Researching William Pitt

Pitt was the inventor of the underwater cable ferry. His new invention was installed across the Kennebecasis River between Reed's Point and Gondola Point in 1903. Believing that the cable required to operated his new ferry was too heavy and bulky, Pitt decided the lay the cable out during the winter. He ran the ferry cable across the river allowing it to sink into place with the spring thaw. By the middle of the 20th century, New Brunswick's road network improved and cable ferries to carry passengers and vehicles could be found in many river communities.

Pitt later died from serious injuries obtained by falling into the machinery of his ferry. One of the two cable ferries currently operating at Gondola Point is named the "William Pitt II" in his honour.

Pitt was born in Dymock, England. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1840. By 1842, Pitt had moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. There he organized a band that originally served as a band for the Nauvoo Legion but soon expanded to performing at a full array of community events. During the Mormons' trek across Iowa in 1846, Pitt's band not only helped to keep people happy with its music but also raised money by holding ticketed events in communities through which they passed.

Pitt was falsely assumed to be in the original group to go to the Salt Lake Valley with Brigham Young in 1847. However he came in the Edward Hunter Company (1850). In 1852, Pitt served as a missionary in England for the LDS Church. Although his band existed in Utah Territory, it was not as prominent as it had been in Illinois.

Sometime during the 1970s, decedents of William Pitt started using the middle name "Hill" to distinguish him from the many William Pitts in the family line. There is not a single document from his lifetime supporting such a name.

He was the eldest son of John Pitt of Encombe House, Dorset and educated at Queen's College, Oxford. He entered Lincoln's Inn to study law in 1774.

In 1780 he was returned to Parliament as the Member for Poole, which he represented until 1790 after which he represented Dorset from 1790 to 1826.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1787.

He died in 1836. He had married twice; firstly Margaret, the daughter of John Gambier, Governor of the Bahamas, with whom he had a daughter, and secondly Grace Amelia, the daughter of Henry Seymour of Hanford, Dorset, with whom he had 2 sons and a daughter.