the Westminster House of Commons, voting against the Addington and Pitt ministries and in favour of the Prince of Wales and Catholic Emancipation. His influence was declining, however, and by 1803 effective leadership of the Irish whigs had passed to his brother George. Peerage By the time Fox regained office in 1806 as member of Grenville's Ministry of All the Talents, Ponsonby's health was poor, with the result that his wife urgently pressed his claims for a peerage, arguing that it was merited by his opposition to the Regency Bill and the Union, and by his staunch support for the Foxite whigs at Westminster. As a consequence, he was raised swiftly to the peerage of the United Kingdom on 13 March 1806. He was gazetted as 'Baron Ponsonby, of Imokilly in the County of Cork', although other sources generally refer to him as 'Baron Ponsonby of Imokilly'. He died in Seymour Street, London, on 5 November 1806, and was buried in Ireland. Testimonials At a personal level Edmund Burke described Ponsonby in a letter to Lord Charlemont as "a manly, decided character, with ... a clear and vigorous understanding." He was as interested in sport as he was in politics and was said to have kept 'the best hunting establishment in Ireland' at Bishopscourt, his seat in County Kildare, where it was also reported that he lived 'in the most hospitable and princely style' (Cokayne, The Complete Peerage). In addition, he was easily irritated, especially if his status and pretensions went unacknowledged. Thus, although he took a leading part in creating a whig opposition in Ireland in the 1790s, he overplayed his hand under FitzWilliam, and his effectiveness was thereafter limited. Family In 1769 Ponsonby married Louisa Molesworth (1749–1824), 4th daughter of the 3rd Viscount Molesworth, and his second wife, Mary Usher. They had five sons, four of whom were men of note and one daughter. John Ponsonby, 1st Viscount Ponsonby, was a diplomat Hon. Sir William Ponsonby, a major-general in the army was killed at the Battle of Waterloo Richard Ponsonby, became bishop of Killaloe and Kilfenora in 1828, Derry in 1831 and Derry and Raphoe in 1834; George Ponsonby was a Member of Parliament and Junior Lord of the Treasury. Mary was married to the Prime Minister, Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey. Ponsonby's descendants include Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, Sir Alec Douglas-Home and Prince William of