Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham

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Hester Pitt Countess of Chatham
Hester (nee Grenville) Countess of Chatham (1721 [sic]-1803) by William Hoare, c.1766
Born	8 November 1720 London
Died	9 April 1803 Burton Pynsent, Somerset
Nationality	English
Spouse	William Pitt (the Elder), 1st Earl of Chatham (1708-1778)
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)
Parents	Richard Grenville (d. 1727) and Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple (c.1690-1752)

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.^[1]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Marriage 3 Titles from birth to death 4 References 5 Sources

[edit] Early life

Born Lady Hester Grenville on 8 November 1720 in London, she was the only daughter of Richard Grenville and Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple and was baptised in St. James's church on 6 December that year.^[1] She spent her childhood with her brothers at Stowe House and Wotton House, riding horses and developing an interest in politics.

[edit] 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, on 16 November 1754 at her home in Argyle Street, London.^[1] They spent their ten-day honeymoon at West Wickham, Kent. The marriage was a happy one and the couple moved to a house in Hayes, 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), married Edward James Eliot.
• Hon. William (1759-1806)
• Hon. James Charles (1761-1781)

[edit] 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 Chatham

[edit] References

[edit] Sources

• Larsen, Ruth M. - Pitt (née Grenville), Hester, countess of Chatham and suo jure Baroness Chatham (1720–1803), political wife - Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by New creation	Baroness Chatham 1761–1803	Succeeded by John Pitt