Thomas Pitt
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Image:Thomas Pitt.jpg Thomas Pitt (July 5 1653 – April 28 1726) was a British merchant involved in trade with India. He at first came into conflict with the British East India Company, however this was settled and the company appointed him governor of Madras. He is known as "Diamond" Pitt for his purchase of and profit from an extraordinary diamond.
In 1674, Pitt went to India, where he worked as an "interloper", trading in defiance of the British East India Company's legal monopoly on Indian trade. Upon his return to England he was fined £400. He then proceeded to buy the manor of Stratford and its surrounding borough Old Sarum. With that acquisition he gained a seat in the House of Commons.
Pitt returned to India, and eventually was hired by the British East India Company. He bought out the ruler of the Carnatic in order to save Madras, his base of operations. He was married to an Anglo-Indian lady, Jane Innis, and was the father of Thomas Pitt, 1st Earl of Londonderry and also had a grandson named Thomas Pitt (died 1761) through his older son Robert, who was the father of William Pitt the Elder.
Pitt's diamond
Pitt is most famous for his purchase of a 410-carat uncut diamond. He bought the diamond for £20,400, had it cut in Amsterdam and sold it to the French regent in 1717 for £135,000. At the time of the French Revolution its apraised value was £480,000.
The diamond has quite an interesting story. Pitt acquired the diamond from an Indian merchant in Madras. The merchant in turn purchased the diamond from an English sea captain, who had, in fact, stolen the diamond from an African slave. The slave found the diamond in the mines and had concealed it inside of a large wound in his leg.
Sources
- Moore, Gloria. The Anglo-Indian Vision, 1986.
- Palmer, R.R., et al. A History of the Modern World, 2004.bg:Томас Пит