Background
He was the grandson and namesake of the better known Thomas Pitt, and the son of Robert Pitt and elder brother of William Pitt the Elder.
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Thomas Boconnoc
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Career
Pitt was ambitious for political influence and, attaching himself to the retinue of Frederick, Prince of Wales, managed the general elections of 1741 and 1747 in Cornwall in the Prince"s interests. But this involved massive expenditure - especially at the notoriously-corrupt Grampound, where he spent huge sums both on bribing the voters and on lawsuits attempting to deprive the most rapacious of their votes. By 1751 Pitt had bankrupted himself, and the death that year of the Prince of Wales destroyed his hopes of securing influence or patronage for his efforts.
He mortgaged his boroughs to the Treasury, allowing the government to name two MPs at Old Salisbury and one at Okehampton in return for a pension of £1000 a year.
After sitting briefly for Old Salisbury in the 1754 Parliament, he resigned his seat and fled the country. Returning to England in 1761, however, Pitt persuaded the government to allow him to be once more elected for Old Salisbury - a temporary measure, he promised, to prevent his being arrested for debt until he was able satisfy his creditors.
Membership
He had himself elected Member of Parliament for Okehampton in 1727, the first election after he came of age, and represented the borough until 1754. But on a number of occasions he was also elected for Old Salisbury, which meant that when he chose to sit for Okehampton the Old Salisbury seat was free to offer at a by-election to somebody else who had failed to get into Parliament.
