Sir Arthur Onslow, 1st Baronet (1622 – 21 July 1688), was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

at various times between 1641 and 1685.

Life

Onslow was the eldest son of Sir Richard Onslow and was baptised on 23 April 1622. His father was an important Parliamentarian from

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

during the Civil War. Onslow was educated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

, in 1639 and at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1640. In 1641, Onslow was elected Member of Parliament for

Bramber Bramber is a former Manorialism, manor, village and civil parish in the Horsham (district), Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It has a ruined mediaeval castle which was the ''caput'' of a large English feudal barony, feudal barony. B ...

in the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

. He took an active role in political affairs during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. In 1654 he was elected MP for

in the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the H ...

and was re-elected in 1656 for the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first sess ...

, and in 1659 for the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

. In 1660, he was elected MP for

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

in the Convention Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Surrey in 1661 for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...

. On 8 May 1674, Onslow obtained a patent in reversion to succeed to his father-in-law Thomas Foote's baronetcy upon his death without heirs, with the precedence of the original creation. He became, therefore, a baronet upon Foote's death in 1687, but died less than a year later, and was succeeded by his eldest son

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

Family

Onslow's first wife was Rose Stoughton (d. 1647), daughter of Nicholas Stoughton, by whom he had no children. His second wife was Mary Foote, daughter of Sir

Thomas Foote Sir Thomas Foote, 1st Baronet (1598 – 12 October 1687) was a wealthy Citizen and grocer of London. He was Lord Mayor of the City of London in 1649. During the Protectorate he was knighted by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell in 1657, and af ...

, a wealthy London grocer who was created a baronet in 1660. By her he had several children, including: *

(1654–1717), became Baron Onslow, Speaker of the House of Commons (1708–1710), Lord Treasurer,

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...

, etc. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Tulse, and had Thomas, 2nd Lord Onslow. *Foot Onslow (born 1655, died 11 May 1710), who was Commissioner of Excise (1694–1710). *Arthur, who died unmarried. *Henry, who died unmarried. *Mary, who married Sir Robert Reeve, 2nd Baronet of Thwaite. *Catherine Onslow (d. 14 March 1731), married Sir William Clerke, 3rd Baronet of Hitcham. *Elizabeth, who died unmarried.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Onslow, Arthur, 1st Baronet 1622 births 1688 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Members of Lincoln's Inn Arthur, 1st Baronet