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
Chatham ministry of the remaining were comfortable with. In the fall of 1768, the Bedfords persuaded Grafton that it would be necessary to remove Shelburne from the ministry. This threatened dismissal roused Chatham, who in October 1768 resigned his post alongside Shelburne. Although Chatham's close friend Camden remained in the government, it was clear that the ministry was now dominated by the Bedfords, and the Duke of Grafton formally took over as Prime Minister – leading the Grafton ministry for slightly over a year until January 1770. Chatham ministry The Chatham ministry was a British government led by William Pitt, 1st Earl