George Onslow

Who was George Onslow?

George Onslow was a British politician and army officer, the eldest son of Richard Onslow and his second wife Pooley, and the nephew of Arthur Onslow, Speaker of the House of Commons.

Onslow was born in Guildford, Surrey in 1731. He entered the British Army as an ensign in the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards on 17 February 1748 and became a captain in John Guise's Regiment of Foot on 12 January 1751.

Onslow married Jane Thorpe on 29 July 1752. They had five children:

Richard Onslow

Pooley Onslow, married on 23 January 1788 Rear Admiral Sir Francis Samuel Drake, 1st Baronet; married on 13 June 1801 Arthur Onslow

George Onslow

Rev. George Walton Onslow

Rev. Arthur Onslow, married Marianna Campbell, by whom he was grandfather of Arthur Alexander Walton Onslow and Alexander Onslow, and ancestor of Cranley Onslow; married Caroline Mangles, by whom he was the ancestor of the Hughes-Onslow family.

Onslow continued to rise in the Army, and was promoted major in the 57th Regiment of Foot on 3 August 1757. He returned to his original regiment, the Foot Guards, in 27 March 1759 with the rank of captain-lieutenant and was promoted lieutenant-colonel on 7 November 1759. He entered the House of Commons in March 1760 upon the death of his father, replacing him as one of the members for Guildford. He was known as "Colonel Onslow" in the Commons to distinguish him from his first cousin George Onslow, later Earl of Onslow.