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Arthur George Onslow (October 25, 1777 – October 24, 1870) was the long-lived 3rd Earl of Onslow and nephew of Harriet Mainwaring Ellerker, who resided at Ellerker House (today’s Old Vicarage School) for 55 years from 1787. Arthur’s mother, Arabella Mainwaring-Ellerker, died of cancer on April 11, 1782, aged 26. The Onslows could trace their rise to Richard Onslow of Blackfriars who successively became Recorder of London, Solicitor-General, and, in 1566, Speaker of the House of Commons, the first of three Onslows to hold the office. The 3rd Earl served as Lord Lieutenant of Surrey and a magistrate. Remarkably he sat in the House of Lords for more than 70 years. As well as being the Earl of Onslow in the county of Salop, he also held the titles of Viscount Cranley of Cranley, in the county of Surrey, Baron Onslow of Onslow, and of West Clandon, and Baron Cranley of Inbercourt, Surrey. He married twice, outliving both his wives, and died with no direct male heirs. In his obituary The Times reported: “Of late years he had lived almost entirely at his seat on Richmond-hill, leading a somewhat retired life.” He had a large Napoleonic collection and reportedly, on visiting the Louvre with Paul Delaroche in 1848, commented on the implausibility and theatricality of David’s painting Napoleon Crossing the Alps, which had recently been reinstalled. He commissioned Delaroche to produce a more accurate version which featured Napoleon on a mule, entitled Bonaparte Crossing the Alps.
