John Ponsonby, 5th Earl of Bessborough
The Right Honourable The Earl of Bessborough | |
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Lord Steward of the Household | |
In office 20 January 1866 – 26 June 1866 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | Lord John Russell |
Preceded by | The Earl of St Germans |
Succeeded by | The Duke of Marlborough |
In office 12 December 1868 – 17 February 1874 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
Preceded by | The Earl of Tankerville |
Succeeded by | The Earl Beauchamp |
Personal details | |
Born | 14 October 1809 (1809-10-14) London, England |
Died | 28 January 1880 (1880-01-29) (aged 70) |
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse(s) | (1) Lady Frances Lambton (d. 1835) (2) Lady Caroline Gordon-Lennox |
Parent(s) | John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough Lady Maria Fane |
John George Brabazon Ponsonby, 5th Earl of Bessborough PC (14 October 1809 – 28 January 1880), styled Viscount Duncannon from 1844 until 1847, was a British cricketer, courtier and Liberal politician.
Background
Born in London, Ponsonby was the eldest son of John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough, and his wife Lady Maria Fane, third daughter of John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland.[1] He was a cricketer in his youth and played five first-class matches for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in the 1830s.[2]
Political career
Ponsonby entered the House of Commons in the 1831 general election, sitting as a Whig for Bletchingley, where he was returned unopposed. He only sat for a short period, vacating his seat in July in favour of Thomas Hyde Villiers, newly appointed as a minister and requiring a seat. In October, he was offered a seat in the pocket borough of Higham Ferrers, which he held until the seat was disenfranchised at the end of 1832.[3] During 1832, he may have spent some time at the British embassy in Russia.[1]
Following the election, he worked for Lord Palmerston as a précis writer at the Foreign Office, from May 1833 to November 1834, and then stood as a candidate at the 1835 general election. Here, he was returned as a Liberal at Derby, though the campaign was marred by a "bizarre nervous breakdown"[3] brought on by stress, overwork, and the recent death of his mother.[3]
He represented Derby until May 1847, when he succeeded to the earldom on the death of his father, and took up his seat in the House of Lords. Lord Bessborough became a government minister when he was appointed Master of the Buckhounds under Lord John Russell in 1848, an office he held until the fall of the administration in 1852. He held the same office from 1852 to 1855 in Lord Aberdeen's coalition government, from 1855 to 1858 in Lord Palmerston's first administration and again from 1859 to 1866 in Palmerston's and Russell's second administrations. In January 1866 he was appointed Lord Steward of the Household under Russell, a post he held until the Liberals lost power in June 1866, and again between 1868 and 1874 in William Ewart Gladstone's first administration.
Lord Bessborough was also Lord-Lieutenant of Carlow between 1838 and his death in 1880.
Family
Lord Bessborough married Lady Frances Lambton, eldest daughter of John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, on 8 September 1835. She died on 18 December 1835, and on 4 October 1849, he married Lady Caroline Gordon-Lennox, eldest daughter of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond. There were no children from the two marriages. He died in January 1880, aged 70, and was succeeded by his younger brother Frederick.
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by Charles Tennyson Sir William Horne | Member of Parliament for Bletchingley April 1831 – July 1831 With: Charles Tennyson | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Higham Ferrers 1831–1832 | Constituency abolished |
Preceded by Henry Cavendish Edward Strutt | Member of Parliament for Derby 1835–1847 With: Edward Strutt | Succeeded by Edward Strutt Hon. Frederick Leveson-Gower |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by | Master of the Buckhounds 1848–1852 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Master of the Buckhounds 1852–1858 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Master of the Buckhounds 1859–1866 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Lord Steward January–June 1866 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Lord Steward 1868–1874 | Succeeded by |
Honorary titles | ||
Preceded by | Lord Lieutenant of Carlow 1838–1880 | Succeeded by |
Peerage of Ireland | ||
Preceded by | Earl of Bessborough 1847–1880 | Succeeded by |
Viscount Duncannon 1847–1880 | ||
Baron Bessborough 1847–1880 | ||
Peerage of Great Britain | ||
Preceded by | Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby 1847–1880 | Succeeded by |
Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
Preceded by | Baron Duncannon 1847–1880 | Succeeded by |
References
- ^ a b Dod, Robert P. (1860). The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Whitaker and Co. p. 117.
- ^ Cricket Archive
- ^ a b c "PONSONBY, John George Brabazon (1809-1880). | History of Parliament Online". historyofparliamentonline.org.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Bessborough