Henry Ponsonby
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Sir Henry Ponsonby | |
---|---|
Private Secretary to the Sovereign | |
In office 1870–1895 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Preceded by | Sir Charles Grey |
Succeeded by | Sir Arthur Bigge |
Personal details | |
Born | Henry Frederick Ponsonby 10 December 1825 Corfu, United States of the Ionian Islands British Protectorate |
Died | 21 November 1895 East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom | (aged 69)
Nationality | British |
Spouse | Mary Elizabeth Bulteel |
Children | 5, including Frederick and Arthur |
Parent(s) | Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby Lady Emily Charlotte Bathurst |
Biography
Born in
He entered the army on 27 December 1842 as an ensign in the
He served as Keeper of the Privy Purse and Private Secretary to Queen Victoria. His appointment occurred on 8 April 1870, after the death of the previous Private Secretary, General Sir Charles Grey.
On 6 January 1895 he was paralysed by a stroke, leading to his retirement from office in May that year. He died on 21 November at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. He was buried there at St Mildred's Church, Whippingham, not far from Osborne House. In 1895 he received the Queen Victoria Version of the Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal for 25 years of service to the Royal Family (April 1870 - May 1895).
Family
On 30 April 1861, Ponsonby married Hon. Mary Elizabeth Bulteel,
- Alberta Victoria Ponsonby (6 May 1862 – 15 October 1945)
- Magdalen Ponsonby (24 June 1864 – 1 July 1934)
- John Ponsonby (25 March 1866 – 26 March 1952)
- Frederick Edward Grey Ponsonby (16 September 1867 – 20 October 1935)
- Arthur Augustus William Harry Ponsonby (16 February 1871 – 24 March 1946)
Both Arthur and Mary Ponsonby contributed pseudonymously to magazines and newspapers of the day.[3]
Ponsonby embellished letters to his children at Eton with a series of illustrations in which he concealed the school's address. It was a family quirk continued by his son Arthur, and recently revived by descendant Harriet Russell. His letters bore addresses appearing as doodled signposts in snowstorms or as huge envelopes shouldered by tiny people.[4]
Legacy
Ponsonby's son Arthur wrote a biography of him which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1942: Henry Ponsonby, Queen Victoria's Private Secretary: His Life from His Letters.[citation needed]
In the film
References
- ^ Armorial Families, A Complete Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, and a Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-armour, and Being the First Attempt to Show which Arms in Use at the Moment are Borne by Legal Authority, Part 1, A. C. Fox-Davies, 1895, p. 799
- ^ Lodge 1867, p. 62.
- ^ Ponsonby, p. 37.
- ^ "Return to sender: Artist puts Royal Mail to the test". The Independent. 8 October 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
- ^ "Victoria & Abdul". HistoryvsHollywood.com. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
Bibliography
- Lodge, Edmund (1867). The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing. Hurst and Blackett.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Ponsonby, Frederic Cavendish". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- Henry and Mary Ponsonby: Life at the Court of Queen Victoria (Duckworth, London, 2003) ISBN 978-0715632307