William Pitt the Elder
Shall we tarnish the luster of this nation by an ignominious surrender of its rights and fairest possessions? Shall this great nation, that has survived, whole and entire, the Danish depredations, the Scottish inroads, the Norman conquest--that has stood the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada, now fall prostrate before the House of Bourbon? Surely, my Lords, this nation is no longer what it was! Shall a people that seventeen years ago was the terror of the world, now stoop so low as to tell its ancient inveterate enemy, "Take all we have, only give us peace?" It is impossible!
I wage war with no man or set of men. I wish for none of their employments; nor would I co-operate with men who still persist in unretracted error, or who, instead of acting on a firm, decisive line of conduct, halt between two opinions, where there is no middle path. In God's name, if it is absolutely necessary to declare either for peace or war, and the former can not be preserved with honour, why is not the latter commenced without delay? I am not, I confess, well informed as to the resources of this kingdom, but I trust it has still sufficient to maintain its just rights, though I know them not. But, my Lords, any state is better than despair. Let us at least make one effort, and, if we must fall, let us fall like men!—The end of Chatham's last speech in the House of Lords, 1778 (about The American Revolution), after which he died of a heart attack from his exertions
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was the ninth Prime Minister of Great Britain, though he achieved his greatest fame as a Secretary of State during the Seven Years' War, as known in Great Britain and Asia (known as the French and Indian War in North America).
Elder, Younger, and Location Namer
He is often known as William Pitt, the Elder to distinguish him from his son, William Pitt, the Younger. He was also known as The Great Commoner, because of his long-standing refusal to accept a title. The major American city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is named after him, as is Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and Chatham County, North Carolina; and the communities of Pittston, Pennsylvania, Chatham, New Jersey, Pittsburg, Pittsfield, Chatham, New Hampshire, and Chatham Township in Quebec; as well as Chatham University in Pennsylvania. Pitt Town, New South Wales, Australia was named after Pitt by Governor Macquarie in 1810.
- In The Simpsons episode Homer at the Bat, baseball player Wade Boggs and local drunk Barney Gumble debate whether Pitt the Elder or The Viscount Palmerston was the greatest Prime Minister of Great Britain, with Boggs taking Pitt the Elder's side and Barney taking Lord Palmerston's, eventually punching out Boggs.
- In Look to the West, Pitt (along with William Pulteney) is one of the leaders of the Patriot political party supporting the exiled Prince Frederick, and is locked up in the Tower of London for it. Later when Frederick returns to the throne he is freed and becomes Prime Minister, but unlike our history never took a peerage, preserving his reputation as 'the Great Commoner'.
- He is a key figure in The Madness of King George.
- Described in Blackadder as being as effective as 'a catflap in an elephant house'.
- He is mentioned in the "Mrs. Thing and Mrs. Entity" sketch on Monty Python's Flying Circus.