Sir Richard Onslow was an English Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 and fought on the Parliamentary side

Roundhead

"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...

 during the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

. He was the grandson of one Speaker of the House of Commons

Speaker of the British House of Commons

The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...

 and the grandfather of another, both also called Richard Onslow.

Onslow was knighted on 2 June 1624. He entered Parliament in 1628 as member for Surrey

Surrey (UK Parliament constituency)

Surrey was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament until 1832....

, and also represented that county in both the Short

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

 and Long Parliament

Long Parliament

The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

s. When the Civil War broke out in 1642, he raised a regiment for Parliament, and in 1644 led his men at the siege of Basing House

Siege of Basing House

The siege of Basing House near Basingstoke in Hampshire, was a Parliamentarian victory late in the First English Civil War. Whereas the title of the event may suggest a single siege, there were in fact three major engagements...

.

Being of moderate views, he was one of the members excluded from Parliament in Pride's Purge

Pride's Purge

Pride’s Purge is an event in December 1648, during the Second English Civil War, when troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the Independents...

 in December 1648, but he was elected again for Surrey in the parliaments of 1654

First Protectorate Parliament

The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the House....

 and 1656

Second Protectorate Parliament

The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons...

. In 1658 he was elevated to Cromwell's

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

 new House of Peers. He returned to the Commons in April 1660 as MP for Guildford

Guildford (UK Parliament constituency)

Guildford is a county constituency in Surrey which returns one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first-past-the-post voting system....

, where he worked closely with his more influential friend Sir Anthony Ashley-Cooper to bring about the Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

. He remained MP for Guildford until his death

Sir Richard died in 1664. His son, Arthur

Sir Arthur Onslow, 1st Baronet

Sir Arthur Onslow, 1st Baronet was an English politicianThe eldest son of Sir Richard Onslow, an important Parliamentarian from Surrey, Arthur also took an active role in political affairs during the English Civil War. He represented Bramber in the Long Parliament, and Surrey in the First, Second,...

(1622–1688), was also MP for Guildford from 1660 to 1679 and for Surrey from 1679 until 1685.