Sir Spencer Cecil Brabazon Ponsonby-Fane, (''né'' Ponsonby; 14 March 1824 – 1 December 1915) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and civil servant. He was born in 1824 in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

, the sixth son of

John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough John William Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough, PC (31 August 1781 – 16 May 1847), known as Viscount Duncannon from 1793 to 1844, was a British Whig politician. He was notably Home Secretary in 1834 and served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ...

Cricket

Ponsonby played for both

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, and later administered

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and Harrow Cricket Club. He was a nephew of the Rev. Lord

Frederick Beauclerk The Reverend Lord Frederick de Vere Beauclerk (8 May 1773 – 22 April 1850), a 19th-century Anglican priest, was an outstanding but controversial English first-class cricketer, the leading "amateur" player of the Napoleonic period. Lord Freder ...

and had played with William Ward. He took part in the first

Canterbury Cricket Week Canterbury Cricket Week is the oldest cricket festival week in England and involves a series of consecutive Kent home matches, traditionally held in the first week in August. It was founded in 1842, although a similar festival week was first hel ...

, and was one of the three founders of

I Zingari I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the 'wa ...

in 1845. He was Treasurer of MCC from 1879 until his death in 1915, by which time he had been a member of the club for 75 years. He several times declined the offer of becoming President. While Treasurer, he began the MCC Collection, subsequently known as the Lord's Museum and Library.

Government service

Ponsonby joined the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

in 1840. He was Private Secretary to three Foreign Secretaries:

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...

1846–1851,

Lord Granville Earl Granville is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It is now held by members of the Leveson-Gower family. First creation The first creation came in the Pee ...

1851–1852, and

Lord Clarendon Earl of Clarendon is a title that has been created twice in British history, in 1661 and 1776. The family seat is Holywell House, near Swanmore, Hampshire. First creation of the title The title was created for the first time in the Peera ...

1853–1857. In 1856 he brought from Paris the definitive copy of the

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...

for the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

. Later he was Comptroller of the

Lord Chamberlain's Office The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the British Royal Household. It is concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, royal weddings and funerals. For example, in April 2005 it organised the ...

1857–1901,

Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State The Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State is an officer of the British Royal Household. He is responsible for bearing the Sword of State before the monarch on ceremonial occasions. However, the Gentleman Usher was removed from the procession at th ...

1901–1915 and

Bath King of Arms The King of Arms of the Order of the Bath, or Bath King of Arms, is the herald of the Order of the Bath. He is not a member of the Heralds College, but takes precedence next after the Garter King of Arms. He wears a crown A crown is a ...

1904–1915.

Family

Ponsonby-Fane married, on 7 October 1847, Honourable Louisa Anne Rose Lee Dillon (1825–1902), daughter of

Henry Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon Henry Augustus Dillon-Lee, 13th Viscount Dillon (1777–1832), was an Irish politician, soldier and writer. Despite being a Protestant, he supported Catholic emancipation in Ireland and wrote on the topic. He sat as MP for Harwich in England in ...

. Lady Ponsonby-Fane died at their estate on 18 July 1902. They had eleven children: * John Henry Ponsonby-Fane (22 August 1848 – 11 September 1916), married Florence Farquhar on 14 October 1875 and had issue; he later became a malacologist and a banker.Obituary ofJohn Henry Ponsonby-Fane; Proc. Malac. Soc. Lond. 12, p. 217
*Lt. George Richard Ponsonby, RA (25 April 1850 – 5 February 1871) *Helen Emily Cristal Ponsonby (26 July 1851 – 17 January 1852), her second middle name having been given in memory of the Prince Consort's Crystal Palace at the Great Exhibition of 1851 (according to 27 August 1851 letter by Jemima, Lady St Germans – Helen had been baptized the day before, on 26 August 1851). *Robert Charles Ponsonby-Fane (6 June 1854 – 16 November 1909), married Mary Maclachlan on 17 July 1877 and had issue. *Constance Louisa Ponsonby-Fane (23 March 1856 – 4 May 1930), married William Robert Phelips on 1 January 1881 and had issue. *Margaret Maria Ponsonby-Fane (4 November 1867 – 14 December 1953), married Rev. Hon. Arnald de Grey, third son of

Thomas de Grey, 5th Baron Walsingham Thomas de Grey, 5th Baron Walsingham (6 July 1804 – 31 December 1870), of Merton Hall, Norfolk, was a British peer. Life Grey was born in Chelsea, the eldest son of the Venerable Thomas de Grey, Archdeacon of Surrey, a clergyman who in 1831 ...

, on 17 April 1882 and had issue. *Clementina Sarah Ponsonby-Fane (27 July 1859 – 15 September 1934), married

Sir Edmund Turton, 1st Baronet Sir Edmund Russborough Turton, 1st Baronet, JP, DL (1 November 1857 – 8 May 1929) was a British Conservative Party politician. Life He was the eldest child of Edmund Henry Turton of the 3rd Dragoon Guards and his wife Lady Cecilia Mary Leeson, ...

, on 9 August 1888. *Eleanor Hariett Ponsonby-Fane (26 December 1861 – 2 September 1878), drowned in a boating accident at Brympton d'Evercy. *Sydney Alexander Ponsonby-Fane (26 February 1863 – 27 August 1940), married Audrey Catherine St Aubyn, daughter of

John St Aubyn, 1st Baron St Levan John St Aubyn, 1st Baron St Levan (23 October 1829 – 14 May 1908), known as Sir John St Aubyn, 2nd Baronet, from 1872 to 1887, was a British Liberal, and later Liberal Unionist, politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1858 until 1887 wh ...

, on 10 June 1893 and had issue. *Hugh Spencer Ponsonby-Fane (5 December 1865 – 13 May 1934), married Anitha Magdalene Feuerheerd on 8 November 1894 and had issue. *Theobald Brabazon Ponsonby-Fane (27 April 1868 – 14 May 1929), married Bertha Edwards on 10 August 1892. In 1875, he changed his surname to Ponsonby-Fane upon inheriting the estate of

Brympton d'Evercy Brympton d'Evercy (alternatively Brympton House), a grade I listed manor house near Yeovil in the county of Somerset, England, has been called the most beautiful in England. In 1927 the British magazine '' Country Life'' devoted three articles ...

from his aunt, Lady

Georgiana Fane Lady Georgiana Fane (1801-1874) was an English heiress, daughter of John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland and his second wife the former Jane Huck-Saunders. Her mother bore four other children before separating from her father, after ten years o ...

. He spent the remainder of his life there improving the gardens until he died in 1915, after which the estate passed to his eldest son, John.

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ponsonby-Fane, Spencer 1824 births 1915 deaths Principal Private Secretaries to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Companions of the Imperial Service Order Cricket players and officials awarded knighthoods Middlesex cricketers Surrey cricketers Younger sons of earls English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Somerset County Cricket Club presidents Surrey Club cricketers North v South cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Fast v Slow cricketers Gentlemen of Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers Married v Single cricketers Non-international England cricketers