William Pitt
and
Mary Gibbs
Born: c. 1580, Bristol, UK
Died: Nov 1624, Bristol, UK
Buried: St Thomas Church, Bristol, UK
Born: Aug 1578, Bristol, UK
Died: Jun 1634, Bristol UK
Buried: St Thomas Church, Bristol, UK
Married: 19 Jun 1603, St Thomas Church, Bristol UK
Children: William, Robert, Elizabeth (Stevens), Mary (Newell), Henry, Anne (Watson), Thomas, Maud (Watson), Martha
William Pitt was born, and also married, into the families of prominent merchants in the city of Bristol. Both his father and father-in-law were Chamberlayne (i.e. Treasurer) of Bristol, he was Mayor of the city, and his grandfather and two great-grandfathers were Sheriff and Mayor of the City. William’s grandfather- another William- seems to have moved to Bristol from Blandford Forum, Dorset. The elder William is also the ancestor of the more famous branch of the Pitt family, whose most illustrious members were William Pitt the Elder and William Pitt the Younger, both 18th century Prime Ministers of England.
The elder William married Helene de Havilland, daughter of James de Havilland and Helene de Beauvoir. James and Helene were born in Guernsey, and moved to Poole, Dorset after James’ father Thomas de Havilland was awarded certain favors (including apparently the Mayorality of Poole) by Edward IV for his part in the recapture of Mont Orguil Castle from the French in 1467.
Mont Orguil Castle
Thomas was also made a jurat (a lifetime position as legislator/magistrate) on Guernsey in about 1470. The de Havilland family were originally knights who held the fiefdom and Castle of Abilant on the Cotentin Peninsula in Neustria, until they were driven out by the invading Normans and fled to Guernsey. “Neustria” became “Normandy”, and the knights of Abilant became the family of de Havilland.
The younger William was a merchant of some kind, and- as his will makes clear- a very wealthy one. Among the property mentioned in his will was the inn The Saracen’s Head, which survived in Britol until it was demolished around 1900.
Pitt Family Tree
