Denzil Onslow of Pyrford

Through advantageous marriages, he obtained a country estate and became prominent in Surrey politics of the Hanoverian era, although his great nephew Arthur Onslow, as Speaker, judged that Denzil knew "no more of the business [of the House of Commons] than one who had been of the standing of a session".

His elder brother Arthur had married Mary, the daughter of Sir Thomas Foote, 1st Baronet, a wealthy London grocer.

He supported Sacheverell's clause excluding from office members of municipal corporations that had surrendered their charters to James II; however, during 1693 and 1694, some observers considered him an adherent of the Court party.

At the next election in 1698, the Onslow interest was suffering from a scandal: his nephew Foot's electioneering at Guildford after which the family did not dare attempt to monopolize the two seats for Surrey as a whole.

[2] Safely established at Guildford, Onslow remained a dependable, if not assiduous, supporter of Whig interests, and was rewarded in 1706 with the post of commissioner of victualling, worth £400 a year.

The income was of some importance to him, as he had been financially impaired by the death of his wife Sarah, who revenged herself for his extramarital affairs by leaving most of her estate to relatives from her first marriage.

Despite losing his rangership and commissionership in 1711, he continued to follow his party, voting to uphold the principle of "No peace without Spain" (to end the War of the Spanish Succession) in December.

Although his rival John Walter contested the result before the Committee for Privileges, Onslow was accepted as victor after a long debate.