Anne Grenville, Baroness Grenville
The Baroness Grenville | |
---|---|
![]() Anne as Hebe by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun in 1792, just before her marriage. | |
Born | Anne Pitt September 1772 |
Died | June 1864 | (aged 91)
Occupation(s) | Author, noblewoman |
Spouse | |
Parent(s) | Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford Anne Wilkinson |
Relatives | William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (granduncle) |
Family | Pitt |
Anne Grenville, Baroness Grenville (née Pitt, September 1772 – June 1864) was an English noblewoman and author, and a member of the Pitt family, which at the time dominated British politics.
Biography
Anne Pitt was the daughter of Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford and his wife, Anne Wilkinson. Her granduncle was William Pitt the Elder.
She married then-Foreign Secretary William Wyndham Grenville, Baron Grenville, on 18 July 1792. The Grenville family was already associated with the Pitts family, through Pitt the Elder's marriage to Hester Grenville, William Grenville's aunt. Both Anne Pitt and William Pitt the Younger were his cousins. The union was supported by her father, Baron Camelford and Grenville's uncle, The Marquess of Buckingham, a dominant figure in the Grenville family who provided a £20,000 dowery. Grenville went on to be Prime Minister from 1806 to 1807.[1]
In 1804, Anne Pitt inherited the considerable wealth of her brother "the half-mad Lord", Thomas Pitt, 2nd Baron Camelford, who had been killed in a duel. The inheritance amounted to £500,000 in value, including the Boconnoc House and estates in Cornwall, and Camelford House in London.[2]
Grenville died in 1834, and Anne survived him until June 1864.
Two archives of her correspondence exist in the British Library and in the Hampshire Archives.[3]
References
- ^ Jupp, P. J. "Grenville, William Wyndham, Baron Grenville (1759–1834), prime minister". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11501. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Barton, Miles D. "Pitt, Thomas, second Baron Camelford (1775–1804), naval officer and rake". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22336. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Grenville, Anne (1772-1864) nee Pitt, Author, wife of Lord Grenville". The National Archives. Retrieved 13 March 2017.