1 London Gazette, 24–27 November 1781
2 For a fuller account of these events see Hibbert, Redcoats and Rebels, pp.314–31
3 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 7 October 1781, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/12, fol.268–9
4 Camden to Walpole, 8 November 1781, Lullings Mss, quoted in Christie, The End of North’s Ministry 1780–1782, p.268
5 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. II, p.139
6 Ibid., p.142
7 Ibid., p.47
8 Ibid., p.162
9 Walpole’s journal, 14 December 1781, Walpole, Journal of the Reign of King George III, From the Year 1771 to 1783, Vol. II, pp.485–6
10 Romilly (ed.), Memoirs of the Life of Sir Samuel Romilly, Vol. I, p.192
11 For a full account of these events see Christie, The End of North’s Ministry 1780–1782, pp.267–8
12 Tomline, Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.39
13 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. II, pp.150–1
14 Russell, The Life of Charles James Fox, Vol. I, p.267
15 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. II, p.151
16 Ibid., p.188
17 Ibid., p.237
18 George III to Lord North, 19 March 1782, quoted in Fortescue, The Correspondence of King George III …, Vol. V, p.397
19 Christie, The End of North’s Ministry 1780–1782, pp.368–9
20 George III, March 1782, Draft Message to Parliament, Fortescue, The Manuscripts of J.B. Fortescue, Esq., Preserved at Dropmore, n3601, p.425
21 Selwyn to Carlisle, 19 March 1782, The Manuscripts of the Earl of Carlisle Preserved at Castle Howard, Historical Manuscripts Commission, XV Report, p.599
22 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. II, p.257
23 Russell, The Life of Charles James Fox, Vol. I, pp.284–5
24 24 March 1783, Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.70
25 Steuart (ed.), The Last Journals of Horace Walpole, Vol. II, p.416
26 William Pitt, 7 May 1782, Parliamentary Register 1792, Vol. VII, p.105
27 7 May 1782, Hathaway, The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt in the House of Commons, Vol. I, p.27
28 Ibid., pp.27–8
29 Ibid., p.29
30 Ibid., p.30
31 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. II, p.307
32 Pitt to Lady Chatham, c.May 1782, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/12, fol.224–5
33 Sheridan to Fitzpatrick, 20 May 1782, Russell, Memorials and Correspondence of Charles James Fox, Vol. I, p.338
34 Henry to Robert Dundas, 25 March 1782, Matheson, The Life of Henry Dundas, First Viscount Melville, quoted in Ehrman, The Younger Pitt, Vol. I, p.79
35 Fitzmaurice, Life of Shelburne. 1st Marquis of Lansdowne, p.373
36 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. II, p.319
37 Caroline Fox to Lord Holland, 5 February 1795, BL Add Mss 51732, fol.170
38 C.J. Fox to T. Grenville, 10 June 1782, Buckingham, Memoirs of the Court and Cabinet of George III, Vol. I, p.41
39 Ibid.
40 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. II, p.347
41 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 27 June 1782, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/12, fol.303–4
SIX: The Youngest Chancellor
1 Earl of Mornington to Grenville, 12 July 1782, Fortescue, The Manuscripts of J.B. Fortescue, Esq., Preserved at Dropmore, Vol. I, p.162
2 Earl of Shelburne, 5 May 1783, Parliamentary Register, Vol. XI, p.167
3 George III to Lord Shelburne, 1 July 1782, quoted in Fortescue, The Correspondence of King George III …, no. 3827
4 Cannon, The Fox – North Coalition, p.20
5 Duke of Leeds, Political Memorandums 5, 20 March 1782–28 February 1783, BL Add Mss 27918, fol.79
6 Russell, Memorials and Correspondence of Charles James Fox, Vol. I, p.447
7 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 2 July 1782, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/12, fol.233–4
8 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 5 July 1782, ibid., fol.237–8
9 Gilbert, ‘Political Correspondence of Charles Lennox, Third Duke of Richmond’, D.Phil, 1956, quoted in Mitchell, Charles James Fox, p.53
10 9 July 1782, Parliamentary History, Vol. XXIII, March 1782 – December 1783, p.163
11 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. II, p.368
12 George III to Lord North, 7 August 1782, quoted in Fortescue, The Correspondence of King George III …, Vol. VI, p.97
13 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 16 July 1782, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/12, fol.237–8
14 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 30 July 1782, ibid., fol.243
15 Pitt to Lady Chatham 12 September 1782, ibid., fol.264
16 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 10 August 1782, ibid., fol.258
17 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 30 July 1782, ibid., fol.242
18 Pitt to Shelburne, 3 August 1782, Pitt Mss, William L. Clements Library, Michigan
19 Harcourt, The Diaries and Correspondence of the Right Hon. George Rose, Vol. I, p.25
20 Ibid., p.28
21 Parliamentary Register, Vol. VIII, 1781–82, pp.369–70
22 Shelburne to Wyvill, 3 October 1782, Wyvill, Political Papers, Vol. III, pp.337, 341
23 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. II, p.392
24 Ehrman, The Younger Pitt, Vol. I, p.85
25 Browning (ed.), Memoranda of Francis, Fifth Duke of Leeds, p.76
26 Parliamentary Register, Vol. XI, 1782–83, p.15
27 Cannon, The Fox – North Coalition, p.42
28 Tomline, Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, pp.67–8
29 Ibid., p.68
30 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. II, p.415
31 Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, pp.93–4
32 21 February 1783, Wright (ed.), Speeches of Charles James Fox in the House of Commons, Vol. II, p.130
33 Parliamentary Register, Vol. IX, 1782–83, p.283
34 Hathaway, The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt …, Vol. I, p.48
35 Ibid., p.49
36 Ibid., p.50
37 R.I. and S.W. Wilberforce, The Life of William Wilberforce, Vol. I, p.26
38 Hathaway, The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt …, Vol. I, p.59
39 Ibid., p.63
40 Ibid., pp.61–2
41 Ibid., p.62
42 Ibid., p.63.
43 Pelham Correspondence, Vol. III, 1779–1789, BL Add Mss 33128, fol.254
SEVEN: Brief Exuberance
1 Dundas to Shelburne, 24 February 1783, Chevening Mss U150/C404/2
2 Russell, Memorials and Correspondence of Charles James Fox, Vol. II, p.43
3 George III to Lord Chancellor, 24 February 1783, Fortescue, The Correspondence of King George III …, Vol. VI, no. 4133, p.249
4 21 March 1783, Romilly (ed.), Memoirs of the Life of Sir Samuel Romilly, Vol. I, quoted in Rose, William Pitt and National Revival, p.124
5 The Lord Advocate (Dundas) to his brother, 25 February 1783, Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.105
6 Kenyon’s diary, February 1783, Kenyon Mss, quoted in Cannon, The Fox – North Coalition, p.66
7 Pitt to the Lord Advocate (Dundas), 27 February 1783, Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.107
8 The Lord Advocate (Dundas) to his brother, 27 February 1783, ibid., p.108
9 Ibid.
10 George III to Shelburne, 27 February 1783, Fitzmaurice, Life of Shelburne. 1st Marquis of Lansdowne, Vol. III, p.370
11 George III to Thurlow, 2 March 1783, Fortescue, The Correspondence of King George the Third …, Vol. VI, no. 4150
12 Fitzmaurice, Life of Shelburne. 1st Marquis of Lansdowne, Vol. III, p.375
13 Memorandum by Mr Thomas Pitt [
in the King’s handwriting], Minutes of the meeting of 7 March 1783, Fortescue, The Correspondence of King George III …, Vol. VI, no. 4169, p.268
14 George III to Pitt, 20 March 1783, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/103, part 1
15 Lord Advocate (Dundas) to his brother, 24 March 1783, Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.112
16 George III to Lord Chancellor, 24 March 1783, Fortescue, The Correspondence of King George III …, Vol. VI, no. 4242, p.307
17 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. III, p.43
18 Parliamentary Register, Vol. IX, 1782–83, p.536
19 Hathaway, The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt …, Vol. I, p.67
20 Charles Jenkinson to Robinson, 24 March 1783, quoted in Cannon, The Fox – North Coalition, p.78
21 Russell, Memorials and Correspondence of Charles James Fox, Vol. II, p.79
22 George III to Pitt, 24 March 1783, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/103, part 1
23 Jenkinson to Robinson, 24 March 1783, Atkinson to Robinson, 25 March 1783, Abergevenny Mss, quoted in Cannon, The Fox – North Coalition, p.78
24 Pitt to George III, 25 March 1783, Fortescue, The Correspondence of King George III …, Vol. VI, no. 4249, p.311
25 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. III, pp.41–2
26 Duke of Grafton’s diary, February 1783, Anson (ed.), Autobiography and Political Correspondence of Augustus Henry, Third Duke of Grafton, p.369
27 George III to Pitt, 25 March 1783, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/103, part 1
28 Draft of Message from King to Parliament, c.28 March 1783, Fortescue, The Correspondence of King George III …, Vol. VI, no. 4260, p.317
29 Hathaway, The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt …, Vol. I, p.71
30 Russell, Memorials and Correspondence of Charles James Fox, Vol. II, p.28
31 Memorandum of the Duke of Leeds, 26 March 1783, BL Add Mss 27918, fol.67
32 George III to Lord Temple, 1 April 1783, quoted in Fortescue, The Correspondence of King George III …, Vol. VI, no. 4272, p.330
33 Harcourt, The Diaries and Correspondence of the Right Hon. George Rose, Vol. I, p.45
34 Morning Herald, 24 May 1783, quoted in Mitchell, Charles James Fox, p.61
35 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. III, p.217
36 Ibid., p.73
37 Wilberforce, Sketch of Mr. Pitt, quoted in Rosebery, Pitt and Wilberforce, p.8
38 Wilberforce’s diary, 4 April 1783, R.I. and S.W. Wilberforce, Life of William Wilberforce, Vol. I, p.28
39 Wilberforce, Sketch of Mr. Pitt, quoted in Rosebery, Pitt and Wilberforce, p.4
40 Thomas Orde to Shelburne, 17 July 1783, Lansdowne Mss, Bowood, quoted in Ehrman, The Younger Pitt, Vol. I, p.108
41 Wilberforce, Sketch of Mr. Pitt, quoted in Rosebery, Pitt and Wilberforce, p.16
42 Furneaux, William Wilberforce, p.13
43 Pitt to Wilberforce, undated, Duke Mss, quoted in Pollock, Wilberforce, p.19
44 Diary, 21 March 1782, George Selwyn, His Letters and Life, p.217
45 Bodleian Library Wilberforce Mss e.11, fol.31–3
46 Lord Muncaster, quoted by Sir J. Legard, 10 December 1806, Bodleian Library Wilberforce Mss d.13, fol.361
47 Meryon (ed.), Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope, as related by herself in conversations with her Physician, p.187
48 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. III, p.217
49 Meryon (ed.), Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope …, p.69
50 Minute made by Thomas Pitt of his conversation at the Queens House, 28 March 1791, BL Add Mss 69143, fol.21
51 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. III, p.111
52 George III to Colonel Hotham, quoted in Hibbert, George III, p.241
53 Buckingham, Memoirs of the Court and Cabinet of George III, Vol. I, p.304
54 Pitt to Earl Temple, 22 July 1783, Fortescue, The Manuscripts of J.B. Fortescue, Esq., Preserved at Dropmore, Vol. I, p.216
55 Pitt to Earl Temple, 10 July 1783, Stanhope, Miscellanies, p.26
56 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 22 July 1783, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/12, fol.305
57 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 8 August 1783, ibid., fol.307
58 Pitt to Temple, 10 September 1783, Stanhope, Miscellanies, pp.34–5
59 Wilberforce, Sketch of Mr. Pitt, quoted in Rosebery, Pitt and Wilberforce, p.9
60 Pitt to Lady Harriot Pitt, 1 October 1783, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/12, fol.314
61 R.I. and S.W. Wilberforce, The Life of William Wilberforce, Vol. I, p.36
62 Wilberforce, Sketch of Mr. Pitt, quoted in Rosebery, Pitt and Wilberforce, p.10
63 Ibid., p.11
64 Harcourt, The Diaries and Correspondence of the Right Hon. George Rose, Vol. I, pp.31–2
EIGHT: From Plotter to Prime Minister
1 Tomline, Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.132
2 Pitt to Lord Mahon, 3 November 1783, Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.135
3 Fox to Lord Northington, 17 July 1783, BL Add Mss 47567, fol.13
4 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. III, pp.117–18
5 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 11 November 1783, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/12, fol.370
6 Reilly, Pitt the Younger, p.91
7 Hathaway, The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt …, Vol. I, p.91
8 Pitt to Rutland, 22 November 1783, Rutland, Correspondence Between the Right Hon. William Pitt and Charles Duke of Rutland, pp.3–4
9 Hathaway, The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt …, Vol. I, p.93
10 Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.143
11 Buckingham, Memoirs of the Court and Cabinet of George III, Vol. I, pp.288–9
12 A report to B. Alvensleben, 9 December 1783, Bodleian Library Clarendon Mss Dep. c.347, fol.604
13 Second report to the same, 17 December 1783, ibid., fol.605
14 Buckingham, Memoirs of the Court and Cabinet of George III, Vol. I, p.285
15 George North to Thomas Pelham, 16 December 1783, BL Add Mss 33100, fol.472
16 Harcourt, The Diaries and Correspondence of the Right Hon. George Rose, Vol. I, p.48
17 Fox to Armistead, BL Add Mss 47570, fol.156
18 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. III, pp.195–6
19 George III to Lord North, 18 December 1783, Fortescue, The Correspondence of King George III …, Vol. VI, no. 4546, p.476
20 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. III, p.191
21 22 December 1783, Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.159
22 Tomline, Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, pp.173–4
23 Wilberforce’s diary, 23 December 1783, R.I. and S.W. Wilberforce, The Life of William Wilberforce, Vol. I, p.48
24 Grenville, BL Fortescue Mss ‘commentaries’, Chapter III, pp.4–6, quoted in Jupp, Lord Grenville, p.45
25 Minto, Life and Letters of Sir Gilbert Elliot, Vol. I, p.91
26 Wilberforce’s diary, 22 December 1783, R.I. and S.W. Wilberforce, The Life of William Wilberforce, Vol. I, p.48
27 William Eden to John Baker-Holroyd, 4 January 1784, Supplementary Auckland Papers, BL Add Mss 45728, fol.12
28 John Robinson to Jenkinson, 22 December 1783, BL Loan 72/29, fol.164
NINE: The Struggle for Supremacy
1 Orde to Shelburne, 18 December 1783, Landsdowne Mss, Bowood, quoted in Ehrman, The Younger Pitt, Vol. I, p.133
2 Lord Sydney, 31 December 1783, Egerton Mss 2136, fol.237, quoted in Cannon, The Fox – North Coalition, pp.159–60
3 Portland to Sandwich, 30 December 1783, Sandwich Mss, quoted in ibid., p.156
4 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 30 December 1783, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/12, fol.322
5 Ca
nnon, The Fox – North Coalition, p.162
6 Wright (ed.), Speeches of Charles James Fox in the House of Commons, Vol. II, p.313
7 Morning Chronicle, 13 January 1784, quoted in Ehrman, The Younger Pitt, Vol. I, p.138
8 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. III, p.276
9 12 January 1784, Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.171
10 See Cannon, The Fox – North Coalition, p.165
11 Browning, Memoranda of Francis, Fifth Duke of Leeds, p.94
12 Cannon, The Fox – North Coalition, p.170
13 Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.176
14 Tomline, Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.225
15 Browning (ed.), Memoranda of Francis, Fifth Duke of Leeds, p.97
16 Cannon, The Fox – North Coalition, pp.187–8
17 Ibid., p.188
18 Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.178
19 Hathaway, The Speeches of the Right Honourable William Pitt …, Vol. I, p.140
20 Wraxall, The Historical and the Posthumous Memoirs …, Vol. III, p.281
21 Ibid., p.307
22 Ibid., p.292
23 Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.190
24 Parliamentary Register, Vol. XIII, pp.220–1
25 Tomline, Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.303
26 Lord Chatham to Tomline, 4 February 1821, Pretyman Mss 562:1821, quoted in Ehrman, The Younger Pitt, Vol. I, pp.140–1
27 Parliamentary History, quoted in Cannon, The Fox – North Coalition, p.201
28 Pitt to Rutland, 10 March 1784, Rutland, Correspondence Between the Right Hon. William Pitt and Charles Duke of Rutland, pp.7–8
29 Pitt to Lady Chatham, 16 March 1784, Chatham Papers, PRO 30/8/12, fol.324
30 Pitt to Rutland, 23 March 1784, Rutland, Correspondence Between the Right Hon. William Pitt and Charles Duke of Rutland, p.9
31 24 March 1784, Parliamentary History, Vol. XXIV, p.774
32 Cannon, The Fox – North Coalition, p.222
33 Pitt to Wilberforce, 24 March 1784, Stanhope, Life of the Right Honourable William Pitt, Vol. I, p.202
34 Pitt to Corporation of Bath, 6 April 1784, printed in London Chronicle, 10 April 1784
William Pitt the Younger: A Biography Page 70