William Pitt Byrne (c. 1806 – April 6 or 8 1861) was a British newspaper editor and proprietor of The Morning Post.
He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge with a B.A. and M.A.. He was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1835 and called to the bar in 1839 but never practised law.[1]
His father Nicholas Byrne was his predecessor as editor and proprietor of the Morning Post, about whom there is little biographical information in the historical record. Nicholas Byrne took a strongly pro-Tory editorial stance, and his son was named after William Pitt the Younger. He was mysteriously attacked by a masked intruder around 1833 and never fully recovered, dying of his injuries about two years later.[2][3][4]
His mother was the Gothic novelist Charlotte Dacre, who had three children with Nicholas: William Pitt Byrne (born 1806), Charles (born 1807) and Mary (born 1809); however the children were not baptised until 1811 and Nicholas and Charlotte did not marry until July 1, 1815.[2][3] William Pitt Byrne was baptised on 8 Jun 1811 at St. Paul's, Covent Garden.[5]
He married the writer Julia Clara Busk on 28 April 1842.[6] Her books were sometimes attributed to "Mrs. William Pitt Byrne",[7] and for this reason some sources (particularly online book sellers) mistakenly attribute authorship of her books to her husband.
He broadened the focus of the Morning Post from being a mostly political journal by including more general topics. He ended his connection with the paper prior to his death to follow literary pursuits, contributing to leading journals.[4]
After his death, his wife and friends built a memorial fountain in his name in 1862 or 1863, at the south end of Bryanston Square in London; the fountain is still in existence and is a Grade II listed monument.[8] The fountain has an associated plaque.[9]
He was buried in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery at Kensal Green in London.[4]