 A member of the famous Pitt family, he was the eldest son of Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc; a great-grandson of Thomas Pitt, President of Madras, who purchased Boconnoc House; a great-nephew of Thomas Pitt, 1st Earl of Londonderry; a nephew of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham and first cousin of William Pitt the Younger.Lord Camelford was also the father-in-law of William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville.The title became extinct on the death of his only son, the 2nd Baron, who was killed in a duel in 1804.