Thomas Ponsonby, 3rd Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede
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 Henry Herbert Ponsonby, 2nd Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, and his wife 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 Kensington and Chelsea council from 1956 to 1965 and then as an Alderman from 1964 to 1974. He then became an Alderman of Greater London Council from 1970 to 1977 and was elected Chairman of the Council from 1976 to 1977.
He succeeded to his title 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 Labour Chief Whip in the House of Lords in 1982, defeating Lord Strabolgi. He served as Opposition Chief Whip until his death in 1990.
He was a Governor of the London School of Economics from 1970 to 1990. He was also an active member of the Fabian Society, serving for a time as its general secretary.[2]
Marriage and family[]
He had married twice:
- firstly Ursula Mary Fox-Pitt, the daughter of Cdr Thomas Stanley Lane Fox-Pitt of Devon, with whom he had a son and three daughters, and
- secondly Maureen Estelle Campbell-Teich, the widow of Dr Paul Campbell-Teich of Geneva, Switzerland.
He was succeeded by his son, Frederick Ponsonby, 4th Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede.[3]
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References[]
- ^ "ADDRESS IN REPLY TO HER MAJESTY'S MOST GRACIOUS SPEECH HL Deb 30 November 1976 vol 378 cc137-270". Historic Hansard.
- ^ House of Lords Debates 14 June 1990 c 401–404
- ^ "Ponsonby of Shulbrede, Baron (UK, 1930)". Retrieved 2012-07-19.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage. 2000.
- 1930 births
- 1990 deaths
- Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
- Ponsonby family
- Members of London County Council
- Labour Party (UK) councillors
- Labour Party (UK) hereditary peers
- Councillors in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
- General Secretaries of the Fabian Society
- British politician stubs
- Peerage of the United Kingdom baron stubs