John Ponsonby

John Ponsonby, PC (Ire) (29 March 1713 – 16 August 1787) was an Anglo-Irish politician. He was Speaker of the Irish House of Commons between 1756 and 1771, a period in which the legislative independence of the Kingdom of Ireland was increasingly asserted and tested.

Early life Ponsonby was the second son of Brabazon Ponsonby, who was created the Earl of Bessborough in 1739, and his first wife, Sarah Margetson Colvill. He was the grandson of William Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Duncannon. He was admitted to Trinity College Dublin on 6 April 1730, but there is no evidence that he ever graduated.

Many of Ponsonby's former allies in the Commons chose to make their peace with the Irish administration, but Ponsonby himself remained in opposition. In 1776 he again stood for election as speaker, but was defeated by the popular incumbent, Edmund Sexton Pery. Ponsonby died, while still a member of parliament, on 16 August 1787.

Marriage and issue He married in 1743 Lady Elizabeth Cavendish, daughter of the 3rd Duke of Devonshire, a connection which was of great importance to the Ponsonbys. His older brother, William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough, had married the Duke's eldest daughter in 1739. Ponsonby's sons, William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Imokilly, and George Ponsonby, were also politicians of distinction. His daughter Catherine married Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Shannon, and was mother to Henry Boyle, 3rd Earl of Shannon.