Denzil Onslow

Who was Denzil Onslow?

Denzil Onslow 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.

He was the son of Richard Onslow and Sarah Manning, and grandson of Sir Henry Onslow, of Drungewick, who was a younger son of Sir Richard Onslow. 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. They had three sons:

Denzil [Denzell] Onslow

Middleton Onslow

Capt. Richard Onslow

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