John Ponsonby, 5th Earl of Bessborough

British cricketer, politician and courtier

The Right Honourable

The Earl of Bessborough

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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

Charles Tennyson
Sir William Horne

|  Member of Parliament for Bletchingley
April 1831 – July 1831
With:  Charles Tennyson | Succeeded by

The Viscount Palmerston
Thomas Hyde Villiers

Preceded by

Charles Pepys

|  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

The Earl Granville

|  Master of the Buckhounds
1848–1852  | Succeeded by

The Earl of Rosslyn

Preceded by

The Earl of Rosslyn

|  Master of the Buckhounds
1852–1858  | Succeeded by

The Earl of Sandwich

Preceded by

The Earl of Sandwich

|  Master of the Buckhounds
1859–1866  | Succeeded by

The Earl of Cork

Preceded by

The Earl of St Germans

|  Lord Steward
January–June 1866  | Succeeded by

The Duke of Marlborough

Preceded by

The Earl of Tankerville

|  Lord Steward
1868–1874  | Succeeded by

The Earl Beauchamp

Honorary titles
Preceded by

The 4th Earl of Bessborough

|  Lord Lieutenant of Carlow
1838–1880  | Succeeded by

Arthur Kavanagh

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by

John Ponsonby

|  Earl of Bessborough
1847–1880  | Succeeded by

Frederick Ponsonby

Viscount Duncannon
1847–1880
Baron Bessborough
1847–1880
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by

John Ponsonby

|  Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby
1847–1880  | Succeeded by

Frederick Ponsonby

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by

John Ponsonby

|  Baron Duncannon
1847–1880  | Succeeded by

Frederick Ponsonby

## References[edit]

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.

## External links[edit]

* Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Bessborough

Authority control databases |

* VIAF

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