Maria Fane

Maria Ponsonby, Viscountess Duncannon (née Lady Maria Fane), was born on 11 May 1787 and died on 19 March 1834. She was an English aristocrat and the wife of John Ponsonby, who later became the 4th Earl of Bessborough. Although she died before her husband's inheritance of the earldom, three of her sons inherited the title successively.

She was the daughter of John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland, and his first wife, Sarah Anne Child. Her family included her brother, John Fane, 11th Earl of Westmorland, and sisters Sarah Villiers, Countess of Jersey, Lady Augusta Fane (later Lady Boringdon), and Lady Charlotte Fane.

On 16 November 1805, at Berkeley Square, London, Lady Maria Fane married John Ponsonby, who was then known as Viscount Duncannon. The couple had a total of fourteen children—eight sons and six daughters.

Her children included:

- Lady Georgiana Sarah Ponsonby (1807–1861), who married Reverend Sackville Bourke, nephew of the Earl of Mayo, and had five children.

- John George Brabazon Ponsonby (1809–1880), who became the 5th Earl of Bessborough. He was married twice, first to Lady Frances Charlotte Lambton and second to Lady Caroline Amelia Gordon-Lennox, but had no children.

- William Wentworth Brabazon Ponsonby (1812–1831), who died unmarried.

- Lady Augusta Lavinia Priscilla Ponsonby (1814–1904), who married William Petty-FitzMaurice, Earl of Kerry, producing one child, and later married Charles Alexander Gore Frederick George Brabazon, 6th Earl of Bessborough, who died unmarried.

- Lady Emily Charlotte Mary Ponsonby (1817–1877), who remained unmarried and was an author of novels published anonymously.

- Lady Maria Jane Elizabeth Ponsonby (1819–1897), who married Hon. Charles Ponsonby, 2nd Baron de Mauley, and had children.

- Hon. George Arthur Brabazon Ponsonby (1820–1841), died unmarried.

- Reverend Walter William Brabazon Ponsonby (1821–1906), who married Lady Louisa Susan Cornwallis Eliot and had children.

- Rt. Hon. Sir Spencer Cecil Ponsonby-Fane (1824–1915), who married Louisa Anne Rose Lee Dillon and inherited the estate of Brympton d’Evercy from his mother's half-sister.

- Lady Harriet Frederica Anne Ponsonby (1825–1900).

- Lady Kathleen Louisa Georgina Ponsonby (1826–1863), who married Frederick Edward Bunbury Tighe but had no children.

- Hon. Cecil Robert Brabazon (1828), died in infancy.

- Hon. Gerald Henry Brabazon Ponsonby (1829–1908), who married Lady Maria Emma Catherine Coventry and had children.

Lady Duncannon died after several months of illness in 1834 at her residence in Cavendish Square, London, at the age of 46. Her death coincated with her daughter Lady Augusta's wedding. Her husband survived her until 1847, when he died at age 65. He was succeeded in the earldom by their eldest son, John, followed by their younger sons Frederick and Walter.

Her descendants include prominent figures such as her grandson Spencer Gore, who won the first Wimbledon singles title in 1877, and the Rt. Rev. Charles Gore, Bishop of Oxford. Through Spencer Gore, she was an ancestor of the artists Spencer "Freddie" Gore and Frederick Gore.