George Ponsonby

George Ponsonby (March 5, 1755 - July 8, 1817), Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.

A barrister, he became a member of the Irish parliament in 1776 and was chancellor of the Irish exchequer in 1782, afterwards taking a prominent part in the debates on the question of Roman Catholic relief, and leading the opposition to the union of the parliaments.

After 1800 Ponsonby represented Wicklow and then Tavistock in the united parliament; in 1806 he was lord chancellor of Ireland, and from 1808 to 1817 he was the official leader of the opposition in the House of Commons. He left an only daughter when he died in London on the 8th of July 1817.