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Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow

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(Redirected from Violet, Countess of Onslow) British nobleman and politician For other people named Richard Onslow, see Richard Onslow (disambiguation).

The Right HonourableThe Earl of OnslowGBE GCStJ PC DL
1928 portrait
Chairman of Committees
In office
1931–1944
MonarchsGeorge V
Edward VIII
George VI
Lord ChancellorThe Viscount Sankey
The Viscount Hailsham
The Viscount Maugham
The Viscount Caldecote
The Viscount Simon
Preceded byThe Earl of Donoughmore
Succeeded byThe Lord Stanmore
Paymaster General
In office
1928–1929
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin
Preceded byThe Duke of Sutherland
Succeeded byThe Lord Arnold
Under-Secretary of State for War
In office
1924–1928
Prime MinisterStanley Baldwin
SecretaryThe Earl of Derby
Preceded byClement Attlee
Succeeded byThe Duke of Sutherland
Personal details
Born(1876-08-23)23 August 1876
Died9 June 1945(1945-06-09) (aged 68)
Guildford, Surrey, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse Violet Marcia Catherine Warwick Bampfylde ​ ​(m. 1906)​
Children2
Parents
Alma materNew College, Oxford

Richard William Alan Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow (23 August 1876 – 9 June 1945), styled Viscount Cranley until 1911, was a British peer, diplomat, parliamentary secretary and government minister.

Background and education

Viscount Cranley was the eldest son of William Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow, and Florence Coulston Gardner. He was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford before joining the Diplomatic Service in 1901.

Diplomatic career

He became an attaché to Madrid a year later, Third Secretary to Tangier in 1903 and to St Petersburg in 1904 and Second Secretary to Berlin in 1907. In 1909, he became assistant private secretary to Sir Edward Grey, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He then held a number of positions in the Foreign Office as a clerk in 1910, private secretary to the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1911 to 1913 and assistant clerk from 1913 to 1914.

Military career

Onslow joined the army on the outbreak of World War I in 1914, being commissioned as a second lieutenant on 15 June 1915. He was mentioned in despatches three times, received an OBE and the French Legion of Honour. In later years he was honorary lieutenant-colonel of the 3rd Battalion Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) and honorary colonel of the 30th (Surrey) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery.

Political career

Onslow had succeeded to his father's title and seat in the House of Lords in 1911. After the war, he was a Lord-in-waiting from 1919 to 1920, a Civil Lord of the Admiralty from 1920 to 1921, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1921, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health from 1921 to 1923, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education from 1923 to 1924, Under-Secretary of State for War and vice-president of the Army Council from 1924 to 1928, and chairman of the Committees and Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords from 1931 to 1944.

Onslow was also president of the Royal Statistical Society from 1905 to 1906 and president of the Zoological Society of London from 1936 to 1942.

Onslow was the donor of 6 acres (2.4 ha) of land at the top of Stag Hill, Guildford in 1933 on which Guildford Cathedral was built.

Writings

Onslow devoted much of his retirement to writing, producing The Empress Maud (1939); Sixty-three Years: Diplomacy, the Great War and Politics, with Notes on Travel, Sport and Other Things (1939), which went through several editions; and The Dukes of Normandy and Their Origin (1945), which was completed in the year of his death and published posthumously.

Family

Lord Onslow married Violet Marcia Catherine Warwick Bampfylde, the only daughter of Coplestone Bampfylde, 3rd Baron Poltimore, on 22 February 1906. They had two children:

Lord Onslow died on 9 June 1945, aged 68, and was succeeded in the peerage by his only son.

As Dowager Countess of Onslow, Violet gave the future Queen Elizabeth II a diamond and ruby butterfly brooch as a wedding gift in 1947. She died on 23 October 1954.

References

  1. "No. 29214". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 2 July 1915. p. 6439.
  2. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 100th Edn, London, 1953.
  3. Army List 1927–39.
  4. "Royal Statistical Society Presidents". Royal Statistical Society. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  5. ZSL (1995). The Zoological Society of London. The Charter and Byelaws.
  6. Basset, Anita (July 1964). A Factual Guide to Guildford Cathedral. Guildford Cathedral.
  7. "The Diamond and Ruby Butterfly Brooch". From Her Majesty's Jewel Vault blog.
Political offices
Preceded byThe Earl of Jersey Lord-in-waiting
1919–1920 		Succeeded byThe Earl of Lucan
Preceded byThe Earl of Lytton Civil Lord of the Admiralty
1920–1921 		Succeeded byBolton Eyres-Monsell
VacantTitle last held bySir Arthur Griffith-Boscawen Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
5 April–7 April 1921 		Succeeded byThe Earl of Ancaster
Preceded byWaldorf Astor Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health
1921–1923 		Succeeded byLord Eustace Percy
Preceded byLord Eustace Percy Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education
1923–1924 		Succeeded byMorgan Jones
Preceded byClement Attlee Under-Secretary of State for War
1924–1928 		Succeeded byThe Duke of Sutherland
Preceded byThe Duke of Sutherland Paymaster General
1928–1929 		Succeeded byThe Lord Arnold
Preceded byThe Earl of Donoughmore Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords
1931–1944 		Succeeded byThe Lord Stanmore
Academic offices
Preceded bySir Francis Powell, Bt President of the Royal Statistical Society
1905–1906 		Succeeded bySir Richard Martin, Bt
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded byWilliam Hillier Onslow Earl of Onslow
1911–1945 		Succeeded byWilliam Arthur Bampfylde Onslow
Paymasters general of the United Kingdom
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