painter, amateur photographer and lawyer, was born in Hobart Town on 15 June 1835, son of Francis Pitt, water bailiff and harbour-master, and Maria, née Reardon. After serving his articles with C.B. Brewer, Pitt was admitted to the Bar on 29 July 1856 and subsequently practised law in partnership with Charles Henry Elliston. On 27 April 1859 Pitt married his partner’s sister, Amelia Maria Elliston. He was active in the formation of the first Volunteer Force and first lieutenant in the Artillery Corps. He took stereoscopic view photographs of Hobart Town in 1864 and of Melbourne in 1866, part of a series commemorating The Cruise of the Wanderer (TMAG, p.c.).
Pitt and his family left Tasmania for New Zealand in 1868. There he practised law at Reefton in the Nelson district. Drowned on 30 March 1879, en route to the Supreme Court sittings at Hokitika, he was survived by his wife and four children. His only recorded painting is a watercolour, Tasman Island , shown in the 1862-63 Hobart Town Art Treasures Exhibition, Pitt having been a member of the committee which organised the exhibition.
- Writers:
- Glover, Margaret
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
