The son of the second earl whom he succeeded in 1793; educated at Christ Church, Oxford, he was an opposition MP for Knaresborough (1780-93). He was the father of Lady Caroline Lamb.

REFERENCES TO Sir Frederick Ponsonby, third earl of Bessborough:

Duchess of Devonshire to Lady Melbourne, [24 November 1802] in In Whig Society 1775-1818: Compiled from the hitherto unpublished Correspondence of Elizabeth, Viscountess Melbourne, and Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper, afterwards Viscountess Palmerston (London: Hodder and Stoughton LTD., 1921)

William Lamb to Lady Melbourne, 30 September 1812 in In Whig Society 1775-1818: Compiled from the hitherto unpublished Correspondence of Elizabeth, Viscountess Melbourne, and Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper, afterwards Viscountess Palmerston (London: Hodder and Stoughton LTD., 1921)

John Whishaw to Thomas Smith, 8 November 1815 in The “Pope” of Holland House: Selections from the Correspondence of John Whishaw and his Friends 1813-1840 (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1906)

Lady Holland to Eleanor Creevey, 21 May 1816 in The Creevey Papers: A Selection from the Correspondence & Diaries of the late Thomas Creevey, M.P. (London: John Murray, 1903)

Lady Caroline Lamb to William Godwin, [April 1822?] in William Godwin: his Friends and Contemporaries (London: Henry S. King & Co., 1876)

William Ponsonby to Lady Morgan, [May 1823] in Lady Morgan’s Memoirs: Autobiography, Diaries and Correspondence. Second Edition, Revised 2 vols (London: Wm. H. Allen & Co., 1863)

William Godwin to Lady Caroline Lamb, 20 September 1823 in William Godwin: his Friends and Contemporaries (London: Henry S. King & Co., 1876)

Lady Caroline Lamb to Lady Morgan, [June 1825?] in Lady Morgan’s Memoirs: Autobiography, Diaries and Correspondence. Second Edition, Revised 2 vols (London: Wm. H. Allen & Co., 1863)

Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 15 March 1827 in The Creevey Papers: A Selection from the Correspondence & Diaries of the late Thomas Creevey, M.P. (London: John Murray, 1903)

Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 15 September 1828 in The Creevey Papers: A Selection from the Correspondence & Diaries of the late Thomas Creevey, M.P. (London: John Murray, 1903)