Maria Ponsonby, Viscountess Duncannon


Maria Ponsonby, Viscountess Duncannon, 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.
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, Lady Augusta Fane and Lady Charlotte Fane.
She married Ponsonby on 16 November 1805 at Berkeley Square, London, when he was known as Viscount Duncannon. They had eight sons and six daughters. 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.
Their children were:
The viscountess died in 1834, aged 46, at her home in Cavendish Square, London. 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.