William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and the first official prime minister of the United Kingdom from January 1801. He left office in March 1801, but served as prime minister again from 1804 until his death. He was also Chancellor of the Exchequer for all his time as prime minister. He is known as "Pitt the Younger" to distinguish him from his father, William Pitt the Elder, who had also previously served as prime minister.
Pitt's premierships, which came during the reign of King George III, were dominated by major political events in Europe, including the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Pitt, although often referred to by historians as a Tory, or "new Tory", called himself an "independent Whig" and was generally opposed to the development of a strict partisan political system.
Pitt was regarded as an outstanding administrator who worked for efficiency and reform, bringing in a new generation of competent administrators. He increased taxes to pay for the great war against France and cracked down on radicalism. To counter the threat of Irish support for France, he engineered the Acts of Union 1800 and tried to secure Catholic emancipation as part of the Union. He created the "new Toryism", which revived the Tory Party and enabled it to stay in power for the next quarter of a century.
The historian Asa Briggs argues that his personality did not endear itself to the British mind, for Pitt was too solitary and too colourless, and too often exuded an attitude of superiority. His greatness came in the war with France. Pitt reacted to become what Lord Minto called "the Atlas of our reeling globe". William Wilberforce said, "For personal purity, disinterestedness and love of this country, I have never known his equal." The historian Charles Petrie concludes that he was one of the greatest prime ministers "if on no other ground than that he enabled the country to pass from the old order to the new without any violent upheaval. ... He understood the new Britain." For this he is ranked highly amongst all British prime ministers in multiple surveys.
Pitt served as prime minister for eighteen years, 343 days, making him the second-longest-serving British prime minister. Having entered office at the age of 24, Pitt is the youngest prime minister in both British and world history.
Early life
Family
William Pitt, the second son of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, was born on 28 May 1759 at Hayes Place in the village of Hayes in Kent. He was from a political family on both sides, as his mother, Hester Grenville, was the sister of the former prime minister George Grenville. According to the biographer John Ehrman, Pitt exhibited the brilliance and dynamism of his father's line, and the determined, methodical nature of the Grenvilles.Education
Suffering from occasional poor health as a boy, he was educated at home by the Reverend Edward Wilson. An intelligent child, Pitt quickly became proficient in Latin and Greek. He was admitted to Pembroke College, Cambridge, on 26 April 1773, a month before turning fourteen, going up to Cambridge in October 1773. He studied political philosophy, classics, mathematics, trigonometry, chemistry and history. At Cambridge, Pitt was tutored by George Pretyman Tomline, also at Pembroke College, who became a close personal friend and looked after Pitt whilst at University. Pitt later appointed Pretyman Bishop of Lincoln, then Winchester, and drew upon his advice throughout his political career. While at Cambridge, he befriended the young William Wilberforce, who became a lifelong friend and political ally in Parliament. Pitt tended to socialise only with fellow students and others already known to him, rarely venturing outside the university grounds. Yet he was described as charming and friendly. According to Wilberforce, Pitt had an exceptional wit along with an endearingly gentle sense of humour: "no man... ever indulged more freely or happily in that playful facetiousness which gratifies all without wounding any." An example of Pitt's innocent wit was recorded by Sir John Sinclair. In the early years of Pitt's ministry there was great interest in the new young First minister. Sinclair was required to write an account of Pitt to satisfy foreign curiosity when he was abroad. At the end of a long description of Britain's eminent leader he added: ‘Of all the places where you have been, where did you fare best?’ My answer was, ‘In Poland; for the nobility live there with uncommon taste and splendour; their cooks are French,- their confectioners Italian, - and their wine Tokey.’ He immediately observed, ‘I have heard before of The Polish diet.’In 1776 Pitt, plagued by poor health, took advantage of a little-used privilege available only to the sons of noblemen, and chose to graduate without having to pass examinations. Pitt's father was said to have insisted that his son spontaneously translate passages of classical literature orally into English, and declaim impromptu upon unfamiliar topics in an effort to develop his oratorical skills. Pitt's father, who had by then been raised to the peerage as Earl of Chatham, died in 1778. As the younger son, Pitt received only a small inheritance. In the months following the death of the Earl of Chatham, Pitt was forced to defend his father's reputation. This came about when the Bute family made claims that the late Lord had sought out the Earl of Bute with the desire to form a political coalition. Pitt although just over nineteen years of age publicly argued that this was not the case. Faced with Pitt's arguments the Bute family backed off and ceased making their claims. He acquired his legal education at Lincoln's Inn and was called to the bar in the summer of 1780.
Early political career (1780–1783)
Member of Parliament
During the general elections of September 1780, at the age of 21, Pitt contested the University of Cambridge seat, but lost, coming bottom of the poll of the five candidates. Pitt had campaigned on his own merit, not as part of any group or with prominent backers. He explained to a friend that 'I do not wish to be thought in any party or to call myself anything but the Independent Whig, which in words is hardly a distinction, as every one alike pretends to it.' Intent on entering Parliament, Pitt secured the patronage of James Lowther, later 1st Earl Lowther, with the help of his university friend Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland. Lowther effectively controlled the pocket borough of Appleby; a by-election in that constituency sent Pitt to the House of Commons in January 1781. Pitt's entry into Parliament is somewhat ironic as he later railed against the very same rotten and pocket boroughs that had given him his seat.In Parliament, the youthful Pitt cast aside his tendency to be withdrawn in public, emerging as a noted debater right from his maiden speech. Pitt's first speech made a dramatic impression. Sir John Sinclair, member of Parliament for Lostwithiel, thought that Pitt's first speech was never surpassed and ‘rarely equalled by any ever delivered in that assembly.’ When Pitt resumed his seat after finishing speaking there was thunderous applause. Sinclair noted that there was ‘utter astonishment … by an audience accustomed to the most splendid efforts of eloquence.’ Pitt originally aligned himself with prominent Whigs such as Charles James Fox. With the Whigs, Pitt denounced the continuation of the American War of Independence, as his father strongly had. Instead he proposed that the prime minister, Lord North, should make peace with the rebellious American colonies. Pitt also supported parliamentary reform measures, including a proposal that would have checked electoral corruption. He renewed his friendship with Wilberforce, now the MP for Hull, with whom he frequently met in the gallery of the Commons.
Chancellorship
After Lord North's ministry collapsed in 1782, the Whig Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, was appointed prime minister. Pitt was offered the minor post of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, but he refused, considering the post overly subordinate. Lord Rockingham died only three months after coming to power; he was succeeded by another Whig, William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne. Many Whigs who had formed a part of the Rockingham ministry, including Fox, now refused to serve under Lord Shelburne, the new prime minister. Pitt, however, was comfortable with Shelburne, and thus joined his government; he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.Fox, who became Pitt's lifelong political rival, then joined a coalition with Lord North, with whom he collaborated to bring about the defeat of the Shelburne administration. When Lord Shelburne resigned in 1783, King George III, who despised Fox, offered to appoint Pitt prime minister, but Pitt declined, for he knew he would be incapable of securing the support of the Commons. The Fox–North coalition rose to power in a government nominally headed by William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland.
Pitt, who had been stripped of his post as Chancellor of the Exchequer, joined the Opposition. He raised the issue of parliamentary reform in order to strain the uneasy Fox–North coalition, which included both supporters and detractors of reform. He did not advocate an expansion of the electoral franchise, but he did seek to address bribery and rotten boroughs. Though his proposal failed, many reformers in Parliament came to regard him as their leader, instead of Charles James Fox.