•
William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Bessborough (1659–1724; created
Viscount Duncannon in 1723)
Viscount Duncannon (1723) •
William Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Duncannon (1659–1724) •
Brabazon Ponsonby, 2nd Viscount Duncannon (1679–1758; created
Earl of Bessborough in 1739)
Earl of Bessborough (1739) •
Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st Earl of Bessborough (1679–1758; created
Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby [GB] in 1749) •
William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough (1704–1793) •
Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough (1758–1844) •
John William Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough (1781–1847; created
Baron Duncannon [UK] in 1834) •
John George Brabazon Ponsonby, 5th Earl of Bessborough (1809–1880) •
Frederick George Brabazon Ponsonby, 6th Earl of Bessborough (1815–1895) •
Walter William Brabazon Ponsonby, 7th Earl of Bessborough (1821–1906) •
Edward Ponsonby, 8th Earl of Bessborough (1851–1920) •
Vere Brabazon Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough (1880–1956; created
Earl of Bessborough [UK] in 1937) •
Frederick Edward Neuflize Ponsonby, 10th Earl of Bessborough (1913–1993) •
Arthur Mountifort Longfield Ponsonby, 11th Earl of Bessborough (1912–2002) • Myles Fitzhugh Longfield Ponsonby, 12th Earl of Bessborough (born 1941)
Present peer Myles Fitzhugh Longfield Ponsonby, 12th Earl of Bessborough (born 16 February 1941), is the son of the 11th Earl and his wife Patricia Minnigerode. He was educated at
Harrow School and
Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated
MA. He is also a Fellow of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He was styled as Viscount Duncannon between 1993 and 5 April 2002, when he succeeded his father as Earl of Bessborough (I., 1739), Viscount Duncannon (I., 1723), Baron Bessborough (I., 1721), Baron Ponsonby of Sysonby (G.B., 1749), and Baron Duncannon of Bessborough (U.K., 1834). In 2003 he was living at
Stansted Park,
Rowland's Castle,
Hampshire. In 1972, he married Alison Marjorie Storey, daughter of William Henry Storey (1905–1975) and Marjorie Egerton Shakerley (1908–2001). They have three children: • Frederick Arthur William Ponsonby, Viscount Duncannon (born 1974),
heir apparent, whose heir is his son, the Hon. William August Longfield Ponsonby (born 2008) • Lady Chloë Patricia Ponsonby (born 1975) • Hon. Henry Ponsonby (born 1977)
Title succession chart Relationship with other Ponsonby families The baronies
Ponsonby of Shulbrede and
de Mauley are in the remainder for the earldom of Bessborough. The present holders –
Frederick Ponsonby, 4th Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, and
Rupert Ponsonby, 7th Baron de Mauley – are both fifth cousins of the 12th Earl of Bessborough (and of each other, both being descendants of younger sons of the 3rd Earl; see chart below). It is however unlikely that either of them would inherit the earldom, as the 12th Earl has two sons and a grandson, as well as two younger halfbrothers, both of whom with male issue. There is also an unbroken line of male descendants from the fourth son of the 7th Earl. ==See also==