William Ponsonby, 1st Baron de Mauley
William Francis Spencer Ponsonby, 1st Baron de Mauley (31 July 1787 – 16 May 1855) was an English Whig and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1826 and 1837. He was raised to the Peerage in 1838.
Life
Ponsonby was the youngest child of 3rd Earl of Bessborough and his wife Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough.[1]
Ponsonby was elected Member of Parliament for Poole in 1826 and held the seat until 1831.[2] He was then MP for Knaresborough between June and December 1832.[3] At the 1832 UK general election he was elected MP for Dorset and held the seat until 1837.[4] In 1838 he was created Baron de Mauley.
When the marriage of his sister Lady Caroline Lamb to William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, began to break up, he strongly supported Caroline.[5] Unfortunately he was not noted for tact or intelligence—Melbourne's sister Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper, described him as universally regarded as "an ass and a jackanapes".[5] Ponsonby reminded Melbourne that the Lamb family were socially parvenu, and that his sister had married beneath her; although true, these remarks were so tactless that Melbourne broke off any further dealings with him.[5]
Family
On 8 August 1814, Ponsonby married Lady Barbara Ashley-Cooper (the only daughter and heir of the 5th Earl of Shaftesbury and a co-heir of the medieval Barony of Mauley, 1789–1844). They had three children:[1]
- Hon. Charles Frederick Ashley Cooper (1815–1896, later the 2nd Baron de Mauley)
- Hon. Frances Anne Georgiana (1817–1910), married George Kinnaird, 9th Lord Kinnaird.
- Hon. Ashley George John (1831–1898)
References
- 1 2 "William Francis Spencer Ponsonby, 1st Baron de Mauley of Canford", The Peerage, 2 February 2011.
- ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 2)
- ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2)
- ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 2)
- 1 2 3 Lord David Cecil, Melbourne, Pan Books edition 1965, p. 151.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by William Ponsonby
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Benjamin Lester John Dent |
Member of Parliament for Poole 1826–1831 With: Benjamin Lester |
Succeeded by Benjamin Lester Sir John Byng |
| Preceded by Hon. Henry Cavendish George Tierney |
Member of Parliament for Knaresborough June–December 1832 With: Hon. Henry Cavendish |
Succeeded by John Richards Benjamin Rotch |
| Preceded by Edward Portman Lord Ashley |
Member of Parliament for Dorset 1832–1837 Served alongside: Lord Ashley William Bankes to 1835 Henry Sturt from 1835 |
Succeeded by Lord Ashley John Fox-Strangways Henry Sturt |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron de Mauley 1838–1855 |
Succeeded by Charles Ponsonby |