# Baron de Mauley

Baron de Mauley, of Canford in the County of Dorset, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 23 June 1838 for the Whig politician the Hon. William Ponsonby, who had earlier represented Poole, Knaresborough and Dorset in the House of Commons.

## History

The 1st Baron de Mauley was the third son of the 3rd Earl of Bessborough, an Anglo-Irish peer, and his wife Lady Henrietta Spencer, daughter of the 1st Earl Spencer. He married Lady Barbara Ashley-Cooper, the daughter of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 5th Earl of Shaftesbury. She was one of the co-heirs to the ancient barony by writ of Mauley (or Maulay), which superseded the feudal barony the caput of which was at Mulgrave Castle, Yorkshire, which barony by writ had become extinct in 1415.
Their son, later the 2nd Baron, sat as Member of Parliament for Poole and Dungarvon. He married his first cousin Lady Maria Ponsonby, daughter of the 4th Earl of Bessborough.
Their eldest son, the 3rd Baron, never married, so the barony was inherited by his brother, who became the 4th Baron. He married the Hon. Madeline Hanbury-Tracy, daughter of the 2nd Baron Sudeley. They had two sons, Capt. Gerald Ponsonby, an officer in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers who was killed in the First World War, and Hubert, who became the 5th Baron.
The 5th Baron married Elgiva Margaret Dundas, a great-granddaughter of the 1st Earl of Zetland. They had two sons. The eldest, the 6th Baron, married Helen Alice Douglas, a granddaughter of the 19th Earl of Morton; the marriage was childless. Their second son, Col. Hon. Thomas Ponsonby, an officer of the Wessex Yeomanry who held the offices of Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire and High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, married Maxine Henrietta Thellusson, whose great-great-great-grandfather Charles Thellusson, Member of Parliament for Evesham, was the younger brother of the 1st Baron Rendlesham.
As of 2024, the title is held by their eldest son, the 7th Baron, who succeeded his uncle in 2002. He is one of the ninety elected hereditary peers that remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, and sits as a Conservative. He was elected in 2005 and thereby became the first hereditary peer having succeeded to his title after the House of Lords Act of 1999, to have obtained an elective hereditary peers seat in the House of Lords. In July 2018, the Queen appointed the 7th Baron to succeed the 3rd Baron Vestey as Master of the Horse. The appointment took effect on 1 January 2019.

## Baron de Mauley (1838)

* William Francis Spencer Ponsonby, 1st Baron de Mauley (1787–1855)
* Charles Frederick Ashley Cooper Ponsonby, 2nd Baron de Mauley (1815–1896)
* William Ashley Webb Ponsonby, 3rd Baron de Mauley (1843–1918)
* Maurice John George Ponsonby, 4th Baron de Mauley (1846–1945)
* Hubert William Ponsonby, 5th Baron de Mauley (1878–1962)
* Gerald John Ponsonby, 6th Baron de Mauley (1921–2002)
* Rupert Charles Ponsonby, 7th Baron de Mauley (born 1957)
The heir presumptive is the present holder's brother, the Hon. (Ashley) George Ponsonby (born 1959). The title next falls to Sir Charles Ponsonby, 3rd Baronet (born 1951), a third cousin of the present holder and his brother. He is a great-grandson of the Hon. Edwin Ponsonby, fifth son of the 2nd Baron.

### Title succession chart

Title succession chart, Barons de Mauley :
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | William Ponsonby 1st Baron de Mauley 1787–1855 | William Ponsonby 1st Baron de Mauley 1787–1855 | William Ponsonby 1st Baron de Mauley 1787–1855 | William Ponsonby 1st Baron de Mauley 1787–1855 | William Ponsonby 1st Baron de Mauley 1787–1855 | William Ponsonby 1st Baron de Mauley 1787–1855 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Charles Ponsonby 2nd Baron de Mauley 1815–1896 | Charles Ponsonby 2nd Baron de Mauley 1815–1896 | Charles Ponsonby 2nd Baron de Mauley 1815–1896 | Charles Ponsonby 2nd Baron de Mauley 1815–1896 | Charles Ponsonby 2nd Baron de Mauley 1815–1896 | Charles Ponsonby 2nd Baron de Mauley 1815–1896 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| William Ponsonby 3rd Baron de Mauley 1843–1918 | William Ponsonby 3rd Baron de Mauley 1843–1918 | William Ponsonby 3rd Baron de Mauley 1843–1918 | William Ponsonby 3rd Baron de Mauley 1843–1918 | William Ponsonby 3rd Baron de Mauley 1843–1918 | William Ponsonby 3rd Baron de Mauley 1843–1918 | George Ponsonby 1844–1845 | George Ponsonby 1844–1845 | George Ponsonby 1844–1845 | George Ponsonby 1844–1845 | George Ponsonby 1844–1845 | George Ponsonby 1844–1845 | Maurice Ponsonby 4th Baron de Mauley 1846–1945 | Maurice Ponsonby 4th Baron de Mauley 1846–1945 | Maurice Ponsonby 4th Baron de Mauley 1846–1945 | Maurice Ponsonby 4th Baron de Mauley 1846–1945 | Maurice Ponsonby 4th Baron de Mauley 1846–1945 | Maurice Ponsonby 4th Baron de Mauley 1846–1945 | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hon. Frederick Ponsonby 1847–1933 | Hon. Frederick Ponsonby 1847–1933 | Hon. Frederick Ponsonby 1847–1933 | Hon. Frederick Ponsonby 1847–1933 | Hon. Frederick Ponsonby 1847–1933 | Hon. Frederick Ponsonby 1847–1933 | Hon. Edwin Ponsonby 1851–1939 | Hon. Edwin Ponsonby 1851–1939 | Hon. Edwin Ponsonby 1851–1939 | Hon. Edwin Ponsonby 1851–1939 | Hon. Edwin Ponsonby 1851–1939 | Hon. Edwin Ponsonby 1851–1939 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ponsonby baronetcy | Ponsonby baronetcy | Ponsonby baronetcy | Ponsonby baronetcy |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ponsonby baronetcy | Ponsonby baronetcy | Ponsonby baronetcy | Ponsonby baronetcy | | | Capt. Gerald Ponsonby 1876–1914 | Capt. Gerald Ponsonby 1876–1914 | Capt. Gerald Ponsonby 1876–1914 | Capt. Gerald Ponsonby 1876–1914 | Capt. Gerald Ponsonby 1876–1914 | Capt. Gerald Ponsonby 1876–1914 | Hubert Ponsonby 5th Baron de Mauley 1878–1962 | Hubert Ponsonby 5th Baron de Mauley 1878–1962 | Hubert Ponsonby 5th Baron de Mauley 1878–1962 | Hubert Ponsonby 5th Baron de Mauley 1878–1962 | Hubert Ponsonby 5th Baron de Mauley 1878–1962 | Hubert Ponsonby 5th Baron de Mauley 1878–1962 | Sir Charles Ponsonby 1st Baronet 1879–1976 | Sir Charles Ponsonby 1st Baronet 1879–1976 | Sir Charles Ponsonby 1st Baronet 1879–1976 | Sir Charles Ponsonby 1st Baronet 1879–1976 | Sir Charles Ponsonby 1st Baronet 1879–1976 | Sir Charles Ponsonby 1st Baronet 1879–1976 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Gerald Ponsonby 6th Baron de Mauley 1921–2002 | Gerald Ponsonby 6th Baron de Mauley 1921–2002 | Gerald Ponsonby 6th Baron de Mauley 1921–2002 | Gerald Ponsonby 6th Baron de Mauley 1921–2002 | Gerald Ponsonby 6th Baron de Mauley 1921–2002 | Gerald Ponsonby 6th Baron de Mauley 1921–2002 | Col. Hon. Thomas Ponsonby 1930–2001 | Col. Hon. Thomas Ponsonby 1930–2001 | Col. Hon. Thomas Ponsonby 1930–2001 | Col. Hon. Thomas Ponsonby 1930–2001 | Col. Hon. Thomas Ponsonby 1930–2001 | Col. Hon. Thomas Ponsonby 1930–2001 | | | | | | | Sir Ashley Ponsonby 2nd Baronet 1921–2010 | Sir Ashley Ponsonby 2nd Baronet 1921–2010 | Sir Ashley Ponsonby 2nd Baronet 1921–2010 | Sir Ashley Ponsonby 2nd Baronet 1921–2010 | Sir Ashley Ponsonby 2nd Baronet 1921–2010 | Sir Ashley Ponsonby 2nd Baronet 1921–2010 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rupert Ponsonby 7th Baron de Mauley born 1957 | Rupert Ponsonby 7th Baron de Mauley born 1957 | Rupert Ponsonby 7th Baron de Mauley born 1957 | Rupert Ponsonby 7th Baron de Mauley born 1957 | Rupert Ponsonby 7th Baron de Mauley born 1957 | Rupert Ponsonby 7th Baron de Mauley born 1957 | Hon. George Ponsonby born 1959 | Hon. George Ponsonby born 1959 | Hon. George Ponsonby born 1959 | Hon. George Ponsonby born 1959 | Hon. George Ponsonby born 1959 | Hon. George Ponsonby born 1959 | Sir Charles Ponsonby 3rd Baronet born 1951 | Sir Charles Ponsonby 3rd Baronet born 1951 | Sir Charles Ponsonby 3rd Baronet born 1951 | Sir Charles Ponsonby 3rd Baronet born 1951 | Sir Charles Ponsonby 3rd Baronet born 1951 | Sir Charles Ponsonby 3rd Baronet born 1951 |

## Other notable descendants

The Hon. Ashley Ponsonby (1831–1898), younger son of the 1st Baron, was a Liberal politician, Grenadier Guards officer and justice of the peace.
Another member of this branch of the Ponsonby family was the Conservative politician Charles Ponsonby (1879–1976), who was created a baronet in 1956. He was the eldest son of the Hon. Edwin Charles William Ponsonby (1851–1939), fifth son of the 2nd Baron.
Former Air Vice Marshal John Ponsonby (1955–2022) was the son of officer, diplomat and politician Myles Ponsonby (1924–1999), and a grandson of Victor Coope Ponsonby (1887–1966), fourth son of the Hon. Edwin Charles William Ponsonby.