William Pitt the Younger however, was comfortable with Shelburne, and thus joined his government; he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. Fox, who became Pitt's lifelong political rival, then joined a coalition with Lord North, with whom he collaborated to bring about the defeat of the Shelburne administration. When Lord Shelburne resigned in 1783, King George III, who despised Fox, offered to appoint Pitt to the office of prime minister. But Pitt wisely declined, for he knew he would be incapable of securing the support of the House of Commons. The Fox–North coalition rose to power in a government nominally headed by William Cavendish-Bentinck,
William Augustus Pitt any active postings and in 1794 he was given the shore command of the Portsmouth defences, a post he retained until 1809 when he died at his estate, Highfield House, in Hampshire aged over eighty. Despite his relatively uneventful service, Pitt continued to exert influence at Army headquarters throughout his life. William Augustus Pitt General Sir William Augustus Pitt KB, PC (c. 1728 – 29 December 1809) was a long-serving if undistinguished senior officer of the British Army whose sixty years of service covered several major wars and numerous postings as garrison or regiment commander. He served as MP between