in 1783 at the age of 24 (although the term Prime Minister was not yet used).

He left the post in 1801 but became Prime Minister from 1804 until he died in 1806. He also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer throughout his tenure as Prime Minister. He is called William Pitt the Younger to be distinguished from his father, William Pitt the Elder, who was also Prime Minister of Great Britain.

In 1782, he joined the government of William Petty FitzMaurice as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Pitt’s first term in the reign of George III of the United Kingdom was dominated by important events in Europe including the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.

Pitt, although often referred to as a Tory, considered himself an “independent Whig” and generally opposed the development of a partisan political system.

Quick Facts: William Pitt

Born: 28 May 1759, Hayes, Bromley, United Kingdom
Known For: The Youngest British Prime Minister
Also known as: William Pitt the Younger
Parents: (Father- William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham) (Mother- Hester Grenville)
Nationality: British
Political party: Tory
Died: 23 January 1806 (aged 46) Putney, Surrey, England
Quotes: “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”

The Early Life of William Pitt

The Honorable William Pitt, the second son of William Pitt the Elder, was born in Hayes in the district of Bromley in London. His mother, Hester Grenville, was the sister of former Prime Minister George Grenville. According to biographer John Ehrman, Pitt inherited the dynamism and genius of his father and the determined and methodical nature of the Grenville line.

An intelligent but fragile child, he was educated at home by the Reverend Edward Wilson and quickly became an expert in Latin and Greek. In 1773, then aged 14, he entered Pembroke College in Cambridge where he studied political philosophy, ancient literature, mathematics, trigonometry, chemistry, and history.

In Cambridge, Pitt to tutor George Pretyman who became a close friend. Pitt later appointed him Bishop of Lincoln and later of Winchester and he made good use of his advice throughout his political career 5. He became friends with the young William Wilberforce who would become a faithful friend and a political ally in parliament.

Pitt tended to socialize only with other students and those he already knew and rarely ventured out of college. Yet he was described as charming and friendly. According to Wilberforce, Pitt had an exceptionally keen mind and a sense of humor endearing: “No man … did not undertake more freely and happily in this playful joke that flatters everyone without hurting any “.

In 1776, Pitt, handicapped by his fragile health, used a little-used privilege reserved for the sons of nobles and chose to graduate without having to pass an exam. Pitt’s father, who had been raised to the rank of Earl of Chatham, died in 1779.

Not being an elder son, Pitt received only a small share of the paternal inheritance. He received legal education at Lincoln’s Inn and was called to the bar in the summer of 1780.

Political Career of William Pitt

During the general election of 1780, Pitt fought to get a seat for the University of Cambridge but lost it. However, he was intending to enter Parliament, with the help of a university colleague of his, Charles Manners, Duke of Rutland, secured the support of Sir James Lowther.

Lowther controlled Appleby’s small constituency; an additional election in this constituency brought Pitt into the House of Commons in January 1781. In Parliament, the young Pitt put aside his shyness and his reserved nature, which characterized him during the university period, becoming that famous politician and a speaker that history has immortalized.

Pitt initially aligned himself with influential Whigs such as Charles James Fox and Edmund Burke. With these, he denounced the continuation of the war in the Americas and proposed that the Prime Minister, Lord North, negotiate peace with the rebel American colonies. Besides,

William Pitt supported a bill aimed at reforming Parliament, including the proposal to contain electoral corruption. After the fall of Lord North ‘s government in 1782, Whig Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquis of Rockingham was appointed prime minister.

Pitt was offered the secondary post of Deputy Treasurer of Ireland; however, demonstrating extraordinary self-confidence, he refused this assignment, which he deemed too subordinate. Just three months later, when Lord Rockingham died, William Petty, Earl of Shelburne, another Whig, came to power.

Many Whig leaders who had taken part in the Rockingham ministry, including Charles James Fox, now refused to serve under the new Prime Minister. Pitt, on the other hand, was not at all reluctant to join the Shelbourne government and was thus appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Fox, who became Pitt’s lifelong political opponent, later formed a coalition with Lord North, with whom he collaborated to defeat the Shelbourne administration. When Lord Shelbourne resigned in 1783, King George III, who despised Fox, offered Pitt the post of Prime Minister.

Pitt, however, with common sense refused, realizing that he would be unable to secure the support of the House of Commons. The Fox-North coalition seized power under the nominal leadership of William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of Portland.

Pitt, who had been fired from his post as Chancellor of the Exchequer, joined the opposition. He raised the issue of parliamentary reforms intending to unhinge the Fox-North coalition which brought together both the advocates and the detractors of the reform.

Pitt did not initially advocate an extension of the right to vote but sought to remedy the corruption of constituencies. However, his intention failed, however many reformers in Parliament recognized him as their leader, instead of Charles James Fox.

William Pitt American Revolution

The defeat and loss of the 13 colonies were a shock to Britain. The war had exposed the state’s financial and military limits when it faced powerful adversaries in distant territories without allies. The defeat aggravated the dissensions and the antagonism towards the ministers of the King.

In parliament, the main concern went from the fear of an absolute monarchy to the problems of representation, parliamentary reform, and the reduction of government spending. The reformers wanted to destroy what they saw as widespread institutional corruption. The result was a crisis that lasted from 1776 to 1783.

While the peace of 1783 left France financially drained, the British economy benefited from the resumption of trade with America. Thanks to the king’s ability to reject Fox’s demands and renewed confidence in the system spawned by Pitt’s leadership.

Historians conclude that the loss of the American colonies enabled the United Kingdom to face the French Revolution with greater unity.

Become Prime Minister of UK

Having secured the government, Pitt was able to implement his plans. His major bill as prime minister was the India Act (1784), which reorganized the East India Company and aimed to crackdown on corruption. The India Act created a new Control Cabinet to oversee the affairs of the India Company.

This decree differed from Fox’s decree of 1783 in that it decreed that the Prime Minister was a member of the board along with the Secretaries of State for internal affairs or the Secretaries of State for foreign affairs (later Lord Sidneyhe was its president).

The Act also centralized British rule in India, limiting the power of the Governors of Bombay and Madras and increasing the functions of the Governor-General, Lord Charles Cornwallis. Moreover, the increase and clarification of the authority of the Governor-General, which was decided in 1786, presumably by Lord Sidney, and perhaps as a consequence of the rebellion of the Penang Company with its Superintendent, Captain Francis Light, in 1786.

In 1788, Britain fell into a profound crisis when King George III suffered from a blood disease, porphyria, unknown at the time. If prolonged and untreated, it can cause serious effects on mental health. In fact, George III used to suffer from some forms of mental disorder.

Kingdom laws did not include provisions relating to sovereigns with mental illness, so it was unclear how a “Regency” could be proclaimed. The various factions in Parliament agreed that the only valid candidate as Regent was the eldest son of the King, His Royal Highness George, Prince of Wales.

These, however, were a supporter of Charles James Fox; if he came to power he would almost certainly fire William Pitt. However, he did not have such an opportunity, as Parliament spent months discussing the legal procedures for authorizing the Regency.

Fortunately for Pitt, George III came to his senses in February 1789, shortly after the Regency Act had been presented and passed to the House of Commons. The general elections of 1790 awarded Pitt a majority to form a new government, and Pitt continued to serve as prime minister.

In 1791, the debate continued on one of the problems that increasingly affected the British Empire: the future of English Canada. With the constitutional Act of 1791, the territory of Québec was divided into two separate regions, French Low Canada and English High Canada.

In 1792, George III appointed Pitt Lord Guardian of the Five Ports. The king also offered him the Order of the Garter, but he refused, instead proposing that the knighthood goes to his older brother, the Earl of Chatham.

French Revolution

When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, followed by the Napoleonic Wars, the conditions that favored the application of the economic measures implemented by Pitt disappeared. Britain declared war on France in 1793, and Pitt became the leader of a nation determined to curb the expansion of power and influence of French ideas.

It attacked the French colonies and damaged their trade while financing the ground campaign that their allies launched against France. In the years 1793 and 1794, his mandate was strengthened when most of the Whigs supported him, and the only opposition he encountered in the chamber was that of the small group led by Fox.

Fear of radicalism led him to enact legislation. coercive with dissidents and to limit freedom of expression. The European war had taken an unfavorable turn for Great Britain and caused periods of deprivation in the country; however, the British maintained their naval superiority, and Pitt continued the fight.

Ireland was the scene of one of the main confrontations of this time, due to a rebellion that the Irish nationalists started in 1798 encouraged by the support promised by the French.

It resolved the conflict in Ireland through the Union Act of 1800, by which Ireland was incorporated into the United Kingdom of Great Britain as of January 1, 1801. It also proposed the granting of equal rights to Catholics as a prerequisite for the success of said law.

The Resignation

The French Revolution exacerbated religious and political conflicts in Ireland, a kingdom under the rule of the King of Great Britain. In 1798, the Irish nationalists organized a revolt, confident that France would help them overthrow the monarchy.

William Pitt firmly believed that the only solution to the problem was a union of Great Britain with Ireland. The unification was established by the ‘ Act of Union of Ireland (Irish Act of Union) of 1800. Rewards and support guaranteed the support of the Irish Parliament.

There Great Britain and Ireland were formally unified into one kingdom, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on January 1st, 1801. Pitt asked to inaugurate the new kingdom with the granting of rights to Catholics, who represented the majority in Ireland, abolishing various political restrictions under which they had suffered.

This proposal, however, was not at all appreciated by George III. The king strongly opposed the emancipation of Catholics; he argued that the granting of additional freedom would violate his oath of coronation, in which he promised to protect the institution of the Church of England.

William Pitt was unable to change the king’s decision, finally, he gives resigned on February 3, 1801, and assigning Henry Addington, his political ally, to forming a new government.

Return to power

William Pitt became Prime Minister again on May 10, 1804. He had originally hoped to form a broad coalition government but had to face the king who continued to oppose the appointment of Fox. Besides, many of Pitt’s former allies, including Addington’s allies, joined the opposition. Consequently, the second Pitt administration was much weaker than the first.

The British government put pressure on the French Emperor Napoleon I. Thanks to Pitt’s efforts, Britain joined the Third Coalition. In October 1805, the British admiral Horatio Nelson won an overwhelming victory at Trafalgar, which would thus give Britain British maritime supremacy until the end of the war, and well beyond.

At an annual banquet, Pitt was hailed as the “savior of Europe” but he replied: “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the honor you do me but Europe will not be saved by one man. England saved herself through her efforts and will, I hope, save Europe by her example.”

Nevertheless, the Coalition was defeated after the major defeat of Ulm (October 1805) and Austerlitz (December 1805). After being informed of the result of the battle of Austerlitz, he said about a map of Europe: “Put away this card, it will not be requested in the next ten years.”

William Pitt Death

The setbacks affected Pitt’s health, already weakened by his penchant for alcohol. He suffered from gout and a liver condition. He died in his Putney Heath house on January 23, 1806, probably from an ulcer, at the age of 46. He had had neither wife nor children.

Pitt’s debts were £40,000 when he died, but Parliament agreed to pay the sum. A motion granted him a state funeral and a monument, despite opposition from Fox. Pitt’s body was interred in Westminster Abbey alongside his father on February 22, 1806.

William Grenville became Prime Minister and headed the Ministry of all the talents, a broad coalition including Fox was part.