Symbol of Whig Supremacy, Clandon House Surrey

Clandon Park was built by the 2nd and 3rd Barons Onslow in the 1740s.

The Onslows were Lord Lientenants of Surrey. Son and grandson of Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow PC (1654 – 1717) who was Whig Member of Parliament. He served as the Speaker of the House of Commons from 1708 until 1710 and as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1714 until 1715.

Onslow's father, Arthur, was a politician, as was his maternal grandfather Thomas Foote, who had served as the Lord Mayor of London in 1649 in the Civil War.

One of Onslow's first actions as a member of Parliament was to support the Exclusion Bill, which aimed, unsuccessfully, to deny the Catholic James II of England the British throne. He was re-elected in 1685. He also served as a Lord of the Admiralty from 1690 to 1693.

Onslow managed to attain the position of Speaker in 1708. He proved to be a poor Speaker as he made no effort whatsoever to show any kind of neutrality, a fact which upset all but the most fervent Whigs. Onslow's unpopularity by this point was such that he failed to retain his seat in the 1710 election. In order to remain in the Commons he was forced to sit instead for the rotten borough of St Mawes.

Onslow regained much of his political favour four years later, now restored as the member for Surrey. Upon the death of Queen Anne in 1714 Onslow was a vocal advocate of a Protestant successor. Onslow was rewarded by being named as Chancellor of the Exchequer, a position he held for a year before resigning. He was created Baron Onslow on 19 July 1716.