The Death of the Earl of Chatham The Death of the Earl of Chatham The Death of the Earl of Chatham is the title of a 1781 oil-on-canvas painting by Boston-born American artist John Singleton Copley. It depicts the collapse of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham on 7 April 1778, during a debate in the House of Lords on the American War of Independence. Chatham is surrounded by peers of the realm, and the painting contains fifty-five portraits. Lord Chatham was the architect of the British victory in the Seven Years' War (1757–1763), in which Britain won supremacy in America. Although sympathetic to American grievances and
First Rockingham ministry was noted for his ignorance of foreign affairs, and his ministry failed to reverse the growing isolation of Britain within Europe . The Rockingham ministry fell in 1766 and was replaced by one headed by William Pitt, later the Earl of Chatham. <section begin="July 1765 to July 1766" /> <section end="July 1765 to July 1766" /> First Rockingham ministry The First Rockingham ministry was a British ministry headed by the Marquess of Rockingham from 1765 to 1766 during the reign of King George III. The government was made up mainly of his followers known as the Rockingham Whigs. The most