John Ponsonby, 5th Earl of Bessborough

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.

The Earl of Bessborough
Lord Steward of the Household
In office
20 January 1866 – 26 June 1866
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterLord John Russell
Preceded byThe Earl of St Germans
Succeeded byThe Duke of Marlborough
In office
12 December 1868 – 17 February 1874
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterWilliam Ewart Gladstone
Preceded byThe Earl of Tankerville
Succeeded byThe Earl Beauchamp
Personal details
Born14 October 1809 (1809-10-14)
London, England
Died28 January 1880 (1880-01-29) (aged 70)
Political partyLiberal
Spouse(s)(1) Lady Frances Lambton
(d. 1835)
(2) Lady Caroline Gordon-Lennox
Parent(s)John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough
Lady Maria Fane

Background

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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

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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

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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
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Bletchingley
April 1831July 1831
With: Charles Tennyson
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Higham Ferrers
18311832
Constituency abolished
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Derby
1835–1847
With: Edward Strutt
Succeeded by
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

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  1. ^ a b Dod, Robert P. (1860). The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland. London: Whitaker and Co. p. 117.
  2. ^ Cricket Archive
  3. ^ a b c "PONSONBY, John George Brabazon (1809-1880). | History of Parliament Online". historyofparliamentonline.org.
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