# 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.

## 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. He was a cricketer in his youth and played five first-class matches for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in the 1830s.

## 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. During 1832, he may have spent some time at the British embassy in Russia.
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" brought on by stress, overwork, and the recent death of his mother.
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 :
| Preceded byCharles Tennyson Sir William Horne | Member of Parliament for Bletchingley April 1831 – July 1831 With: Charles Tennyson | Succeeded byThe Viscount Palmerston Thomas Hyde Villiers |
| Preceded byCharles Pepys | Member of Parliament for Higham Ferrers 1831–1832 | Constituency abolished |
| Preceded byHenry Cavendish Edward Strutt | Member of Parliament for Derby 1835–1847 With: Edward Strutt | Succeeded byEdward Strutt Hon. Frederick Leveson-Gower |
| Political offices |||
| Preceded byThe Earl Granville | Master of the Buckhounds 1848–1852 | Succeeded byThe Earl of Rosslyn |
| Preceded byThe Earl of Rosslyn | Master of the Buckhounds 1852–1858 | Succeeded byThe Earl of Sandwich |
| Preceded byThe Earl of Sandwich | Master of the Buckhounds 1859–1866 | Succeeded byThe Earl of Cork |
| Preceded byThe Earl of St Germans | Lord Steward January–June 1866 | Succeeded byThe Duke of Marlborough |
| Preceded byThe Earl of Tankerville | Lord Steward 1868–1874 | Succeeded byThe Earl Beauchamp |
| Honorary titles |||
| Preceded byThe 4th Earl of Bessborough | Lord Lieutenant of Carlow 1838–1880 | Succeeded byArthur Kavanagh |
| Peerage of Ireland |||
| Preceded byJohn Ponsonby | Earl of Bessborough 1847–1880 | Succeeded byFrederick Ponsonby |
| Preceded byJohn Ponsonby | Viscount Duncannon 1847–1880 | Succeeded byFrederick Ponsonby |
| Preceded byJohn Ponsonby | Baron Bessborough 1847–1880 | Succeeded byFrederick Ponsonby |
| Peerage of Great Britain |||
| Preceded byJohn Ponsonby | Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby 1847–1880 | Succeeded byFrederick Ponsonby |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom |||
| Preceded byJohn Ponsonby | Baron Duncannon 1847–1880 | Succeeded byFrederick Ponsonby |