PONSONBY, JOHN (1713-1789)

This article appears in Volume V22, Page 62 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: POL-PRE

PONSONBY, JOHN (1713-1789) , Irish politician, second son of Brabazon Ponsonby, rst

earl

EARL

of Bessborough, was born on the 29th of March 1713. In 1739 he entered the Irish parliament and in 1744 he became first

commissioner

COMMISSIONER

of the revenue; in 1746 he was appointed a privy councillor, and in 1756 Speaker of the Irish

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Commons. Belonging to one of the great families which at this time monopolized the government of Ireland, Ponsonby was one of the principal " undertakers," men who controlled the whole of the king's business in Ireland, and he retained the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

authority until the marquess Townshend became lord-lieutenant in 1767. Then followed a struggle for supremacy between the Ponsonby

faction

FACTION (through the French, from Lat. factio, a company of persons combined for action, facere, to do; from the other French derivative facon comes " fashion ")

and the party dependent on Townshend, one result of this being that Ponsonby resigned the speakership in 1771. He died on the 12th of December 1789. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of William Cavendish, 3rd duke of Devonshire, a connexion which was of great importance to the Ponsonbys.
Ponsonby's third son, George Ponsonby (17551817), lord chancellor of Ireland, was born on the 5th of March 1755 and was educated at Trinity College,

Cambridge

. A barrister, he became a member of the Irish parliament in 1776 and was chancellor of the Irish exchequer in 1782, afterwards taking a prominent part in the debates on the question of Roman Catholic relief, and leading the opposition to the union of the parliaments. After 'Soo Ponsonby represented Wicklow and then Tavistock in the united parliament; in 1806 he was lord chancellor of Ireland, and from 18o8 to 1817 he was the official leader of the opposition in the

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Commons. He left an only daughter when he died in London on the 8th of July 1817.
George Ponsonby's elder brother, William Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby (17441806), was also a leading Whig politician, being a member of the Irish, and after 'Soo, of the British parliament. In 'Sob shortly before his death he was created Baron Ponsonby of Imokilly. Three of his sons were men of note. The eldest was John (c. 1770--1855), who succeeded to the barony and was created a viscount in 1839; he was

ambassador

AMBASSADOR (also EMBASSADOR, the form sometimes still used in America; from the Fr. ambassadeur, with which compare Ital. ambasciatore and Span. embajador, all variants of the Med. Lat. ambassiator, ambassiator, ambasator, &c., derived from Med. Lat. amba

at Constantinople from 1832 to 1837 and at Vienna from 1846 to 185o. The second son was Major-
General Sir William Ponsonby (1772-1815), who, after serving in the Peninsular War, was killed at the battle of Waterloo whilst leading a brigade of heavy cavalry. Another son was Richard Ponsonby (1772-1853), bishop of Derry. Sir William Ponsonby's posthumous son William (18161861) became 3rd Baron Ponsonby on the death of his uncle John, Viscount Ponsonby; he died childless and was succeeded by his

cousin

William Brabazon Ponsonby (18071866), only son of the bishop of Deny, on whose death the barony of Ponsonby became extinct.
Among other members of this family may be mentioned Major-General Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby (17831837), son of the 3rd

earl

EARL

of Bessborough, a soldier who distinguished himself at the battles of Talavera, Salamanca and Vittoria, in the Peninsular War, and was wounded at Waterloo; he was

governor

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

of Malta from 1826 to 1835. His eldest son, Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby (18251895), a soldier who served in the Crimea, is best remembered as private secretary to Queen Victoria from 187o until a few months before his death.

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