BHM0100 Betts 516 Commemorates William Pitt the Elder. William Pitt was one of the great statesman of his day and the driving force behind Britain’s victory in the Seven years War. Pitt was the grandson of an English trader known as Diamond Pitt, who made a fortune supplying diamonds and other luxury goods from India. (In fact he sold the largest diamond ever known to the French regent in 1717.) He entered parliament in 1735 at the age of 27. In the War of Austrian Succession (1740–48), Pitt,  vigorously opposed the sending of men and subsidies to check the French by protecting Hanover (George II was also King of Hanover)  and condemned Prime Minister Carteret as a “Hanover troop minister”: for this he was never forgiven by George II. Later in his career Pitt joined a group in opposition to the conduct of the Seven years War (1756-1763). For this he lost his ministerial position, but as Britain floundered in the war, the king was forced to bring Pitt back into government as Prime Minister. In short order Pitt turned the war around for the British sending men and supplies where they were needed most and providing money and arms to the American colonists to fight of the French and Indian forces. However, before the war was over Pitt was dismissed form office when George III came to the throne in 1760. When the British government began levying heavy taxes on the American colonies to pay for the Seven years War, Pitt argued against these taxes and in 1766 made a landmark speech against these taxes including the notorious Stamp Act. The inscription on the back of this medal “THE MAN WHO HAVING SAVED THE PARENT PLEADED WITH SUCCESS FOR HER CHILDREN” refers to Pitt’s actions as Prime Minister during the Seven Years War and then his successful repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766.  A popular issue of great importance in US history. A superb medal with some original red flashing thru. CH UNC