On his mother’s side the younger Pitt could claim a distinguished descent. Her maiden name was Hester Grenville, and she was the daughter of Richard Grenville and Hester, Countess Temple. The appended table will show the relation of the Pitt and Grenville families:
RICHARD GRENVILLE m. HESTER (Countess Temple).
|
+-----------------------+------+-----------------------+
| | |
RICHARD GRENVILLE GEORGE GRENVILLE HESTER GRENVILLE (created
(Earl Temple), (1712–70) (m. Baroness Chatham in 1761) m.
(1711–79). Elizabeth Wyndham). William Pitt (created Earl of
| Chatham in 1766).
+-----------------+----------+ |
| | |
GEORGE GRENVILLE WILLIAM WYNDHAM GRENVILLE |
(2nd Earl Temple, (Lord Grenville), |
and Marquis of Foreign Minister |
Buckingham), d. 1813. in 1791–1801, |
and 1806–7. |
|
+--------------------+---------------+-----------+------+-------+
| | | | |
HESTER JOHN (2nd Earl HARRIET WILLIAM PITT JAMES CHARLES
(1755–80) m. Lord of Chatham) (1758–86) (the younger) (1761–79).
Mahon (3rd Earl (1756–1835). m. Mr. E. (1759–1806).
Stanhope). Eliot.
|
+----+
|
LADY HESTER STANHOPE, etc.
The personality of Lady Chatham, if less remarkable, is more lovable than that of her husband. In contrast to his theatrical, lordly, and imperious ways, she shone by her simplicity and sweetness. His junior by many years, she accepted his devotion with something of awe, and probably felt his oft recurring attacks of gout, for which he magniloquently apologized, to be a link between them; for the Jove of the Senate became docile and human when he was racked with pain.[38] Her tender care at these times, and at others her tactful acquiescence in his moods and plans, ensured tranquillity and happiness in their household. Not that she lacked firmness of character, when occasion required; but we may ascribe her pliability to the personal ascendancy of her lord, to the customs of the times, and to her perception of the requisites for a peaceful existence. She carried her complaisance so far as to leave to her consort the choice of the residence at Hayes, near Bromley, in Kent, which he bought at the end of the year 1754. The following are the almost Griselda-like terms in which she defers to his opinion on the matter: “For the grand affair proposed by my dear love, I have only to reply that I wish him to follow what he judges best, for he can best judge what sort of economy suits with the different plans which he may choose to make hereafter. Whatever you decide upon will be secure of being approved by me.”[39]
When a woman renounces all claim to a voice in the selection of her abode, we may be sure that she will neither interfere much in her husband’s political career, nor seek to shine in a salon of blue-stockings. In fact, Lady Chatham’s influence on her children was purely domestic. Her realm was the home. There is scarcely a trace of any intellectual impress consciously exerted upon her gifted son, William; but her loving care ensured his survival from the many illnesses of his early years; and she dowered him with the gentler traits for which we search in vain in the coldly glittering personality of Chatham. As examples of her loving care for her children, I may cite the following passages from her letters. In August 1794, when she felt old age coming on apace, she wrote in this tender strain:
I feel that I cannot support the idea of leaving you, my beloved sons, without saying unto ye how truly my fond affection has increasingly ever attended ye both, and that my constant prayers have been daily addresst to the Omnipotent Disposer of all events, that you might be directed in all things by the blessing of heavenly wisdom....
Or take this gentle chiding to William (25th April 1796):
I do not [hear] from you, my dear son, but I hear often of you in a way that makes up to me in the best manner possible for your silence. I cannot, however, help wishing that my pleasure was increased by receiving now and then a few words from you, and immediately comes almost a reflection that obliges me to unwish it again, that I may not take up any part of the small leisure you have to enjoy a little relaxation from your various calls.
The old lady long retained her vigour; for in the autumn of 1795 she describes herself as “stout enough both in body and mind to wish the wind to shift to the east so that the fleet might not be detained.”[40] Indeed, in the even strength of her body, as in the constancy of her mind, she far excelled her husband. We find Wilberforce, in the summer of 1791, entering the following note in his diary: “Old Lady Chatham, a noble antiquity—Lady Chatham asked about Fox’s speaking—is much interested about politics—seventy-five years old, and a very active mind.”[41]
Emery Walker Ph. sc.