Captain Vere Brabazon Ponsonby, 9th Earl of Bessborough GCMG PC (October 27, 1880 – March 10, 1956) was a British Conservative Party politician, and Governor General of Canada from 1931 to 1935.

Born in London, Ponsonby attended Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge then went onto a career in law in 1903. On June 25, 1925, he married Roberte de Neuflize, the only daughter of Baron Jean de Neuflize of Paris. 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 the British House of Commons as Member 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 on June 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 in Stansted in 1957.

The Hotel Bessborough, a local landmark in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is named in his honour.

External links

• Office of the Secretary to the Governor General biography