Maria Ponsonby, Viscountess Duncannon

Maria Ponsonby, Viscountess Duncannon (11 May 1787 19 March 1834), formerly Lady Maria Fane, was the wife of John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough. She died before he inherited the earldom and thus was never Countess of Bessborough, but three of her sons were successively earls of Bessborough.

Early life

She was the daughter of John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland, and his first wife, the former Sarah Anne Child. Her brother was John Fane, 11th Earl of Westmorland, and her sisters were Sarah Villiers, Countess of Jersey (1785–1867), Lady Augusta Fane (1786–1871; later Lady Boringdon) and Lady Charlotte Fane (1793–1822).

Personal life

She married Ponsonby on 16 November 1805 at Berkeley Square, London, when he was known as Viscount Duncannon.[1] They had eight sons and six daughters, including:[2]

The viscountess died in 1834, aged 46, at her home in Cavendish Square, London.[1] Her husband survived her by thirteen years and died in May 1847, aged 65. He was succeeded in the earldom by their eldest son, John, and subsequently by their younger sons Frederick and Walter.

Descendants

Through her daughter Lady Augusta Gore, Viscountess Duncannon was the grandmother of sportsman Spencer Gore, who won the first Wimbledon singles title in 1877, and the Rt. Rev. Charles Gore, the Bishop of Oxford.[5]

References

  1. Burke, John Bernard (1845). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. H. Colburn. p. 93. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  2. Debrett's Genealogical Peerage of Great Britain and Ireland. William Pickering. 1845. p. 82. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  3. G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, page 172.
  4. "Ponsonby, Emily Charlotte Mary" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  5. "Spencer William Gore (1850–1906)". Epsom and Ewell History Explorer. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
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