A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Pitt, Edward William
PITT. (Lieutenant, 1809. f-p., 25; h-p., 21.)
Edward William Pitt, born 14 Jan. 1790, at Ealing, co. Middlesex, is eldest son of Joseph Pitt, Esq., Surgeon, by Elizabeth Browne, co-heiress of the late Thos. Browne, Esq., of Drayton Green, in the parish of Ealing.
This officer entered the Navy, 29 May, 1801, on board the Theseus 74, Capt. John Bligh, with whom, after serving in the North Sea and Channel, he proceeded to the West Indies, where he was present as Midshipman, in 1803-4, at the blockade of Cape Franjois, St. Domingo; the capture, with Port Dauphin, of two forts and a 28-gun ship La Sagesse; the surrender of the French squadron with the remains of General Rochambeau’s army from Cape François; and the unsuccessful attempt upon Curaçoa. Continuing with Capt. Bligh in the Surveillante 38, on the West India station, until 1806, he saw much other active service, and assisted at the reduction of the Spanish island of St. Andreas. After an attachment of some months to the Magnificent 74, commanded in the Channel by Capt. Geo. Eyre, we again, in May, 1807, find him joining his former Captain in the Alfred 74. Uniting in that ship with the force employed in the expedition against Copenhagen, he displayed much zeal at the debarkation of the troops, came likewise into frequent contact in her boats with the Danish gun-vessels and praams, and on the surrender of the enemy’s fleet aided in fitting out the 74-gun ship Syren. When subsequently on the Lisbon station Mr. Pitt was placed in command of the Alfred’s launch, fitted as a gun-boat, and was sent up the Mondego river to assist in landing a body of 300 marines. On the arrival of the troops under Sir Arthur Wellesley from England he was ordered on similar duty. During the battle of Vimiera he was employed in serving the army with ammunition, and after it in embarking the artillery captured. He was also present at the surrender of the Russian fleet in the Tagus. Attaining the rank of Lieutenant 11 March, 1809, he served during the rest of the war in that capacity on board the Sceptre 74, Capts. Joseph Bingham and Sam. Jas. Ballard, Wellington 18, Capt. John M‘George (which vessel was sent to Laguira for the purpose of bringing General Bolivar to England), Royal Oak 74, Capts. Lord Amelius Beauclerk and Pulteney Malcolm, Quebec 32, Capt. Chas. Sibthorpe John Hawtayne, Mars 74, Capt. Henry Raper, and Laurel and Amelia 38’s, both commanded by Capt. Hon. Granville Leveson Proby, the former at the Cape of Good Hope. In the Sceptre, after having accompanied the expedition to the Scheldt (where he co-operated in the siege of Flushing, served with the flat-bottomed boats off Bathz, and participated in an attack made upon some Dutch gun-vessels), he again sailed for the West Indies, and was there, 18 Dec. 1809, present at the destruction of the French 40-gun frigates Loire and Seine, lying under the protection of several strong batteries in L’Ance la Barque, Guadeloupe. On 30 Jan. 1810 he landed on the latter island with a brigade of seamen and marines under the orders of Capt. Ballard, and continued acting in unison with the army until its final subjugation, the latter part of the time in command of the Sailors’ Battery. The Royal Oak formed part of the fleet under Lord Gambier at the destruction of the French shipping in Basque Roads. In her boats Mr. Pitt often attacked the enemy’s convoys on the French coast; as he also, when belonging to the Mars, appears to have done in the Baltic. From 1815 he remained on half-pay until appointed, 22 Dec. 1836, to the Victory 104, Capt. Thos. Searle, ordinary guard-ship at Portsmouth, where he soon succeeded to the post of First-Lieutenant. He has filled the office, since Dec. 1838, of Resident Agent of Transports at Leith.
All Lieut. Pitt’s certificates concur in proving him a most zealous, active, enterprising, intelligent, and excellent officer. Capt. Searle’s testimonial strongly recommends him to the notice of the Admiralty. He married, 6 Feb. 1817, Emma, second daughter of John Clarke, Esq., of Ealing, by whom he has issue two sons and one daughter.