John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough

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John William Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough PC (31 August 1781 – 16 May 1847) was an English politician, known as Viscount Duncannon from 1793 to 1844. He hailed from the prominent Ponsonby family of Cumberland. Lady Caroline Lamb was his younger sister. He was First Commissioner of Works under Lord Melbourne (1831–1834), briefly Home Secretary (1834), and Lord Privy Seal (1835–1839). Later, he was briefly Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1846 to 1847 under Lord John Russell. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1831.

Ponsonby's wife was Lady Henrietta-Frances Spencer. She was Lord Granville's lover prior to his marriage to Lady Harriet Cavendish, the Countess of Bessborough niece. Lord Granville fathered two illegitimate children through her: Harriette Stewart and George Stewart.

Bessborough Gardens in London SW1 is named after him.^[1]

John Ponsonby married Lady Maria Fane, daughter of John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland and Sarah Anne Child, on 16 November 1805 at Berkeley Square, London. The Henrietta Frances Spencer listed above was in fact his mother, wife of Frederick Ponsonby. Source: thePeerage.com

[edit] References

1. ^ The London Encyclopaedia, Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, Macmillan, 1995, ISBN 0-333-57688-8

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Cavendish Lord John Townshend	Member of Parliament for Knaresborough with Lord John Townshend 1805–1806	Succeeded by Viscount Ossulston Lord John Townshend
Preceded by William Windham	Member of Parliament for Higham Ferrers 1810–1812	Succeeded by William Plumer
Preceded by Sir Robert Dundas Bryan Cooke	Member of Parliament for Malton with John Ramsden 1812–1826	Succeeded by John Ramsden Viscount Normanby
Preceded by Hon. Frederick Ponsonby Charles Clarke	Member of Parliament for Kilkenny County with Charles Clarke 1826–1830 Earl of Ossory 1830–1832 1826–1832	Succeeded by Pierce Butler William Finn
Preceded by Thomas Denman Sir Ronald Craufurd Ferguson	Member of Parliament for Nottingham with Sir Ronald Craufurd Ferguson 1832–1834	Succeeded by Sir Ronald Craufurd Ferguson Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Bt
Political offices
Preceded by George James Welbore Agar Ellis	First Commissioner of Woods and Forests 1831–1834	Succeeded by Sir John Cam Hobhouse
Preceded by The Viscount Melbourne	Home Secretary 1834	Succeeded by Henry Goulburn
Preceded by The Lord Wharncliffe	Lord Privy Seal 1835–1840	Succeeded by The Earl of Clarendon
Preceded by The Lord Granville Somerset	First Commissioner of Woods and Forests 1835–1841	Succeeded by Earl of Lincoln
Preceded by The Lord Heytesbury	Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1846–1847	Succeeded by The Earl of Clarendon
Honorary titles
New title	Lord Lieutenant of Carlow 1830–1838	Succeeded by Viscount Duncannon
Preceded by The Marquess of Ormonde	Lord Lieutenant of Kilkenny 1838–1847	Succeeded by William Tighe
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Frederick Ponsonby	Earl of Bessborough 1844–1847	Succeeded by John Ponsonby
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Duncannon 1834–1847	Succeeded by John Ponsonby