Throughout his cricket career, Bessborough was known as the Hon. Frederic Ponsonby. He played at both Harrow and Cambridge University, batting right-handed. He was an active player until about 1845, after which, due to an arm injury, he could only play sporadically.[2] Ponsonby was a founder of Surrey County Cricket Club and was elected its first vice-president. He was also a founder of I Zingari, and of the Old Stagers amateur theatre company.
Government
He chaired the Bessborough commission on the working of the 1870 Irish Land Act, set up by the second Gladstone administration in June 1880.[3] The commission made radical proposals for increasing the rights of tenants in Ireland.
Personal life
Lord Bessborough died at Westminster on 11 March 1895. He never married, and was succeeded in the earldom by his younger brother, Walter.
He owned 35,000 acres, mostly in Kilkenny and Carlow.[4]
.svg){kind=small}
