Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington

The Right Honourable The Viscount Ossington PC
Speaker of the House of Commons
In office 1857–1872
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Sir Charles Shaw-Lefevre
Succeeded by	Hon. Sir Henry Brand
Personal details
Born	27 January 1800 (2011-11-20T20:05:34) Ossington, Nottinghamshire
Died	7 March 1873(1873-03-07) (aged 73)
Nationality	British
Political party	Whig, Liberal
Spouse(s)	Lady Charlotte Bentinck (d. 1889)
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford

John Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington PC (27 January 1800 – 7 March 1873) was a British statesman. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1857 to 1872.

Background and education

Denison was born at Ossington, Nottinghamshire, the eldest son of John Denison (d. 1820), and the brother of George Anthony Denison, a conservative churchman. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.

Political career

Sir Evelyn Denison, Speaker, in a Vanity Fair cartoon of 1870.

A Whig, he became Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1823,^[1] being returned for Hastings three years later,^[2] and holding for a short time a subordinate position in George Canning's ministry. Defeated in 1830 both at Newcastle-under-Lyme and then at Liverpool, Denison secured a seat as one of the members for Nottinghamshire in 1831. After the Great Reform Act he represented the southern division of Nottinghamshire from 1832 until the general election of 1837.^[3]

Denison then represented Malton from 1841 to 1857,^[4] and North Nottinghamshire from 1857 to 1872.^[3] In April 1857 Denison was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons. He was sworn of the Privy Council at the same time.^[5] Re-elected at the beginning of three successive parliaments he retained this position until February 1872, when he resigned and was raised to the peerage as Viscount Ossington, of Ossington in the County of Nottingham.^[6] He refused, however, to accept the pension usually given to retiring Speakers. Denison gave a justification—referred to as Speaker Denison's rule — as to why the Speaker casts his or her vote in most cases in favour of, rather than against, a government, where they have the casting vote.

Family

Lord Ossington married Lady Charlotte, daughter of William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland, in 1827, but he left no children. He died on 7 March 1873, and his title became extinct. His Ossington Hall estate passed to his nephew William Evelyn Denison, son of his brother Sir William Thomas Denison.^[7]

Ossington Street in London was named in his honour. Lady Ossington died in 1889.

References

1. ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Na H-Eileanan An Iar to Newport
2. ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Haslemere to Herefordshire
3. ^ ^{a b} leighrayment.com House of Commons: Northampton North to Nuneaton
4. ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Macclesfield to Marylebone West
5. ^ London Gazette: no. 21998. p. 1616. 8 May 1857.
6. ^ London Gazette: no. 23827. p. 550. 13 February 1872.
7. ^ "Biography of William Evelyn Denison (1843-1916)". Manuscripts and Special Collections. University of Nottingham. http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/collectionsindepth/family/denison/biographies/biographyofwilliamevelyndenison%281843-1916%29.aspx. Retrieved 15 November 2010. 

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Evelyn Denison
• Archival material relating to Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington listed at the UK National Register of Archives
• Portraits of (John) Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington at the National Portrait Gallery, London
• Papers of the Denison family, held at Manuscripts and Special Collections at The University of Nottingham
• Anonymous (1873). Cartoon portraits and biographical sketches of men of the day. Illustrated by Waddy, Frederick. London: Tinsley Brothers. pp. 20–21. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Cartoon_portraits_and_biographical_sketches_of_men_of_the_day/Mr._Speaker. Retrieved 2010-12-30. 

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Kinnersley Sir Robert Wilmot, Bt	Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme 1823 – 1826 With: Sir Robert Wilmot, Bt	Succeeded by Richardson Borradaile Sir Robert Wilmot, Bt
Preceded by Sir William Curtis, Bt Sir Charles Wetherell	Member of Parliament for Hastings 1826 – 1830 With: James Lushington, to 1831; Joseph Planta, from 1831	Succeeded by Sir Henry Fane Joseph Planta
Preceded by Frank Sotheron John Lumley	Member of Parliament for Nottinghamshire 1831 – 1832 With: John Lumley	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for South Nottinghamshire with The Earl of Lincoln 1832 – 1837	Succeeded by The Earl of Lincoln Lancelot Rolleston
Preceded by Viscount Milton John Childers	Member of Parliament for Malton 1841–1857 With: John Childers, to 1846; Viscount Milton, 1846–1847; John Childers, 1847–52; Hon. Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam, from 1852	Succeeded by James Brown Hon. Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam
Preceded by Lord Henry Bentinck Lord Robert Clinton	Member of Parliament for North Nottinghamshire 1857 – 1872 With: Lord Robert Pelham-Clinton, to 1865; Lord Edward Pelham-Clinton, 1865–1868; Frederick Chatfield Smith, from 1868	Succeeded by Hon. George Monckton-Arundell Frederick Chatfield Smith
Political offices
Preceded by Sir Charles Shaw-Lefevre	Speaker of the House of Commons 1857–1872	Succeeded by Hon. Sir Henry Brand
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Viscount Ossington 1872–1873	Extinct

Persondata
Name	Denison, Evelyn
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	27 January 1800
Place of birth	Ossington, Nottinghamshire
Date of death	7 March 1873
Place of death