BESSBOROUGH 171 EARLDOM [I.]] II. BARONY [I.] III. 1758. 2 and 3. William (Ponsonby), Earl of Bess- borough, &'c. [I.], also Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby, 2nd, but ist surv. s. and h. by ist wife, i>. 1704; M.P. (Whig) for Newtonards 1725-27 for CO. Kilkenny 1727-58; for Derby 1742-54 for Saltash 1754-56, and for Harwich 1756-58 P.C. [I.] 19 Nov. 1 741; Sec. to the Lord Lieut [I.] 1741-44. A Lord of the Admiralty 1746-56; of the Treasury 1756-59 Vice Admiral of Munster, and Gov. and Custos Rot. of co. Kilkenny 1758 Joint Postmaster Gen. 1759-62 and 1765-66. P.C. [G.B.] 12 July 1765 Trustee of the Brit. Museum 1768 till his death. He ;«., 5 July 1739, Caroline, ist da. of William (Cavendish), 3rd Duke of Devonshire (Lord Lieut, of Ireland, 1737-44), by Catharine, only da. and h. of John H0SK.1NS. She, who was l>. 22 May 1719, being goddaughter of George II, d. 20 Jan. 1760, and was Ifur. at All Saints', Derby. He i/. II Mar. i793,() and was i>ur. at All Saints', Derby, aged 88. Will pr. May 1793. EARLDOM [I.] III. BARONY [1.] IV. 1793- 3 and 4. Frederick. (Ponsonby), Earl of Bessborough, is^c. [I.], also Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby, 5th, but only surv. s. and h., /^. 24 Jan., and l^ap. 21 Feb. 1758, at St. Marylebone. Matric. at Oxford (Ch. Ch.) 27 Oct. 1774, M.A. 22 Apr. 1777; D.C.L. 30 Apr. 1779. M.P. (Whig) for Knaresborough 1780-93; a Lord of the Admiralty, Mar. to July 1782, and Apr. to Dec. 1783. Hew;., 27 Nov. 1780 (spec, lie), at her father's house in St. James's, Westm., Henri- etta Frances, 2nd da. of John (Spencer), ist Earl Spencer, by Margaret Georgiana, da. of the Rt. Hon. Stephen Poyntz, of Midgeham, Berks. She, who was /-. 16 June 1761, at Wimbledon, <r/. 14 Nov. 1821, near Florence, and was I'ur. in the Cavendish vault at Derby. He rt'. 3 Feb. 1844, at Canford House, Dorset, aged 86, and was l^ur. at Canford, being removed to Hatherop, co. Gloucester. C") (") He is stated to have been addicted to " Virtu." See vol. i, Appendix H, for a list of amusements of Men ofFashion in 1782. He appears in I776,with awoman named Gilbert, as " The kind Keeper and Mile G . . b . . t," in the tete-a-tcte portraits in Town and Country Mag,, vol. viii, p. 265, for an account of which see Appendix B in the last vol. of this work. The Hon. Mrs. Hervey writes, 30 July 1777, " Lord Bessborough is here, who can never grow better or worse, or other than he is; it is incredible what nonsense he talks." His wife appears from contemporary records to have been a great gambler. V.G. C') He " is a man of the most amiable and mild manners; without at all affecting the character of an orator, he is an excellent speaker, and much attended to. He takes a decided part against the Union." [Sketches of Irish Political Character, I799)' V.G.
