[1806] - Pitt dies; Baron Grenville becomes head of the Coalition Ministry of All the Talents (until 26 March 1807)

Pitt died on 2 December 1805 overwhelmed by a sense of failure after Napoleon’s decisive victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, an event that signalled the collapse of the Third Coalition. According to his nephew, James Stanhope, his last words were, ‘Oh, my country! How I leave my country!’ He died at his villa on Putney Heath on 23 January 1806 at the age of 46. Despite Pitt’s despair, Britain nonetheless went on to defeat Napoleonic France in 1815.

Following Pitt’s death, the Ministry of All the Talents took office on 11 February 1806. It was a coalition led by Baron Grenville that included the Whig statesman Charles James Fox. The Talents ministry was, however, shortlived. Although it abolished the slave trade in the British Empire, it failed to bring about peace with France. The coalition collapsed in March 1807 over the issue of Catholic emancipation.

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