Thomas Pitt ca.1688-1729

Thomas PITT, 1st Earl of Londonderry ca.1688-1729

Biographical Note

Son of Thomas Pitt, governor of Madras. After education at home and in London schools he entered the army as captain of a regiment of dragoons in 1709, and was colonel of a cavalry regiment 1715-26. He was elected MP for Wilton 1713-27 and appointed governor-general of the Leeward Islands in 1728; he died in St Kitts the following year. He was made Baron of Londonderry in the Irish peerage in 1719, and Earl in 1726. One of his descendants described him as "a man of no character and of parts that were calculated only for the knavery of business", though his "opinion was no doubt shaped by the bitter family legal battles over the settlement of Governor Pitt's estate" (ODNB).

Books

Most of Pitt's estate was left to his eldest son. Part of his library was sold by retail sale in London, beginning 27 March 1732, along with the books of Henry Bennet and a collection of several hundred pamphlets previously owned by James Fraser.

Sources

• Alston, R. C., Inventory of sale catalogues ... 1676-1800, St Philip, 2010.
• Barker, G. F. R., and D. M. Casey. "Pitt, Thomas, first earl of Londonderry (c. 1688–1729), politician." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• A catalogue of part of the library of the Lord Londonderry, and of the Revd. ... Henry Bennet, [London, 1732].