Earl of Londonderry extinct on the death of his great-grandson, the fourth Earl, in 1714. The second creation came in 1726 in favour of the soldier and politician Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Londonderry. He had already been created Baron Londonderry in 1719 and was made Viscount Gallen-Ridgeway at the same time as he was granted the earldom, also in the Peerage of Ireland. He was the husband of Lady Frances Ridgeway, daughter and heiress of the fourth Earl of the first creation. A member of the prominent Pitt family, he was the uncle of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. His younger son,
The Death of the Earl of Chatham more was to be seen than his aquiline nose, and his penetrating eye. He looked more like a dying man; yet never was seen a figure of more dignity; he appeared like a being of a superior species. Sensing the historic nature of the occasion, all the peers rose in their places. Richmond in his speech said that as the Americans could not be defeated they were independent already and that recognising this fact was common sense. Lord Weymouth then spoke for the government. Chatham then rose in his place: "He took one hand from his crutch and raised it,