Sir William Pynsent II was a well-off “Country Gentleman” who had the misfortune to outlive his immediate family. He had no time for his more distant relatives who he suspected coveted his estates, so – when the time came – he left his lands in Somersetshire and Wiltshire to William Pitt (the “Great Commoner”). This was – apparently – in recognition of his handling of the Country during the “Seven Years War” (1756 – 1763). Pitt – who had never met Sir William – readily accepted the bequest, abandoned the House of Commons and entered the House of Lords as “William Pitt, Earl of Chatham”! Pitt acknowledged the bequest by building a monumental column on the Burton Pynsent estate at Curry Rivel in Somersetshire. It is still there, standing on a north-facing bluff looking out over Sedgemoor.
The Pynsent Baronetcy: The Trials and Tribulations of a Litigious Family: 1687-1765 is the story of Sir William Pynsent and his quarrelsome ancestors. It was first published in February 2014. The book documents the rise and fall of the first “Pynsent” branch of the family from its roots at “Combe” in Bovey Tracey in Devonshire to the death of Sir William and his famous bequest to Pitt.
The book is available for download in PDF format.