Batting style Right-hand bat Role Cricket Player Name Spencer Ponsonby-Fane | 1862 Middlesex 1848–1858 Surrey | |
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Full name Spencer Cecil Brabazon Ponsonby Born 14 March 1824 ( 1824-03-14 ) Mayfair, Westminster, London, England Relations John Ponsonby, 5th Earl of Bessborough, Frederick Ponsonby, 6th Earl of Bessborough (brothers), John Henry Ponsonby (son), Spencer Gore (nephew), Richard Ponsonby-Fane (grandson) 1841–1862 Marylebone Cricket Club Died December 1, 1915, Yeovil, United Kingdom | ||
Sir Spencer Cecil Brabazon Ponsonby-Fane, (14 March 1824 – 1 December 1915), né Ponsonby, was an English cricketer and civil servant.
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He was born in 1824 in Mayfair, the sixth son of John Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough.
Cricket
Ponsonby played for both Middlesex and Surrey, and later administered Somerset and Harrow Cricket Club. He was one of the founders of I Zingari in 1845.
Government service
Ponsonby joined the Foreign Office in 1840. He was Private Secretary to three Foreign Secretaries: Lord Palmerston 1846–1851, Lord Granville 1851–1852, and Lord Clarendon 1853–1857. In 1856 he brought from Paris the definitive copy of the peace treaty for the Crimean War. Later he was Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office 1857–1901, Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State 1901–1915 and Bath King of Arms 1904–1915.
Family
Ponsonby-Fane married, on 7 October 1847, Honourable Louisa Anne Rose Lee Dillon (1825–1902), daughter of Henry Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon. Lady Ponsonby-Fane died at their estate on 18 July 1902. They had eleven children:
In 1875, he changed his surname to Ponsonby-Fane upon inheriting the estate of Brympton d'Evercy from his aunt, Lady Georgiana Fane. He spent the remainder of his life there improving the gardens until he died in 1915.