William Ponsonby

Major-General Sir William Ponsonby (13 October 177218 June 1815) was an Anglo-Irish politician and British Army officer who served in the Peninsular War and was killed at the Battle of Waterloo. Early life and education He was the second son of William Ponsonby, who was created Baron Ponsonby of Imokilly in 1806, and Hon. Louisa Molesworth. He was the grandson of politician Hon. John Ponsonby and great-grandson of the 3rd Duke of Devonshire and the 1st Earl of Bessborough. Educated at Kilkenny and Eton, he married Hon. Georgiana FitzRoy, youngest daughter of Charles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton. Together they had five children: Hon. Anne Louisa (d. 23 Jan 1863), who married William Tighe Hamilton and together had at least one son, Frederick FitzRoy Hamilton. Hon. Charlotte Georgiana (d. 7 Sep 1883), who married firstly Lt.-Col. John Horace Thomas Stapleton, son of Lt.-Gen. William Stapleton and Anna Maria Keppel (daughter of the Bishop of Exeter, Frederick Keppel), and had no issue. Secondly Rear-Adm. Sir Charles Talbot, son of Rev. Charles Talbot. They had seven children. Mary Elizabeth (d. 14 Sep 1838), who married Rev. Henry George Talbot, brother of her sister's husband, Charles. They had one son, Maj. Henry Charles Talbot. Frances Isabella (d. 1845), who married Rev. Hyde Wyndham Beadon, son of Rt. Rev. Richard Beadon and Annabella à Court, daughter of Sir William à Court, 1st Baronet. They had five children. Lord William (6 Feb 1816 – 2 Oct 1861), married Maria Theresa Duerbeck but died without issue. Political career Between 1796 and 1798, Ponsonby sat as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the Irish House of Commons for the Tories and represented Bandonbridge. Subsequently, he stood for Fethard (County Tipperary) and held this seat until the Act of Union in 1801. He entered the British House of Commons in 1812, sitting for Londonderry until his death. In 1815, he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB).