John Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Ponsonby, GCB (c. 1770 – 22 February 1855) was a longtime British diplomat and politician. He was considered an exceptionally handsome man – reportedly he was almost lynched as an aristocrat in a Paris street by a revolutionary mob in the 1790s but saved by the intervention of a mob of women who saved him because he was so pretty.

Political career

Ponsonby, born about 1770, was the eldest son of

William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby William Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby (of Imokilly), PC (Ire) (15 September 17445 November 1806) was a leading Irish Whig politician, being a member of the Irish House of Commons, and, after 1800, of the United Kingdom parliament. Pon ...

, and Louisa Molesworth, and brother of Major-General Sir William Ponsonby. He served as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) in the Irish House of Commons for

Tallow Tallow is a rendering (industrial), rendered form of beef or mutton fat, primarily made up of triglycerides. In industry, tallow is not strictly defined as beef or mutton fat. In this context, tallow is animal fat that conforms to certain techn ...

between 1793 and 1797. Elected in 1798 for both

Banagher Banagher ( or ''Beannchar na Sionna'') is a town in Ireland, located in the midlands, on the western edge of County Offaly in the province of Leinster, on the banks of the River Shannon. It had a population of 3,000 at the height of its econ ...

and

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...

, he chose to sit for the latter from 1798 to the Act of Union in 1800/01. He then represented Galway Borough in the

United Kingdom House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

until 1802.

Diplomatic career

On the death of his father on 5 November 1806, Ponsonby succeeded him as Baron Ponsonby, and for some time held an appointment in the Ionian Islands. On 28 February 1826, he went to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

as envoy-extraordinary and minister-plenipotentiary until 1828, and moved then to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in the same capacity. An exceptionally handsome man, he was sent, it was reported, to South America by

George Canning George Canning (11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as Foreign Secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the Unit ...

to please

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

, who was envious of the attention paid him by Lady Conyngham. Once there he greatly fostered the independence of

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

as a

buffer state A buffer state is a country geographically lying between two rival or potentially hostile great powers. Its existence can sometimes be thought to prevent conflict between them. A buffer state is sometimes a mutually agreed upon area lying between t ...

between

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, to the benefit of British commerce and overall peace. In December 1830 he was entrusted with a special mission to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, in connection with the candidature of Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg to the Belgian throne, and remained in Brussels until Leopold was elected king on 4 June 1831. His dealings in this matter were adversely criticised in ''The Guet-à-Pens Diplomacy, or Lord Ponsonby at Brussels, …'' London, 1831, but the Prime Minister, Lord Grey, eulogised him in the House of Lords on 25 June 1831. Thus, as a diplomat, he was sent twice by the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

to promote the instauration of buffer states to protect its interests, Uruguay and Belgium, both of which survive to this very day, still deeply similar to their bigger neighbours. In addition to this, Ponsonby served as envoy to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

from 8 June to 9 November 1832, as ambassador at

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

from 27 November 1832 to 1841, and as ambassador at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

from 10 August 1846 to 31 May 1850.

Later life

Through Lord Grey, who had married his sister Mary Elizabeth, he had great influence, but his conduct as an ambassador sometimes caused official embarrassment, notably when he accompanied the emperor to

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

in 1848. He was a keen diplomat of the "old school", a shrewd observer, and a man of large views and strong will.LOFTUS, Diplomatic Reminiscences, 1892, i. 129–30. He was gazetted G.C.B. on 3 March 1834, and created Viscount Ponsonby, of Imokilly in the County of Cork, on 20 April 1839. He had previously married, on 13 January 1803, Lady Frances Villiers, seventh daughter of

George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey George Bussy Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey, PC (9 June 173522 August 1805, Tunbridge Wells) was an English nobleman, peer, politician and courtier at the court of George III. He was the oldest surviving son of William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jer ...

. She died at 62 Chester Square, London, on 14 April 1866, having had no issue. Ponsonby published "Private Letters on the Eastern Question, written at the date thereon," Brighton, 1854, and died at

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

on 21 February 1855. The viscountcy thereupon became extinct, but the barony devolved on his nephew William, son of Sir William Ponsonby.

References

*Mosley, Charles (editor). (1999). Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th edition. Attribution: *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponsonby, John Ponsonby, 1st Viscount 1770 births 1855 deaths Diplomatic peers Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath John Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Ponsonby Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Eldest sons of British hereditary barons UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs who were granted peerages UK MPs who inherited peerages Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Galway constituencies (1801–1922) Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Ottoman Empire Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Portugal Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Argentina Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Waterford constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for King's County constituencies Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria