Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham

Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham (née Grenville; 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]

The Right Honourable The Countess of Chatham
Portrait by William Hoare c. 1766
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Great Britain
In office 30 July 1766 – 14 October 1768
Preceded by	The Marchioness of Rockingham
Succeeded by	The Duchess of Grafton
Personal details
Born	Hester Grenville 8 November 1720 London, England
Died	9 April 1803 (aged 82) Burton Pynsent, Somerset, England
Resting place	Westminster Abbey
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham ​ ​ (m. 1754; died 1778)​
Children	Hester Stanhope, Viscountess Mahon John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham Lady Harriet Eliot William Pitt the Younger Hon James Charles Pitt
Parents	Richard Grenville Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple

The sister of George Grenville, who was Prime Minister from 1763 to 1765, she was also the mother of Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger and a niece of the noted Whig politician Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham, who had served as her husband's mentor.

Chatham and Elizabeth Grenville, her sister-in-law, are the only two women in British history to have been both the wife of a Prime Minister and the mother of a Prime Minister.

Early life

Born on 8 November 1720 in London, she was the only daughter of Richard Grenville and Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple.[1]

Marriage

At 34, Lady Hester married Whig politician William Pitt on 16 November 1754 at her home in Argyle Street, London.[1] They had five children:

• Lady Hester Pitt (1755–1780); married Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope
• John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham (1756–1835)
• Lady Harriet Pitt (1758–1786); married Edward James Eliot
• William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806)
• Hon James Charles Pitt (1761–1781)

On 4 December 1761, she was created "Baroness Chatham", of Chatham, in the County of Kent", with remainder to her sons by William Pitt. Her husband was created Earl of Chatham in 1766.

References

1. Cokayne, p. 143.

Sources

• Cokayne, George; et al., The Complete Peerage, III
• Larsen, Ruth M. "Pitt [née Grenville], Hester, countess of Chatham and suo jure Baroness Chatham". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/89688. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

External links

• Media related to Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham at Wikimedia Commons
• Lundy, Darryl, Person Page, retrieved 5 March 2017