| Notes |
- -- "The Sun" 18 Apr 1803, page 3:
FUNERAL OF THE COUNTESS DOWAGER OF CHATHAM .
About two o'clock on Saturday afternoon the remains of this truly respectable and illustrious Lady were interred in Westminster Abbey, with appropriate splendour and solemnity. The funeral procession to the Abbey consisted, besides the hearse, of five mourning coaches, drawn by six horses each. One of these, in which the coronet of the deceased, as a Countess, was carried, preceded the hearse. The hearse and mourning coaches were appropriately decorated with escutcheons, &c. exhibiting the twofold armorial bearings of the deceased, as a Baroness in her own right, and as the wife of an Earl, both which were surmounted by the respective coronets. The mourning coaches were followed by eighteen carriages, belonging to the relatives, friends, or adherents of the noble family of Pitt.
The procession entered the Abbey in the following order: -- First, a person dressed in full mourning, carrying the coronet of the deceased Countess on a cushion; her Ladyship's domestic Chaplain followed. The body was then borne, in a coffin covered with crimson velvet, richly, but not gaudily ornamented. The mourners were nine in number, domestics of her Ladyship, or adherents of the family. One of these followed the coffin. One of these followed the coffin singly and appeared much affected.
The procession had no sooner entered the Abbey than the mob, who were collected on the outside (and who, it seems, by permitted usage, regard such things as a kind of legal prize) rushed forward, with indecent, almost sacrilegious haste, and despoiled the hearse, &c. of all the escutcheons and armorial hearings that were attached to it.
About half way between the Western Gate and the Choir, the procession was met by several of the principal Dignitaries and Ecclesiastics of the Chapter, and the greater part of the Choral Establishment of the Abbey: the organ immediately struck up, and those parts of the burial service appointed to be sung on solemn or extraordinary occasions, were chanted by these Gentlemen. The body was not taken into the Choir: the procession filed off to the left, and proceeded to the North cross isle, about the centre of which is situated the family vault. The coffin being lowered into the vault, the remainder of the burial service was performed, and the organ, pealing at intervals, added greatly to the effect of this solemn scene. The last sad offices being finished, the mourners, &c. withdrew to the coaches, and the procession returned nearly in a similar order to that in which it came.
The vault is not opposite to, or very near, the splendid monument, which the grateful munificence of Parliament decreed to the transcendent talents and virtues of the late illustrious Earl of Chatham, but at a distance of about 25 or 30 feet therefrom, and nearly opposite the monument of Lord Robert Manners. It is of small dimensions, the length not exceeding ten feet, the breadth six, and the height about eight feet. In the bottom are deposited the coffins of the late Earl, and his second daughter, Lady Harriet Eliot, who died in September 1786.
The coffin of the late Countess Dowager was deposited upon that of the Earl; the lid was ornamented with a plain double moulding highly gilt; within which were a single row of large embossed nails. On a large square gilt plate, were engraved the name, heraldic distinctions, &c. of the deceased.
Among the carriages which formed the part of the procession, we noticed those of the Earl of Chatham, Lord Grenville, Lady Camelford, Lords Paulet and Hood.
--- Note on the Pitt Family Vault in Westminster Abbey from "The Universal Magazine" Volume V January to June, Inclusive 1806:
"The family vault in which the remains of Mr. Pitt have been interred, is situated near the North Door of Westminster Abbey, nearly opposite the end of King-street. It already contained the bodies of the Great Earl of Chatham, of the late Countess Dowager of Chatham, and of Lady Harriet Elliot. This receptacle is about ten feet by six, and about ten feet deep."
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1720 - 1803 (82 years)
[1] 
Married