William Baker Pitt

English priest

Reverend William Baker Pitt (18 January 1856 – 21 November 1936) was an English clergyman who was the founder of Swindon Town Football Club and also curate of Christ Church, Swindon until 1881 and rector of Liddington from then on.

Pitt left Swindon in 1882 to become rector of All Saints' Church in Liddington. He married Alice Mary Kinneir in 1882 in Christ Church; she was the daughter of a solicitor and churchwarden, Henry Kinneir. Pitt was to remain at Liddington for the next 54 years; the only time he lived elsewhere was during 1916–1917, when he served with the Church Army in France. William and Alice had five children, Alice born in 1884, William in 1886, Edith in 1887, Clifford in 1889 and Audrey in 1892. Clifford died on 1 February 1915 in Baumu, British East Africa. An Oxford graduate, he had embarked on a career in Colonial Administration and died aged 26 of acute sunstroke. His parents placed a memorial window for him in Liddington Church. Alice died in mysterious circumstances on 23 June 1928; she was found dead at the bottom of a well amongst the farm buildings close to the rectory. The coroner's report stated "found drowned in a Well, there being no evidence of her state of mind".

Pitt resigned as rector in 1935 due to severe bronchial disorders and moved with his wife to Bournemouth in the hope that the sea air of the South Coast might alleviate his symptoms. His condition gradually worsened and he suffered long periods of unconsciousness. He contracted pneumonia and died at the age of 80 on 21 November 1936. Four choristers from Liddington travelled to Bournemouth to bring his body home for burial, with the funeral taking place on 25 November 1936 and conducted by the Bishop of Malmesbury. He was buried in Liddington churchyard next to his daughter Alice. His wife died seven years later on 17 November 1943 in Braintree, Essex, where she lived with the youngest daughter Audrey. Her body was transported back to Liddington, where she was buried alongside her husband. They lie facing the west door of the church in a grave marked by a large stone cross.