Henry Ponsonby
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Major General The Right Honourable Sir Henry Ponsonby GCB |
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| Private Secretary to the Sovereign | |
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In office 1870–1895 |
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| Monarch | Queen Victoria |
| Preceded by | Sir Charles Grey |
| Succeeded by | Sir Arthur Bigge |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 December 1825 |
| Died | 21 November 1895 (aged 69) |
| Nationality | British |
Major General Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby GCB (10 December 1825 – 21 November 1895) was a British soldier and royal court official who served as Queen Victoria's Private Secretary.
Born in Corfu, he was the son of the British Army general, Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby.
He entered the army on 27 December 1842 as an ensign in the 49th Regiment of Foot. Transferred to the Grenadier Guards, he became a lieutenant on 16 February 1844, captain on 18 July 1848, and major on 19 October 1849. From 1847 to 1858 he was aide-de-camp to Lord Clarendon and Lord St. Germans, successively lord-lieutenants of Ireland. He served through the Crimean campaigns of 1855–56, becoming lieutenant-colonel on 31 Aug. 1855; for the action before Sebastopol he received a medal with clasp, the Turkish medal, and the Order of the Medjidie, 3rd Class. After the peace he was appointed equerry to Albert, Prince Consort, who greatly valued his services. On 2 August 1860 he became colonel, and in 1862, after the death of the prince, he was sent to Canada in command of a battalion of the Grenadier Guards which was stationed in the colony during the American Civil War. On 6 March 1868 he became a major-general.
Ponsonby embellished letters to his children at Eton with a series of illustrations in which he concealed the school's address. It was a family quirk continued by his son, Arthur Ponsonby, and recently revived by descendant Harriet Russell. His letters bore addresses appearing as doodled signposts in snowstorms or as huge envelopes shouldered by tiny people.
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