John Ponsonby, PC (Ire) (29 March 1713 – 16 August 1787) was an Anglo-Irish politician. He was Speaker of the Irish House of Commons between 1756 and 1771, a period in which the legislative independence of the Kingdom of Ireland was increasingly asserted and tested.
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Early life
Ponsonby was the second son of Brabazon Ponsonby, who was created the Earl of Bessborough in 1739, and his first wife, Sarah Margetson Colvill. He was the grandson of William Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Duncannon. He was admitted to Trinity College Dublin on 6 April 1730, but there is no evidence that he ever graduated.
Parliamentary career
In 1739, Ponsonby entered the Irish House of Commons for Newtownards and was soon aligned to his father's faction, which sought to reduce the influence of Henry Boyle. When Boyle resigned as speaker in 1756, Ponsonby was the only credible alternative and he was elected speaker unopposed. He was re-elected to the chair in 1761 and 1769. He also served as First Commissioner of the Revenue and he became a member of the Privy Council of Ireland in 1746. In 1761, Ponsonby was elected for County Kilkenny and Armagh, and sitting for the former. In 1768, he stood also for Gowran and Newtownards, and in 1776 for Carlow, but chose each time County Kilkenny, which he represented until 1783. Subsequently, Ponsonby was again returned for Newtownards and sat for this constituency until his death in 1787.