- Vere Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough
Infobox Governor General
honorific-prefix =Captain The Right Honourable
name = Vere Brabazon Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough
honorific-suffix = GCMG PC LLD (UoT, "hc") LLD (UoO, "hc") LLD (MU, "hc")
order = 14th
office = Governor General of Canada
monarch = George V
primeminister =R. B. Bennett ,William Lyon Mackenzie King
term_start =April 4 ,1931
term_end =November 2 ,1935
predecessor = Freeman Freeman-Thomas, Marquess of Willingdon
successor = John Buchan, Baron Tweedsmuir
birth_date = birth date|1880|10|27|mf=y
birth_place =London ,England
death_date = death date and age|1956|03|10|1880|10|27
death_place =London ,England
spouse = Roberte Ponsonby
profession =Businessman
religion =Anglican |Captain Vere Brabazon Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough GCMG PC (October 27 ,1880 –March 10 ,1956 ) was a British Conservative Party politician, andGovernor General of Canada from 1931 to 1935.Born in
London , Ponsonby attended Harrow andTrinity College, Cambridge then went onto a career in law in 1903. OnJune 25 ,1925 , he married Roberte de Neuflize, the only daughter ofBaron Jean de Neuflize ofParis . They had four children.Lord Bessborough held public office prior to becoming Governor General. He held a seat in the
London County Council from 1907 to 1910 and was elected to theBritish House of Commons asMember of Parliament for Cheltenham from January 1910 to December 1910, and for Dover from 1913 to 1920.Upon the death of his father, he succeeded to the Earldom in the Irish peerage as 9th Earl of Bessborough and entered the House of Lords.
After World War I, he pursued a successful business career, holding directorships in several large commercial firms including deputy chairman of De Beers Consolidated Mines.
After
Canada , Bessborough returned to the business world and onJune 2 ,1937 , he was created 1st Earl of Bessborough in the United Kingdom for his services in Canada.During the Second World War, he helped establish a department in the Foreign Office that looked after the welfare of French refugees in Britain. He made one last visit to
Canada in 1956 and died inStansted in 1957.The
Hotel Bessborough , a local landmark inSaskatoon, Saskatchewan , is named in his honour.External links
* [http://www.gg.ca/gg/fgg/bios/01/bessborough_e.asp Office of the Secretary to the Governor General biography]
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