John Ponsonby

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John Ponsonby (March 29, 1713 – December 12, 1789), Irish politician, second son of Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st Earl of Bessborough.

In 1739 he entered the Irish parliament and in 1744 he became first commissioner of the revenue; in 1746 he was appointed a privy councillor, and in 1756 Speaker of the Irish House of Commons.

Belonging to one of the great families which at this time monopolized the government of Ireland, Ponsonby was one of the principal "undertakers," men who controlled the whole of the king's business in Ireland, and he retained the chief authority until the marquess Townshend became lord-lieutenant in 1767. Then followed a struggle for supremacy between the Ponsonby faction and the party dependent on Townshend, one result of this being that Ponsonby resigned the speakership in 1771.

His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire, a connection which was of great importance to the Ponsonbys. His second and third sons, William, and George, were also politicians.

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