172 EARLDOM [I.]) IV. BARONY [I.] V. • 1844, BESSBOROUGH 4 and 5. John William (Ponsonby), Earl OF Bessborough, &'c. [I.], also Baron Ponsonby OF Sysonby, s. and h., i>. 31 Aug. 1781, and i>ap. at St. Marylebone. Matric. at Oxford (Ch. Ch.) 14 Oct. 1799, M.A. June 1802. M.P. (Whig) for Knaresborough 1 805-06, for Higham Ferrers 1 8 10-12, for Malton 1812-26, for co. Kilkenny 1826-32, and for Nottingham 1832-34. Lord Lieut, of co. Carlow i83i-38,andotco. Kilkenny 1838 till his death. P.C. [G.B.] 23 Feb. 1831. Took an active part in the preparation of the Reform Bill of 1831. (^) First Commissioner of Woods and Forests 1831-34 and 1835-41, being as such. Warden of the Forest of Dean and Constable of St. Briavel's Castle. Home Sec. July to Nov. 1834. On 19 July 1 834 he was cr. (v.p.) BARON DUNCANNON OF BESSBOROUGH, co. Kilkenny [U.K.]. Lord Privy Seal 1835-39. Eccles. Com. 1841 till his death. Lord Lieut, of Ireland, July 1846 till his death. C") He m., 16 Nov. 1805, (spec, lie.) at her father's house in Berkeley Sq., Maria, 3rd da. of John (Fane), loth Earl of Westmorland, by his ist wife, Sarah Anne, da. and h. of Robert Child, of Osterley Park, Midx. She, who was ^. 11 May 1787,^. 19 Mar. 1834, in Cavendish Sq., and was liur. at Wimbledon. He ^. at IDublin Castle, of dropsy on the chest, 16, and was i>ur. 22 May 1847, at Fiddown, in his 66th year.(^) Will pr. Aug. 1848. EARLDOM [I.]) V. 5 and 6. John George Brabazon (Ponsonby), Earl of Bessborough, &'c. [L], also Baron „ Ponsonby of Sysonby, &'c.y s. and h., !>. 14 Oct. ^ ^"^7- 1 809. Ed. at Charterhouse School. M.P. (Whig) for Bletchingley 1831, for Higham Ferrers 1831-32, and for Derby 1835-47. Sheriff of co. Carlow 1838; Lord Lieut, of CO. Carlow 1838 till his death; P.C. 27 June 1848; Master of the Buckhounds 1848-52, 1852-58, and 1859-66; Lord Steward of the Household Jan. to July 1866, and 1868-74. He »/., istly, 8 Sep. 1835, at her father's house in Cleveland Row, St. James's, Frances Charlotte, ist da. of John George (Lambton), ist Earl BARONY [L] VL (^) Associated with him in the preparation of the Bill were Lord John Russell, Lord Durham, and Sir James Graham. V.G. C") It was almost 60 years since a similar case of death during the tenure of that office had occurred, viz. that of the 4th Duke of Rutland, 24 Oct. 1787. ('^) An able member of the Whig party, though an incompetent debater, he was an excellent "Whip." "No man ever quitted the world more surrounded by sympathy, approbation, respect and affection . . . He had a remarkably calm and unruffled temper, and very good sound sense ... In his administration [of Ireland], adverse and unhappy as the times were, he displayed great industry, firmness, and knowledge of the circumstances and character of the Irish people, and he conciliated the goodwill of those to whom he had been, all his life, opposed." {Greville Memoirs, 7 June 1847). V.G.
