William Francis Spencer Ponsonby, 1st Baron de Mauley (31 July 1787 – 16 May 1855), was an English
Whig politician who sat in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
between 1826 and 1837. He was raised to the
Peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks.
Peerages include:
A ...
in 1838.
Life
Ponsonby was the youngest child of the
3rd Earl of Bessborough and his wife
Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough.
Ponsonby was elected
Member of Parliament for
Poole
Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...
in 1826 and held the seat until 1831, when he lost it in a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections.
A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
to
Lord Ashley.
He was then MP for
Knaresborough
Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish on the River Nidd in North Yorkshire, England. It is east of Harrogate and was in the Borough of Harrogate until April 2023.
History
The Knaresborough Hoard, the largest hoard of ...
between June and December 1832. At the
1832 UK general election, he was elected MP for
Dorset
Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
and held the seat until 1837. On 10 July 1838, he was created Baron de Mauley, ''of
Canford in the
County of Dorset''.
Whilst an MP for Poole, Ponsonby, and
Benjamin Lester opened Poole's first public library in 1830.
[
When the marriage of his sister Lady Caroline to ]William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (15 March 177924 November 1848) was a British Whig (political faction), Whig politician who served as the Home Secretary and twice as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
His first premiership end ...
, began to break up, he strongly supported Caroline.[ Lord David Cecil, ''Melbourne'', Pan Books edition 1965, p. 151.] Unfortunately, he was not noted for tact or intelligence—Melbourne's sister Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper, described him as being universally regarded as "an ass and a jackanapes".[ Ponsonby reminded Melbourne that the Lamb family were socially '']parvenu
A ''parvenu'' is a person who is a relative newcomer to a high-ranking socioeconomic class. The word is borrowed from the French language; it is the past participle of the verb ''parvenir'' (to reach, to arrive, to manage to do something).
Origin ...
'', and that his sister had married beneath her; although true, these remarks were so tactless that Melbourne broke off any further dealings with him.[
]
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:
References
External links
*
1787 births
1855 deaths
Ponsonby, William
Ponsonby, William
Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies
Ponsonby, William
William Ponsonby, 1st Baron de Mauley
Ponsonby, William
Ponsonby, William
Ponsonby, William
Ponsonby, William
Ponsonby, William
UK MPs who were granted peerages
Fellows of the Royal Society
William 1
Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria
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