Walter Ponsonby, 7th Earl of Bessborough

Rev. Walter William Brabazon Ponsonby, 7th Earl of Bessborough (13 August 1821 – 24 February 1906) was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and Anglican priest.^[1]

The Earl of Bessborough
Born	(1821-08-13)13 August 1821 Roehampton, London
Died	24 February 1906(1906-02-24) (aged 84) London, England
Spouse(s)	Lady Louisa Susan Cornwallis Eliot
Father	John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough
Mother	Lady Maria Fane

Early life and education

Ponsonby was born in Roehampton, London,^[2] the fifth son of John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough, and his wife Lady Maria Fane. His parents had 14 children before his mother died in 1834. His father died in 1847.

He was educated at Harrow School^[3] and Trinity College, Cambridge.^[4]

Career

Ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1845, he was, between 1846 and 1894 he acted as Rector for the parishes of Canford Magna, Wiltshire; Beer Ferris, Devon; Marston Bigot, Somerset; and Stutton, Suffolk.^[4]

Ponsonby inherited the earldom on 11 March 1895 after the deaths of his elder brothers John Ponsonby, 5th Earl of Bessborough (1809–1880) and Frederick Ponsonby, 6th Earl of Bessborough (1815–1895) without male heirs.

Family

On 15 January 1850, he married Lady Louisa Susan Cornwallis Eliot, daughter of Edward Granville Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans, and his wife Lady Jemima Cornwallis. Together they had eight children:

• Edward Ponsonby, 8th Earl of Bessborough (1 March 1851 – 1 December 1920)
• Lady Maria Ponsonby (4 June 1852^[5] – 19 November 1949)
• Hon. Cyril Walter Ponsonby (8 September 1853 – 29 November 1927), married Emily Harriet Eyre Addington
• Hon. Granville Ponsonby (13 September 1854 – 24 February 1924), married Mabel Jackson
• Hon. Arthur Cornwallis Ponsonby (8 January 1856 – 25 April 1918), married Kathleen Eva Sillery
• Lady Ethel Jemima Ponsonby (8 April 1857 – 22 June 1940), married George Somerset, 3rd Baron Raglan
• Hon. Walter Gerald Ponsonby (31 July 1859 – 28 April 1934)
• Lady Sara Kathleen Ponsonby (5 August 1861^[6] – 10 June 1936), married Maj. Charles Lancelot Andrews Skinner