William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (1708-78). British statesman and orator; known as the ‘Great Commoner’, he was created earl of Chatham in 1766. Having entered Parliament in 1735 he formed a government at the be-ginning of the Seven Years War (1756-63), saying “I am sure I can save this country and nobody else can”. He achieved brilliant success during the war with the military defeat of the French in Canada and India (1759). Pitt was forced to resign by George III (1761) but later formed a coalition government (1766-68). He suffered increasingly from ill health and bouts of insanity in his later years. His son, William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806), was also a statesman. A Tory, he became prime minister while only 24 and successfully reorganized the national finances. From 1793 Britain was drawn into war with revolutionary France, in which Pitt achieved little success. He secured the Union of Britain and Ireland in 1800 but resigned following George III’s refusal to accept Catholic emancipation. During his second ministry (1804-06) he led Britain in the Napoleonic Wars. The defeat of the Allies by Napoleon at Austerlitz (1805) proved his death-blow.
