ONSLOW, Thomas Cranley (1778-1861), of Stoke Park, Surr.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1806 - 1818

Family and Education

b. 7 Oct. 1778, 2nd s. of Hon. Thomas Onslow*. educ. Harrow 1791. m. 28 May 1812, Susannah Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Nathaniel Hillier of Stoke Park, 4s. 2da.

Offices Held

Ensign, 3 Ft. Gds. 1795, lt. and capt. 1798, capt. and lt.-col. 1805, ret. 1812; col. 2 R. Surr. militia 1812-54.

Biography

Onslow succeeded his father, whose favourite he was, as Member for Guildford on the family interest, his elder brother being snubbed for his benefit. The contests of 1806 and 1807 were not directed against him. He was listed ‘adverse’ to the abolition of the slave trade in his first Parliament, but his military duties, which subsequently took him to the Peninsula, must have restricted his attendance until 1812, when he came home with a medal and transferred to a militia command. The Whigs had listed him ‘doubtful’ in 1810. He was listed a Treasury supporter after the election of 1812. Having voted against Catholic relief on 22 June 1812, he did so again, twice in May 1813, in 1816 and in 1817. On 7 Mar. 1816 he took a few days’ leave of the House. His only other known votes were with ministers for the continuation of the property tax, 18 Mar., and on the civil list, 24 May 1816. No speech is known. He did not seek re-election in 1818.

Onslow, whose grandson became the 4th Earl of Onslow, died 7 July 1861.

C. E. Vulliamy, Onslow Fam. 237.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: Brian Murphy

Notes