Denison family of Ossington, Nottinghamshire

John Evelyn Denison (1800-1873) was the son of John Denison (1759-1820), who as John Wilkinson had inherited the Ossington estate in Nottinghamshire from his uncle Robert Denison in 1785, following the terms of the will of another uncle, William Denison, in 1782. The Denisons were Leeds wool merchants.

John Evelyn Denison was educated at Eton and Oxford. He entered the political arena in 1823 as a moderate Whig. He subsequently occupied elective office over a period of fifty years, as M.P. for the constituencies of Hastings, Newcastle under Lyme, Nottinghamshire, South Nottinghamshire, Malton, and North Nottinghamshire. In 1827-1828 he held government office as one of the council of the Duke of Clarence, Lord High Admiral in Canning's administration.

Denison's most substantial political contribution lay in his role as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1857 to 1872. During this period he remained in touch with Nottinghamshire affairs from his home at Ossington Hall near Newark. He was a staunch supporter of traditional landed interests and the Church of England, and was political ally and friend to numerous politicians and statesmen, including Lord Derby, the Duke of Argyll and Lord Egerton.

Denison married Lady Charlotte Cavendish-Bentinck (third daughter of the 4th Duke of Portland) in 1827, and became Viscount Ossington in 1872.

He was the eldest of a close-knit and distinguished family of nine sons and three daughters. His siblings included Edward Denison (1801-1854), Bishop of Salisbury, William Denison (1804-1871), colonial governor, and George Denison (1805-1896), archdeacon of Taunton.

Denison inherited the Ossington estates in 1820 on the death of his father, John Wilkinson Denison. In addition to the family home at Ossington Hall, and other lands in Nottinghamshire, the family titles included lands in Lincolnshire, County Durham and Yorkshire.