- Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham
Infobox Person
name = Hester Pitt
Countess of Chatham
image_size = 200px
caption = "Hester (nee Grenville) Countess of Chatham (1721 [sic] -1803)" byWilliam Hoare , c.1766
birth_date =8 November 1720
birth_place =London
death_date =9 April 1803
death_place =Burton Pynsent ,Somerset
occupation =
nationality =
spouse = William Pitt (the Elder), 1st Earl of Chatham (1708-1778)
parents = Richard Grenville (d. 1727) andHester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple (c.1690-1752)
children = Lady Hester Pitt (1755-1780)John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham (1756-1853)
Lady Harriet Pitt (1758-1786)
Hon. William Pitt (the Younger) (1759-1806)
Hon. James Charles Pitt (1761-1781)Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham and 1st Baroness Chatham (
8 November 1720 –9 April 1803 ) was the wife of William Pitt (the Elder), 1st Earl of Chatham, who was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768.Cokayne et al, "The Complete Peerage ", volume III, p.143]Early life
Born Lady Hester Grenville on
8 November 1720 inLondon , she was the only daughter of Richard Grenville andHester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple and was baptised inSt. James's church on6 December that year.Cokayne et al, "The Complete Peerage ", volume III, p.143] She spent her childhood with her brothers atStowe House andWotton House , ridinghorse s and developing an interest inpolitics .Marriage
A
spinster until her thirty-fourth year, Lady Hester married the politician, William Pitt, whom she had known for over twenty years as a friend of her brothers, on16 November 1754 at her home inArgyle Street, London .Cokayne et al, "The Complete Peerage ", volume III, p.143] They spent their ten-dayhoneymoon atWest Wickham ,Kent . The marriage was a happy one and the couple moved to a house inHayes, Kent in 1756. They had five children:*Lady Hester (1755-1780), married
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope .
*John, styled Viscount Pitt, later 2nd Earl of Chatham (1756-1853)
*Lady Harriet (1758-1786), marriedEdward James Eliot .
*Rt. Hon. William (1759-1806)
*Hon. James Charles (1761-1781)On
4 December 1761 , she was created Baroness Chatham, ofChatham , in the County ofKent , with remainder to her sons by William Pitt. He was later createdEarl of Chatham in 1766.Titles from birth to death
*
8 November 1720 –16 November 1754 : The Lady Hester Grenville
*16 November 1754 –4 December 1761 : The Lady Hester Pitt
*4 December 1761 –4 August 1766 : "The Right Honourable" The Baroness Chatham
*4 August 1766 –11 May 1778 : "The Right Honourable" The Countess of Chatham
*11 May 1778 –9 April 1803 : "The Right Honourable" The Dowager Countess of ChathamReferences
ources
* [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/89688 Larsen, Ruth M. - "Pitt (née Grenville), Hester, countess of Chatham and suo jure Baroness Chatham (1720–1803), political wife"] -
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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