Richard William Alan Onslow, 5th Earl Onslow GBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

, PC

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

 (23 August 1876 – 9 June 1945), styled Viscount Cranley until 1911, was a British peer

Peerage

The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

, diplomat, parliamentary secretary and government minister.

Background and education

Onslow was the son of William Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow

William Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow

William Hillier Onslow, 4th Earl of Onslow GCMG, PC was a British Conservative politician. He held several governmental positions between 1880 and 1905 and was also Governor of New Zealand between 1889 and 1892....

 and the Honourable Florence Coulston Gardner. He was educated at Eton

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

 and New College, Oxford

New College, Oxford

New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...

 before joining the Diplomatic Service

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 enjoy diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to other countries...

 in 1901.

Diplomatic career

He became an Attaché

Attaché

Attaché is a French term in diplomacy referring to a person who is assigned to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency...

 to Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 a year later, Third Secretary to Tangier

Tangier

Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...

 in 1903 and to St Petersburg in 1904 and Second Secretary to Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

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

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon KG, PC, FZL, DL , better known as Sir Edward Grey, Bt, was a British Liberal statesman. He served as Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916, the longest continuous tenure of any person in that office...

, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He then held a number of positions in the Foreign Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...

 as a clerk in 1910, private secretary to the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

|The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has been a junior position in the British government since 1782, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs...

 from 1911–13 and assistant clerk from 1913-14.

Political career

Onslow had succeeded to his father's title in 1911 and he joined the army on the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 in 1914 and was mentioned in despatches three times. After the war, he was a Lord-in-Waiting

Lord-in-Waiting

Most Lords in Waiting are Government whips in the House of Lords who are members of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. As members of the Royal Household their duties are nominal, though they are occasionally required to meet visiting political and state leaders on visits...

 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

Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health was a junior ministerial office in the United Kingdom Government.The Ministry of Health was created in 1919 as a reconstruction of the Local Government Board...

 from 1921 to 1923, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education

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. In 1899 the Board of Education Act abolished the Committee of the Privy Council which had been responsible for education matters and instituted a new Board from 1 April 1900. The...

 from 1923 to 1924, Under-Secretary of State for War

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 . In 1801 the offices for War and the Colonies were merged and the post became that of Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies...

 and Vice-President of the Army Council

Army Council (1904)

The Army Council is a governing board for the British military organization. It was created in 1904 along with other institutional changes made in that year to the British Army....

 from 1924 to 192828 and Chairman of the Committees and Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 from 1931-44.

Onslow was also President of the Royal Statistical Society

President of the Royal Statistical Society

The President of the Royal Statistical Society is the head of the Royal Statistical Society , elected biannually by the Fellows of the Society. ....

 from 1905 to 1906 and President of the Zoological Society of London

Zoological Society of London

The Zoological Society of London is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats...

 from 1936 to 1942.

Family

Lord Onslow married the Honourable Violet Marcia Catherine Warwick Bampfylde, the only daughter of Coplestone Bampfylde, 3rd Baron Poltimore, on 22 February 1906. They had two children. He died in June 1945, aged 68, and was succeeded by his eldest son, William

William Onslow, 6th Earl of Onslow

William Arthur Bampfylde Onslow, 6th Earl of Onslow KBE MC TD, DL was a British peer and officer in the British Army.Onslow was the eldest son of Richard William Alan Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow and the Hon...

.