Anne Grenville, Baroness Grenville
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Anne Grenville, Baroness Grenville (née Pitt, September 1772 – June 1864) was an English noblewoman and author, part 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 great-uncle was William Pitt the Elder.
She married the then Foreign Secretary, William Wyndham Grenville, Baron Grenville on 18 July 1792. The Grenville family already had links with the Pitts, through Pitt the Elder's marriage to Hester Grenville, William Grenville's aunt; both Anne Pitt and William Pitt the Younger were his familiar cousins. Grenville's uncle, The Marquess of Buckingham, dominant in the Grenville family, was keen on the match (and arguably her £20,000 dowery); and her father Baron Camelford was also supportive. The marriage appears to have been affectionate and was lasting, although without issue. Grenville went on to be Prime Minister from 1806-7.[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, and amounting to £500,000 in value, including Boconnoc House and estates, 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.