A True "Friend" of the Diocese Passes On

Cdr Francis Ponsonby LVO, OBE, RN (Retd), died after a short illness on 24th May aged 70. He had been Secretary of the Friends of the Diocese in Europe since 1995.

A great nephew of Bishop Harold Buxton, who from 1933 to 1946 was Bishop of the Diocese of Gibraltar (the forerunner of the current diocese), Francis Ponsonby first became personally associated with the Diocese in Europe while a naval attaché in Oslo, where he worshipped at the Anglican chaplaincy.

In 1994, on the recommendation of staff at the Inter-Continental Church Society (ICS) which sponsors many European chaplaincies, Francis was appointed to oversee the removal of the diocesan office from Kensington to its present site in Tufton Street, at the rear of Church House.

The following year he became the founding-secretary of the Friends of the Diocese, which raises several thousand pounds each year for special projects and training within the diocese. He had been active in the role shortly before he died.

Francis Ponsonby had a distinguished naval career which began with a private lunch with Winston Churchill while he was still a cadet. He became a submarine commander in 1960 and a surface ship commander in 1967. He was a naval attaché in Oslo, and then assistant to the director of public relations (RN) before retiring from the navy.

He joined Vickers Shipbuilding in 1986 as a senior commercial executive, and became Assistant Secretary to the D-notice Committee at the MOD. He was Westminster Correspondent for the tri-service magazine The Officer until his death.

His other church activity included chairing the Petersfield Area Churches Together, and local parish choirmaster and synod representative. He was a devout Christian who managed to touch the widest possible sphere of people both professionally and spiritually.

His funeral has been arranged for Thursday 5 June, at All Saints Church, Steep, Petersfield (Hampshire). He leaves a widow, Sally, and four children. Nicholas, Jane, Simon and Emma.