Richard William Alan Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow (23 August 1876 – 9 June 1945), styled Viscount Cranley until 1911, was a British

peer Peer may refer to: Sociology * Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group * Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm" Computing * Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a ne ...

, 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 New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

before joining the

Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

in 1901.

Diplomatic career

He became an

attaché In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

a year later,

Third Secretary Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings ...

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...

in 1903 and to

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in 1904 and

Second Secretary Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seatings ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

in 1907. In 1909, he became assistant private secretary to Sir Edward Grey, the

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

. He then held a number of positions in the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

as a clerk in 1910, private secretary to the

Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs is a vacant junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to the Minister of State for Foreign Affa ...

from 1911 to 1913 and assistant clerk from 1913 to 1914.

Military career

Onslow joined the army on the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

in 1914, being commissioned as a second lieutenant on 15 June 1915. He was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

three times, received an OBE and the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

. In later years he was honorary lieutenant-colonel of the 3rd Battalion

Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) was a line infantry regiment of the English and later the British Army from 1661 to 1959. It was the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, behind only the Royal Scots in the British Ar ...

and honorary colonel of the

30th (Surrey) Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery 30th (Surrey) Searchlight Regiment was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army from 1924 until 1961. During World War II it served in The Blitz and later in the Tunisian and Italian Campaigns, while detachments from the regiment serv ...

Political career

Onslow had succeeded to his father's title and seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

in 1911. After the war, he was a

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (withou ...

from 1919 to 1920, a Civil Lord of the Admiralty from 1920 to 1921,

Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries was a junior ministerial office in the British government, serving under the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. The title changed to Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of ...

in 1921, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health from 1921 to 1923,

Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education was a junior ministerial office in the United Kingdom Government. The Board of Education Act 1899 abolished the Committee of the Privy Council which had been responsible for education matters an ...

from 1923 to 1924,

Under-Secretary of State for War The position of Under-Secretary of State for War was a British government position, first applied to Evan Nepean (appointed in 1794). In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged and the post became that of Under-Secretary of State fo ...

and vice-president of the Army Council from 1924 to 1928, and chairman of the Committees and Deputy Speaker of the

from 1931 to 1944. Onslow was also

president of the Royal Statistical Society The president of the Royal Statistical Society is the head of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), elected biennially by the Fellows of the Society. (The time-period between elections has varied in the past, and in fact elections only rarely occur ...

from 1905 to 1906 and president of the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

from 1936 to 1942.

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: * Lady Mary Florence Violet Margaret Onslow * William Arthur Bampfylde Onslow, 6th Earl of Onslow (born 11 June 1913, died 3 June 1971) 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 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

a diamond and ruby butterfly brooch as a wedding gift in 1947. She died on 23 October 1954.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Onslow, Richard Onslow, 5th Earl 1876 births 1945 deaths Bailiffs Grand Cross of the Order of St John British Army personnel of World War I Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting Deputy Lieutenants of Surrey 5 Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society Presidents of the Zoological Society of London United Kingdom Paymasters General People educated at Eton College Alumni of New College, Oxford Lords of the Admiralty