Sir Richard Onslow
1601–1664
Surrey parliamentary commander; moderate Presbyterian.
Biography
Of Inner Temple, Onslow was MP for Surrey and Colonel of the Surrey trained bands, defending the southern home counties against royalist incursions through the war. A moderate Presbyterian lay assessor at the Assembly, he was briefly arrested by the army in 1647 and again in 1648. He sat in Cromwell's Other House but withdrew before the regicide. He survived the Restoration in private life at Clandon and died in 1664; the Onslow earldom is descended from him.
Lay Assessor — House of Commons
Parliament seated lay assessors alongside the divines to represent its interest and keep it informed of the Assembly's progress. The ordinance of 1643 named thirty members of the House of Commons as assessors; they could take part in debate but were not among the voting divines, and their attendance was often occasional as the war and parliamentary business pressed on them.