George Morton Pitt
| George Morton Pitt | |
|---|---|
| President of Fort St George (Madras) | |
|
In office 14 May 1730 – 23 January 1735 |
|
| Preceded by | James Macrae |
| Succeeded by | Richard Benyon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1693 |
| Died | 9 February 1756 |
George Morton Pitt (1693 – 9 February 1756) was a Madras-born British politician and administrator who served as the President of Fort St George from 1730 to 1735.
George Morton hailed from the well-known Pitt family of England but had many links to his birthplace, Madras. Son of John Pitt, consul at Masulipatam, and his wife Sarah Charlton, he was a grandson of Edward Pitt and Rachel Morton. His mother was the widow of Thomas Wavell, second of council at Fort St George. His father-in-law was Charles Bugden, secretary of the East India Company at Fort St George.
After education in England he became a merchant at Fort St George. Briefly returning to England he became M.P. for Old Sarum in 1722 then vacated his seat to go back to Madras and take up an initial minor office with the East India Company in 1724 and was then to take up important and lucrative positions with them.
His appointments were: registrar of excise office, January 1724; second of council at Madras; deputy governor at Fort St David and finally governor of Fort St George 1730–1735.
Like his distant cousin, Thomas Pitt, he became Governor of the Madras Presidency at Fort St. George. He succeeded James Macrae in this post on 14 May 1730.
Pitt became Governor in 1730 when his predecessor James Macrae had to quit in ignominy after being accused of corruption. Pitt arrived at Madras from Fort St David on 14 May 1730 and immediately took over as President. He carried on the proceedings against Macrae. A few days after becoming President, he repealed the government prohibition on the export of silver introduced by Macrae.
To make up for the discrepancies in the coins issued by the British East India Company in comparison with those issued by the Nagapattinam mint, Pitt introduced a new coin equal in size, weight and quality with the Nagapattinam pagoda. This coin, which had the letter "M" punched on its to differentiate it from the Nagapattinam pagoda, was called a "M" pagoda.
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