Thomas Ponsonby, 3rd Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede explained

Honorific Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
Office:Member of the House of Lords
Status:Lord Temporal
Term Start:14 June 1976
Predecessor:The 2nd Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede
Term End:13 June 1990
Successor:The 4th Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede
Birth Name:Thomas Arthur Ponsonby
Birth Date:23 October 1930
Party:Labour

Thomas Arthur Ponsonby, 3rd Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede (23 October 1930 – 13 June 1990), was a British hereditary peer and Labour Party politician.

He was the eldest son of Matthew Ponsonby, 2nd Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, and his wife, the Hon. Elizabeth Mary Bigham, daughter of the 2nd Viscount Mersey. He was educated at Bryanston School and Hertford College, Oxford.

Political career

He served in London local government for 20 years, firstly as a council member of the Metropolitan Borough of Kensington from 1956 to 1965 and then as an Alderman of the newly created Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council from 1964 to 1974. He was also an Alderman of the Greater London Council from 1970 to 1977 and served as the Chairman of the Council from 1976 to 1977.

Ponsonby succeeded to the peerage on the death of his father in 1976 and made his maiden speech in the House of Lords on the subject of local government devolution.[1] He was elected as Labour Chief Whip in the House of Lords in 1982, defeating Lord Strabolgi. He served as Opposition Chief Whip until his death in 1990.

Ponsonby was an active member of the Fabian Society, serving as its general secretary from 1964 to 1976, and was a Governor of the London School of Economics from 1970 to 1990.[2]

Marriage and family

He had married twice:

He was succeeded by his son Frederick, who became the 4th Baron.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ADDRESS IN REPLY TO HER MAJESTY'S MOST GRACIOUS SPEECH HL Deb vol 378 cc137-270 . 30 November 1976 . Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).
  2. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1990/jun/14/tributes-to-the-late-lord-ponsonby-of House of Lords Debates 14 June 1990 c 401–404
  3. Web site: Ponsonby of Shulbrede, Baron (UK, 1930) . https://web.archive.org/web/20131014205821/http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/index1101.htm . dead . 14 October 2013 . 2012-07-19.