The Out-Ranger of Windsor Forest was an official post associated with the

royal forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. The nominal duties of the out-

ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

were to preserve any deer which escaped the bounds of Windsor Forest. (Under forest law, the Sovereign owned all the deer within a royal forest, even though they might not be crown property.) In practice, the office was a sinecure. The first known appointment to the position was that of

Denzil Onslow Denzil Onslow may refer to: * Denzil Onslow (cricketer) (1802-1879) *Denzil Onslow of Pyrford ( – 1721), British politician, Member of Parliament for several constituencies * Denzil Onslow of Stoughton ( – 1765), British politician, Member of Pa ...

in 1686 or 1694. He was deprived of his office in 1711 when the Junto Whigs were crushed. In 1715, the office was granted to Denzil's great-nephew Hon. Thomas Onslow. While it provided an emolument for him, the principal purpose of the appointment was to force Thomas to vacate his seat as Member of Parliament for Guildford, under the terms of the Place Act 1707. By removing him from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

, he could now stand in the by-election for Surrey, which had been vacated when his father

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 ...

was made a

Teller of the Exchequer The Teller of the Receipt of the Exchequer was an office in the English Exchequer. The Tellers of the Exchequer received any money to be paid into the Exchequer, noted the amount in a book, and sent a copy of the entry, called a Teller's Bill, to ...

. (Richard was about to be made a peer, hence his failure to stand in the by-election himself.) Two years later, when Thomas succeeded to his father's barony, Denzil Onslow again received the office for the same reason, vacating his seat at Guildford to successfully contest Surrey. This presaged the use of other offices of profit under the Crown as a means of

resignation from the British House of Commons Members of Parliament (MPs) sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are not permitted to resign their seats. To circumvent this prohibition, MPs who wish to step down are instead appointed to an " office of profit under the Crown", ...

, which became formalised in the offices of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds and Steward of Northstead. Denzil held the office until his death in 1721. Brigadier Richard Munden was appointed in 1722, but died in September 1725. He left his financial affairs considerably entangled, and the underkeepers who performed the duties of the office had to petition for the arrears of their salaries. He was succeeded by

John King, 2nd Baron King John King, 2nd Baron King, FRS (13 January 1706 – 10 February 1740) was an English politician. Biography King was born in London in 1706, the son of Peter King, 1st Baron King, the future Lord Chancellor. He attended Clare College at Cambridge ...

, who had a grant of the office for life in 1726; his brother

Peter King, 3rd Baron King Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

succeeded him in 1740, but the office was again granted to an Onslow in 1754. George Onslow was the second cousin once removed of Thomas, who had held the office until 1717. He held the office until the beginning of 1763, when Fox purged the government of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

's supporters. Onslow MSS, pp. 520–521
/ref> It went to

Lord Charles Spencer Lord Charles Spencer PC (31 March 1740 – 16 June 1820) was a British courtier and politician from the Spencer family who sat in the House of Commons between 1761 and 1801. Background Spencer was the second son of Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of ...

, who lost it on the fall of the Bute Ministry and was replaced by Benjamin Bathurst. Bathurst, in turn, was displaced by the Rockingham administration. The office now passed to Col. George Onslow, first cousin to the previous George, who received a grant of it for life for supporting the ministry. Upon his death, it was given to Viscount Cranley, the son of the first George Onslow, who held it until its abolition in the early 19th century.

Salary and perquisites

The office was originally unsalaried, but after its revival in 1715, it paid £600 per year, of which about £200 had to be dispersed to pay under-keepers. Another source gives the salary as £500 per year, increased to £900 around 1776. It had grown to £1,200 per year when the office was abolished.Hansard, 30 March 1830
/ref> A small lodge named Fan Grove on the edge of Windsor Forest was formerly the property of the out-ranger. It was used as a residence by Admiral

Sir Richard Onslow, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Onslow, 1st Baronet, GCB (23 June 1741 – 27 December 1817) was an English naval officer who played a distinguished role at the Battle of Camperdown. Naval career He was the younger son of Lt-Gen. Richard Onslow and his wife Pool ...

, younger brother of Col. George Onslow.

List of Out-Rangers

1686 or 12 April 1694 – 1711Calendar of State Papers Domestic
/ref> * ''unknown'' 1711 – 1715 * Thomas Onslow 21 November 1715 – 1717 *

18 December 1717 – 27 June 1721 * Brig. Richard Munden 1722 – 19 September 1725 *

1 July 1726 – 10 February 1740 *

18 April 1740 – 22 March 1754 * George Onslow 13 April 1754 – 1763 *

29 January 1763 – April 1763 * Benjamin Bathurst 7 May 1763 – July 1765 * Col. George Onslow 1765–1792 *

Thomas Onslow, 2nd Earl of Onslow Thomas Onslow, 2nd Earl of Onslow (15 March 1754 – 22 February 1827) was an English nobleman and courtier who succeeded to his title in 1814. Originally the Honourable Tom Onslow, he was styled Viscount Cranley from 1801 to 1814. He died in 1 ...

1792–1827R. G. Thorne
ONSLOW, Hon. Thomas (1754-1827), of Harley Street, Mdx. and West Clandon, Surr.
in ''

The History of Parliament The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in w ...

: the House of Commons 1790-1820'' (1986).

References

{{reflist, 30em Ceremonial officers in the United Kingdom Windsor Great Park