Resignation of William Pitt
- When
- 1768–1770
- Where
- Unverified legacy locality: London, Great Britain; Great Britain
- Episodes
- 2
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, resigned as Prime Minister of Great Britain in October 1768, citing poor health, after dismissing allies Amherst and Shelburne. Leadership passed to Grafton, his First Lord of the Treasury. The resignation ended a ministry Pitt had formed in 1766 and preceded a lengthy seclusion from public life.
Episodes
- Seclusion and Return to Public Life
After resigning, Pitt remained in seclusion for nearly two and a half years, reappearing at a royal levee in July 1769 and resuming his Lords seat in 1770.
- Resignation of William Pitt
Chatham resigned as Prime Minister in October 1768 on grounds of poor health, after dismissing Amherst and Shelburne, leaving leadership to Grafton.
Background and detail
Background. Pitt, the Whig statesman later distinguished as Chatham or Pitt the Elder, had been entrusted by the King in July 1766, after Rockingham's dismissal, with forming a government entirely of his own selection. He again led the ministry between 1766 and 1768, holding the official title of Lord Privy Seal.
The Resignation. In October 1768 Chatham tendered his resignation on the grounds of poor health. This followed his dismissal of his allies Amherst and Shelburne from their posts. Leadership of the government passed to Grafton, his First Lord of the Treasury. The retrieved passages do not specify an exact day for the resignation.
Aftermath. Pitt had been nearly two and a half years in seclusion when he reappeared in public at a royal levee in July 1769, and he did not resume his seat in the House of Lords until 1770. The resignation thus opened a prolonged withdrawal from active political life.
People involved
- William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham · Prime Minister of Great Britain, who resigned in October 1768
- Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton · First Lord of the Treasury, to whom leadership passed
- Jeffrey Amherst · Ally dismissed from his post by Chatham before the resignation
- William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne · Ally dismissed from his post by Chatham before the resignation
Sources
- William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-22
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.