Artware Fineart has dated this piece to the 19th Century.
34 x 28in.
William Pitt was the second son of the Earl of Chatham, himself a famous statesman. He went to Cambridge aged 14 and in early 1781 was elected to Parliament, aged 22.
In 1782 he became Chancellor of the Exchequer. The following years were marked by the battle between George III and the radical Charles Fox, who was detested by George. Matters deteriorated when Fox forged an alliance with the previously loyal Lord North. The two men defeated the government and George was forced to ask them to take control.
In December 1783, George III dismissed their coalition and asked Pitt to form a government. He was immediately defeated in Parliament but refused to resign; George III was prepared to abdicate rather than let Fox in again. In 1784 Parliament was dissolved for a general election.
Pitt's success in the election was assured: no government ever lost. Although public opinion helped he was the King's nominee, retaining office only as long as he held George's confidence. His first priority was to restore public finances, ravaged by the cost of the American Revolution. Pitt imposed new taxes and reduced both smuggling and frauds. He also simplified customs and excise duties.
His other concerns were imperial and foreign. Britain's increased possessions in India made government, rather than commercial, supervision necessary. In 1784 Pitt set up a new government department to supervise the directors of the East India Company.
However, France remained the greatest problem. Provocative decrees of 1792 promised military assistance to any rebelling European people. They then declared war on England and Holland in 1793. In Ireland, the French actions exacerbated old religious feuds and prompted a rebellion in 1798. Pitt had long felt that union of the two countries was the only solution; now it was urgent. Yet fierce royal opposition forced his resignation in 1801.
Three years later he was back, but his second government suffered from growing Parliamentary opposition. The Third Coalition against France collapsed in 1805 and Pitt's health was failing. He died in early 1806 and was buried in Westminster Abbey
Artware Fineart has dated this piece to the 19th Century.
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Portrait of William Pitt the Younger, 1759-1806 , After John Hoppner 1758-1810