There were two hereditary Headmasterships in the history of Berkhamsted School, neither of which was successful. The first was that of Henry Hunt, a graduate of Trinity College, Oxford, who died within six months of succeeding his father; the second was to come in the 19th century. Hunt's successor, William Pitkin, was not quite the academic of former Berkhamsted days. Yet he was clearly a prominent member of local society, having served as Member of Parliament for Berkhamsted, and whose descendants included a member of the U.S. Supreme Court and Oliver Wolcott, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence. In England, however, the political environment began to take its toll on Berkhamsted.