W. Pitt

W. Pitt (17**-18**) Officer of the Garrison in Cape Town, singer and possibly amateur actor. A member of the Garrison Players from 1808.

Apparently also called Billy Pitt in some cases, e.g. by Laidler with respect to a performance of The Padlock on 12 September, 1808. However, though Bosman, (1928, p 155) also describes "Billy Pitt" as a member of the marine corps and the officer performers from 1808 onwards (p.107), for the rest of his book (pp. 155, 170, 407 and 493) he only refers to someone called "Pitt" or Mr Pitt as a performer, and lists only one performance (p.155) in which the name W. Pitt occurs: "Two songs by Mr. W. Pitt Esq." on 26 September 1818, during an evening that included The Wandering Boys (Pixéricourt) and The Miller and His Men (Pocock). Elsewhere (170, 407 and 493) he vaguely refers to someone simply called "Pitt" as a performer.

A Mr Pitt appeared in St Cupid, or Dorothy's Fortune in 1854, and could perhaps have been the original Billy Pitt.