Pitt the Elder (British Lives)

338 Pages·1992·5.64 MB·English

by  Jeremy Black

This book offers a readable yet scholarly account of the life of one of
the great statesmen of empire, William Pitt the Elder, First Earl of
Chatham (1708-78). Chatham is seen as a political outsider who
rose to direct British policy in the Seven Years War, the crucial
struggle that gave Canada to Britain. A critic of domestic
corruption, he was subsequently a champion of American liberties.
Chatham's achievement was all the more remarkable for a
politician who was dogged for much of his life by poor physical
health and considerable mental stress. His position as an outsider
was crucial: it helped to make his reputation, and to make him an
unsettling figure. It also caused problems when he gained office,
but it ensured that Chatham was, and seemed, 'different'. He was a
man with whom the national interest could be associated, not
simply because he made the claim himself, but also because he
seemed apart from the world of court and connection. Chatham
was a Hanoverian hero, tarnished by the exigencies, complexities
and compromises of politics, but a hero for a country that wished to
hear the bells of victory.
BRITISH LIVES
Pitt the Elder
BRITISH LIVES
Edited by Maurice Cowling
Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge
and John Vincent
Professor of History, University of Bristol
This is a series of short biographical studies which will address the
lives of major figures from the early medieval period to modern
times. Each figure will be of political, intellectual or religious
significance in British or British imperial history. A major aim of the
series is to seek out and scrutinise figures whose current inter-
pretation has become stale or conventional, and to establish a lively
interaction between author and subject in an attempt to place each
historical figure in a new light.
Pitt the
Elder
JEREMY BLACK
University of Durham
CAMBRIDGE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521391160
© Cambridge University Press 1992
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1992
Re-issued in this digitally printed version 2008
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Black, Jeremy.
Pitt the Elder/Jeremy Black.
p. cm. - (British lives)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 521 39116 4 (hard back). - ISBN 0 521 39806 1 (paperback)
1. Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 1708-1778. 2. Great Britain-
Politics and government - 18th century. 3. Statesmen - Great
Britain-Biography. I. Title. II. Series
DA483.P6B57 1992
941.07'3'092-dc20
[B] 91-27059 CIP
ISBN 978-0-521 -39116-0 hardback
ISBN 978-0-521-39806-0 paperback
To Vivienne
Contents
Preface xi
List of abbreviations xvii
i A political outsider and his world i
2 A very inflammatory politician: the
rise to high office, 173S-17S6 31
3 War minister 129
4 'Greatness going off? Pitt, 1761-1778 226
S Chatham as Hanoverian Patriot 301
Bibliographical note 31 o
Index 312