RUSSELL, JOHN; b.; adm. (aged 9) Jan 1740/1; left 1746.
RUSSELL, JOHN, 1ST EARL RUSSELL, third son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (qv), and his first wife; b. 18 Aug 1792; adm. 23 Sep 1803 (G); fag to his brother Lord Tavistock; kept a diary while at the School, including a list of the School for Oct 1803; left Bartholomewtide 1804; Edinburgh Univ. 1809-12; MP Tavistock 4 May 1813 – Mar 1817, 1818-20, Huntingdonshire 1820-6, Bandon Bridge 19 Dec 1826-30, Tavistock 24 Nov 1830-1, Devon 1831-2, South Devon 1832 – Apr 1835, Stroud 29 May 1835-41, City of London 1841- 30 Jul 1861; made his first speech in favour of parliamentary reform 14 Dec 1819; successfully moved repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts 26 Feb 1828; Privy Councillor 22 Nov 1830; Paymaster-Gen. of the Forces 13 Dec 1830 – Nov 1834, also member of Cabinet Jun 1831 – Nov 1834; moved first reading of Reform Bill 31 Mar 1831; introduced Reform Bill for second time 24 Jun 1831, and for third time 12 Dec 1831; advocated reform of the Irish Church 1833-4; leader of Whigs in House of Commons Apr 1835 onwards; Secretary of State for Home Affairs 18 Apr 1835 – Aug 1839; carried through the Municipal Corporations Bill, and diminished the number of offences liable to capital punishment; Secretary for War and the Colonies 30 Aug 1839 – Aug 1841; declared for total repeal of the Corn Laws in his Edinburgh Letter of 22 Nov 1845, and supported their repeal by Peel in 1846; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 6 Jul 1846 – Feb 1852; carried the bill for removing Jewish disabilities through the House of Commons 1848, and responsible for the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill of 1851; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Aberdeen ministry Dec 1852 – Feb 1853, when he resigned but remained in Cabinet without office and continued to lead the House of Commons; Lord President of the Council 12 Jun 1854 – Jan 1855, resigning because of his dissatisfaction with the conduct of the Crimean War; Plenipotentiary to Vienna Congress 11 Feb 1855; Secretary of State for the Colonies 1 May – 13 Jul 1855; opposed Disraeli’s Reform Bill of 1859; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 18 Jun 1859 – Nov 1865; the Reform Bill introduced by him on 1 Mar 1860 was subsequently dropped; created Earl Russell 30 Jul 1861; KG 21 May 1862; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 6 Nov 1865 – 18 Jun 1866, resigning on defeat of his Government’s Reform Bill by the ‘Adullamites”; declined Cabinet office in Gladstone’s administration formed in Dec 1868; received freedom City of London 9 Jul 1831; LLD Edinburgh Univ. 8 Nov 1845; FRS 6 May 1847; Lord Rector, Aberdeen Univ., from 1863; GCMG 25 Mar 1869; Busby Trustee 2 Jun 1863; a sincere and able Whig with the courage of his opinions, and a store of constitutional and historical knowledge; although no orator, a skilful debater and creator of telling phrases; edited Letters of the Fourth Duke of Bedford, 1842-6; author, Essay on the English Constitution, and other works; m. 1st, 11 Apr 1835 Adelaide, widow of Thomas Lister, 2nd Baron Ribblesdale (qv), and half-sister of Thomas Henry Lister (qv); m. 2nd, 20 Jul 1841 Lady Frances Anna Maria Elliot, second dau. of Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Earl of Minto; d. 28 May 1878. DNB.
RUSSELL, JOHN, third son of Lord William Russell (qv); b. 11 Jul 1796; adm. 10 Apr 1806; left Whitsun 1808; Lieut., Royal Navy 26 Jul 1815; Cdr., 29 Jan 1822; MP Kinsale 1826-32; m. 21 Aug 1822 Sophia Coussmaker, Baroness De Clifford, sister of George Coussmaker (qv), and niece of Edward Southwell, 21st Baron De Clifford (qv); d. 27 Apr 1835.
RUSSELL, SIR JOHN, BART., elder son of Sir John Russell, Bart. (qv); b. 6 May 1777; succ. father as 9th baronet 7 Aug 1783; adm. 30 Jun 1791 (Clapham); Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 29 Oct 1795; d. unm. 11 Jun 1802.
RUSSELL, JOHN, 6TH DUKE OF BEDFORD, son of Francis Russell, Marquis of Tavistock (qv); b. 6 Jul 1766; adm. 21 Oct 1776; Ensign, 3rd Foot Guards 7 Mar 1783; retd. 6 Apr 1785; MP Tavistock 24 Apr 1788-90, 27 Dec 1790 – 2 Mar 1802; succ. brother as 6th Duke of Bedford 2 Mar 1802; took seat, House of Lords 9 Dec 1802; Privy Councillor 12 Feb 1806; Lord Lieut., Ireland 12 Feb 1806 – 19 Apr 1807; KG 25 Nov 1830; supporter of Whig Party both as MP and as peer; rebuilt Covent Garden market 1830; supporter of art, agriculture and natural history; member, Society of Dilettanti 1819; FSA by 1831; Busby Trustee 8 May 1806; m. 1st, 21 Mar 1786 Hon. Georgiana Elizabeth Byng, second dau. of George Byng, 4th Viscount Torrington (qv); m. 2nd, 23 Jun 1803 Lady Georgiana Gordon, fifth dau. of Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon; d. 20 Oct 1839. DNB.
RUSSELL, SIR JOHN, BART., son of Charles [John ?] Russell, St. James’s, Westminster, Col. 34th Foot, and Mary Joanna Cutts, dau. of Col. George Revett; b. 31 Oct 1741; adm. Jan 1749/50; KS 1754; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1758, matr. 24 May 1758, Westminster Student 5 Jan 1759 – Dec 1772, Faculty Student 18 Dec 1772 – void by marriage 15 Dec 1774 (sic); BA 1762; MA 1765; succ. cousin as 8th baronet 21 Sep 1757; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 9 May 1759, called to bar 16 Jun 1766; of Checquers Court, Ellesborough, Bucks.; m. 4 Oct 1774 (IGI) Catherine, dau. of Gen. Hon. George Cary, Skutterskelfe, Yorks.; d. 7 Aug 1783.
RUSSELL, JOHN CLAYTON, son of John Russell, Bradford, Yorks., and Grace ---; b. 12 Dec 1858; adm. 26 Jan 1872 (G); left Christmas 1875; stuff merchant (1881 Census), living at The Knoll, Ripon, Yorks.; Lieut., 3rd West Yorkshire Rifle Volunteers; d. 6 May 1931.
RUSSELL, JAMES CHARLES; b.; adm. 24 Jan 1814; left Mar 1820.
RUSSELL, HUBERT JAMES, son of Charles Barrett Russell, Cheriton, Hampshire, barrister, Recorder of South Molton, and Caroline, youngest dau. of Rev. Henry Hubbard, Rector of Cheriton, Hampshire; b. 4 Oct 1869; adm. 31 May 1883 (H); Emmanuel Coll. Cambridge, matr. Mich. 1887; BA 1890; d. 5 Sep 1898.
Russell, Henry John Dashwood, son of Henry Alexander Russell of Leatherhead, Surrey, and Ada Emily, d. of Henry Dashwood of Gosport, Hants; b. 7 Nov. 1906; adm. Sept. 1920 (R); left July 1923; farming in NZ 1925; Govt Monopolies Dept. Malacca 1931-42, transf. Singapore 1942; m. 21 Nov. 1931 Evelyn Millicent Violet, sister of Egerton Shelley Walter Hanbury Leigh Hunt (qv); killed in action (Malaya) 13 Feb. 1942.
Henry Neville Dashwood Russell was born at Clapham, South London on the 7th of November 1906 the son of Henry Alexander Russell, a civil servant, and Ada Emily (nee Dashwood) Russell of 29, Deauville Mansions, Clapham Park in London. He was christened at St Saviour’s Church, Pimlico on the 15th of December 1906.
He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from September 1920 to July 1923. He was a noted swimmer while he was at the school. In 1925 he moved to New Zealand where he worked as a farm hand and lived at 6, Baretta Street, Canterbury. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the East Surrey Regiment, Supplementary Reserve of Officers, on the 26th of June 1929. He was appointed as Probationary Assistant Controller for the Straits Settlements on the 12th of December 1929 and he served with the Government Monopolies Department at Mallacca from 1931 to 1942 and as King’s Harbour Master at Malacca.
He was married at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Singapore on the 21st of November 1931 to Evelyn Millicent Violet (nee Leigh-Hunt) and they had two daughters, one of which was Charmain Anne, born in 1932, and a son, born on the 23rd of February 1935. He was a member of a Malay Volunteer Regiment but following the Japanese invasion of Malaya he rejoined his old Regiment whose 2nd Battalion was serving in the colony. The Battalion was involved in heavy fighting following their invasion of Malaya on the 7th of December 1941 and throughout the retreat which followed. They suffered very heavy casualties during the campaign. On the 20th of December 1941 the survivors of the Battalion were merged with the remainder of the 1st Battalion, Royal Leicestershire Regiment to form the composite British Battalion. After further heavy fighting The Battalion withdrew to Singapore Island where Japanese forces began landing on the 8th of February 1942. Having come under a series of enemy attacks on the 12th of February, on the following day, the 13th of February 1942, the Battalion came under bombing and shelling with the unit protecting its left flank being forced to withdraw during the afternoon. During the day two groups of survivors were detailed to escape by boat from the colony but Henry Russell was not in either group and his fate is unknown.
When the Singapore surrendered two days later, the remaining 265 officers and men of the British Battalion passed into captivity.
He is commemorated on the war memorial at Gray’s Inn.
He is buried at Kranji War Cemetery Collective Grave 34 D 15-17.