{{Short description|New Zealand politician}} {{for|the English footballer|Albert Pitt (footballer)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=July 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder |honorific_prefix = [[The Honourable]] |name = Albert Pitt |image = Albert Pitt.jpg |honorific_suffix = |caption = |nickname = |order1 = 9th [[Attorney-General (New Zealand)|Attorney-General of New Zealand]] |term_start1 = 22 June 1903 |term_end1 = 23 November 1906 |predecessor1 = [[Patrick Buckley (politician)|Patrick Buckley]] |successor1 = [[John Findlay (New Zealand politician)|John Findlay]] |birth_name = |birth_date = 1842 |birth_place = [[Hobart]], Tasmania |death_date = 18 November 1906 |death_place = [[Christchurch]], New Zealand |resting_place = |parents = |spouse = Emma Bartlett |relations = |party = [[New Zealand Liberal Party|Liberal]] }}

'''Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon Albert Pitt''' (1842 – 18 November 1906) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician, and a cabinet minister. In 1914, eight years after his death, The Albert Pitt Memorial Gates were erected in the Queen's Gardens, Nelson.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TC19140617.2.46.4|title=Pitt Memorial Gates |date=1914-06-17 |work=Colonist|access-date=2018-05-30|pages=1}}</ref>

==Early life and profession== Pitt was born in [[Hobart, Tasmania]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc05Cycl-t1-body1-d1-d1-d3.html#name-134513-mention|title=Present and Past Members of Parliament &#124; NZETC}}</ref> His father, Captain Francis Pitt, was harbourmaster at Hobart.<ref>{{cite news |work=Colonial Times |date=10 September 1830 |page=1 |title=Advertising}}</ref> Pitt was educated in Tasmania. He studied law and started his professional career.<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary |work=Star| issue=8781 |date=19 November 1906 |page=1}}</ref>

In 1864 Pitt migrated to Nelson, starting his own law firm. He returned briefly to Hobart to marry Emma Bartlett, daughter of Edmund Bartlett, [[Launceston, Tasmania]] on 25 January 1866.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Mercury |date=27 January 1866 |page=1 |title=Family Notices}}</ref> On his return to Nelson, Pitt appeared as an advocate for the defendants in the [[Maungatapu murders]] case in mid-1866.<ref>{{cite news |title=Charge of murder against Sullivan, Levy, Kelly, and Burgess |work=Colonist | volume=IX |issue=916 |date=13 July 1866 |page=3}}</ref> In 1868 he entered into partnership with Henry Adams, trading as Adams and Pitt. When the partnership with Adams ended he went into partnership with Edward Moore, the firm being called Pitt and Moore.

== Military service == In 1861 he joined the [[Hobart Town Artillery Company]] and held the rank of sergeant.<ref>{{cite news |title=Launceston Examiner<!-- this is just a guess --> |work=Launceston Examiner |date=16 January 1864 |page=5}}</ref> After migrating to New Zealand, in December 1866 Pitt was appointed to command the Nelson Artillery Volunteer Cadet Corps.<ref>{{cite news |title=Untitled |work=Nelson Evening Mail | volume=II| issue=21 |date=25 January 1867 |page=2}}</ref> In 1871 the corps was renamed the Nelson Volunteer Artillery Corps, with Pitt remaining its captain. On 8 November 1877 he was appointed Commander of the Nelson militia and volunteer district and given the rank of major. A position he held until elected to Parliament in September 1879.

In 1881 Pitt commanded about 900 volunteers on active service at [[Parihaka]] under Lieut-Colonel Roberts expedition to arrest [[Te Whiti o Rongomai|Te Whiti]], [[Tohu Kakahi|Tohu]], and Hiroki. In 1885 Pitt was appointed a Lieutenant-Colonel of the New Zealand Militia. When the volunteer districts were consolidated in 1895, Pitt was appointed to the command of the Nelson district. The volunteer district included Nelson, Marlborough, and Westland. Pitt was awarded the New Zealand long-service medal and the Imperial volunteer officer's decoration. In 1897, he commanded a contingent of volunteers from New Zealand that went to England for the celebrations of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Pitt resigned his command on being called to the Legislative Council in 1899.

== Public service == Pitt was also a member of the Nelson Diocesan Synod and a member of the Nelson College Board of Governors for many years. In his younger days in Nelson, Pitt was involved in theatre and amateur opera.

== Political service == {{NZ parlbox header|nolist=true|align=right}} {{NZ parlbox |start = {{NZ election link year|1879}} |end = 1881 |term = 7th |electorate = {{NZ electorate link|Nelson}} |party = Independent politician }} {{End}} In 1867 Pitt was elected to the Nelson Provincial Council and was appointed Provincial Solicitor.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nelson Provincial Council |work=Colonist |volume=X |issue=741 |date=5 July 1867 |page=5}}</ref>

He stood for the House of Representatives in an {{By-election link|Nelson|1879}} but was defeated by [[Acton Adams]]; Adams was a ''Secularist'' and opposed denominational education as favoured by Catholics.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NOT18790201.2.8.3?query=Pitt&start_date=01-02-1879&end_date=01-03-1879&snippet=true&type=ARTICLE |title= Nelson |work= North Otago Times |date=17 May 1887 }}</ref>

Pitt represented the [[Nelson (New Zealand electorate)|City of Nelson]] electorate from {{NZ election link year|1879}} to 1881, when he retired.<ref name="Wilson">{{cite book |last= Wilson |first= Jim | author-link=Jim Wilson (librarian) |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 |edition= 4th |orig-year= First ed. published 1913 |year= 1985 |publisher=V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer |location= Wellington |oclc=154283103 }}</ref>

He became a member of the Legislative Council in 1899 and in June 1903 a member of the Seddon Government, as Attorney-General. He was the [[Attorney-General (New Zealand)|Attorney-General]] from 1903 until his death at 5pm on 18 November 1906. Pitt had been appointed Minister in charge of the Christchurch Exhibition, but had become ill before it opened. He still proceeded to Christchurch where his health deteriorated, necessitating an operation on 13 November. Though reasonably successful Pitt's health did not improve and he died on the Saturday.

He was survived by his son and two daughters, his wife having died of a heart attack on 31 August 1899.<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary |work=Colonist| volume=XLII| issue=9595 |date=28 September 1899 |page=1}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} |- {{s-bef | before = [[Patrick Buckley (politician)|Patrick Buckley]]}} {{s-ttl | title = [[Attorney-General (New Zealand)|Attorney-General]] | years=1903&ndash;1906}} {{s-aft | after = [[John Findlay (New Zealand politician)|John Findlay]]}} |- {{s-par | nz}} {{s-bef | before = [[Oswald Curtis]] }} {{s-ttl | title = [[Nelson (New Zealand electorate)|Member of Parliament for Nelson]] | years = 1879&ndash;1881 | alongside = [[Acton Adams]], [[Henry Levestam]] }} {{s-aft | after = [[Henry Levestam]] }} {{end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitt, Albert}} [[Category:1842 births]] [[Category:1906 deaths]] [[Category:Attorneys-general of New Zealand]] [[Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives]] [[Category:Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council]] [[Category:Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand]] [[Category:Ministers of defence of New Zealand]] [[Category:Australian emigrants to New Zealand]] [[Category:New Zealand Liberal Party MPs]] [[Category:New Zealand Liberal Party MLCs]] [[Category:New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates]] [[Category:19th-century New Zealand politicians]] [[Category:Colonial secretaries of New Zealand]] [[Category:Attorneys-general of the Colony of New Zealand]]