The Onslow family descends from
Arthur Onslow, who represented
Bramber,
Sussex and
Guildford in the
House of Commons. He was married to Mary, the daughter of
Thomas Foote, who served as
Lord Mayor of London in 1649, and had been created a
baronet in 1660 (a title which became extinct on his death in 1687). In 1674, Onslow himself was created a
baronet in the
Baronetage of England, with the precedence of 1660. Onslow was succeeded by his son, the
second Baronet, who was a prominent politician and served as
Speaker of the House of Commons from 1708 to 1710 and as
Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1713 to 1714. In 1716, he was raised to the
Peerage of Great Britain as
Baron Onslow, of Onslow in the County of Shropshire and of Clandon Park in the County of Surrey, with remainder, failing male issue of his own, to his uncle
Denzil Onslow, and afterwards, to the male heirs of his father. Lord Onslow was succeeded by his son, the
second Baron. He sat as
Member of Parliament for
Gatton,
Chichester,
Bletchingley and
Surrey and served as
Lord Lieutenant of Surrey. His son, the
third Baron, represented Guildford in Parliament and served as Lord Lieutenant of Surrey. He was heirless on his death in 1776. Lord Onslow was succeeded according to the special remainder by his second cousin and heir male of his great-grandfather, who became the
fourth Baron. He was the son of
Arthur Onslow, Speaker of the House of Commons, elder son of Foot Onslow. He was a Member of Parliament for
Rye and Surrey and notably served as
Treasurer of the Household and as
Lord Lieutenant of Surrey. In May 1776, five months before succeeding in the barony of Onslow, he was raised to the Peerage of Great Britain in his own right as
Baron Cranley, of Imber Court in the County of Surrey. In 1801, he was further honoured when he was made
Viscount Cranley, of Cranley in the County of Surrey, and
Earl of Onslow, of Onslow in the County of Shropshire. The latter titles were in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. A grandson,
André George Louis Onslow (1784–1853), was a noted composer, and author of thirty string quartets and other works. His son, the
second Earl, represented Rye and Guildford in the House of Commons and was succeeded by his eldest son, the
third Earl. He died without surviving male issue and was succeeded by his great-nephew, the
fourth Earl. He was the son of George Augustus Cranley Onslow, son of
Thomas Cranley Onslow, second son of the second Earl. Lord Onslow was a prominent
Conservative politician, serving as
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, as
Under-Secretary of State for India, and as
President of the Board of Agriculture and
Governor of New Zealand. His eldest son, the
fifth Earl, was also a Conservative politician; he notably served as
Under-Secretary of State for War and as
Paymaster General during the 1920s. He was succeeded by his son, the
sixth Earl, who served in the Conservative administrations of
Winston Churchill,
Anthony Eden and
Harold Macmillan as
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard (Deputy Chief Whip in the
House of Lords) for nine years. From 1971 to 2011, the titles were held by his son, the
seventh Earl, who succeeded in 1971. The seventh Earl was one of the
ninety elected hereditary peers who remained in the House of Lords after the passing of the
House of Lords Act 1999 and sat, like his ancestors, on the Conservative benches. He is also the only hereditary peer to have appeared as a panellist on
Have I Got News For You. Upon his death on 14 May 2011, he was succeeded by his son, now the
eighth Earl, who inherited
Clandon Park, the 1000-acre agricultural Parkland Estate in Surrey in January 2017. Another member of the Onslow family was the Conservative politician
Cranley Onslow. He was a descendant of George Onslow, eldest son of Lieutenant-General Richard Onslow, nephew of the first Baron and uncle of the first Earl. Also, Admiral
Sir Richard Onslow, 1st Baronet, was the second son of Lieutenant-General Richard Onslow. See
Onslow baronets of Althain for more information on this branch of the family. The family seat of the Earls of Onslow is
Clandon Park in
Surrey. Although Clandon House and gardens were gifted and endowed by the Onslow family to the
National Trust in 1955, the surrounding agricultural estate called Clandon Park, covering over 1,000 acres and including areas of Grade II-listed parkland, remains in the ownership of The Earl and Countess of Onslow. The eighth Earl married Leigh Jones-Fenleigh, at Oakham on 10 September 1999 and they have one daughter. The family's
coat of arms is:
Argent a fess gules between six Cornish choughs proper. The supporters are two
falcons, proper, belled or. The crest is made up of an
eagle sable preying on a
partridge or. The motto is "FESTINA LENTE" (
Latin: Make haste slowly), although "SEMPER FIDELIS" (Always faithful) is also used. The coat of arms is the basis of the badge of Onslow St Audreys School in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. ==Onslow baronets (1674)==