Denzil Onslow of Stoughton ( – 15 November 1765) of

Mickleham, Surrey Mickleham is a village in south east England, between the towns of Dorking and Leatherhead in Surrey. The civil parish covers and includes the hamlet of Fredley. The larger ecclesiastical parish includes the majority of the neighbouring villag ...

was a British politician. A member of the influential Onslow family of Surrey, he held a number of lucrative Government posts, and died owing a relatively large sum to the Treasury through mismanagement of his accounts.

Personal life

He was the son of Richard Onslow (d. 1719) and Sarah Manning, and grandson of Sir Henry Onslow, of Drungewick, who was a younger son of

Sir Richard Onslow Sir Richard Onslow (1601 – 19 May 1664) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons at various times between 1628 and 1664. He fought on the Roundhead, Parliamentary side during the English Civil War ...

. His mother was Sarah, daughter of Thomas Calvert. A member of a junior branch of the Onslow family, which held a powerful Parliamentary interest in Surrey, he married Anne Middleton, the daughter of his second cousin Anne and

Thomas Middleton Thomas Middleton (baptised 18 April 1580 – July 1627; also spelt ''Midleton'') was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. He, with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson, was among the most successful and prolific of playwrights at work in the Jac ...

. They had three sons: *Denzil enzellOnslow (29 Jan 1731 – bef. 1765) * Middleton Onslow (17 April 1732 – 1801) *Capt. Richard Onslow (1734 – aft. 1765)

Career

Denzil succeeded his second cousin Richard Onslow in 1727 as receiver general of the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

when the latter wished to enter Parliament on the family interest at Guildford. Denzil, in turn, gave up the office when he, too, entered Parliament for Guildford in 1740 at a by-election, triggered when his nephew

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

succeeded to a peerage. Elected again in 1741, he was a consistent supporter of the Government, and was appointed in 1743 as Paymaster of the

Works Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * '' ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album)'', a Pink Floyd album from 1983 * ''Works'', a Gary Burton album ...

. He did not stand again at the election of 1747, as the Place Act 1742 made incompatible his seat on the Board of Works with a place in Parliament. He was questioned over errors in his Post Office accounts in 1748, but remained paymaster until 1755. In 1753, he inherited Kevington Hall (which has been remodelled internally into the county primary school of St Mary Cray, Greater London) from his first cousin, Richard Manning. He became instead a commissioner of stamp duties until 1757, and then of the salt office until his death in 1765. In 1764, the Treasury was inquiring into his arrears as Paymaster of the Works, and he died owing over £1500 () to the Treasury, a debt still unsettled in 1783.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onslow, Denzil Year of birth uncertain 1698 births 1765 deaths British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Guildford Denzil