Episode 3 of 4

Pitt's Resignation

When: March 1801
Where: London
Part of: Act of Union 1800 creates the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

William Pitt resigned as Prime Minister in March 1801 over King George III's refusal to grant Catholic emancipation.

Pitt resigned in March 1801, ostensibly over the refusal of King George III to remove political restrictions on Roman Catholics. Poor health, war failure, economic collapse, and social unrest also played a role. He had sought to secure Catholic emancipation as part of the Union.

Sources

Henry Addington Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-13
William Pitt the Younger Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-13

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.