John Russell 1 2 3
- Born: 8 Aug 1792, London, England
- Marriage: Frances Elliot
- Died: 28 May 1878, Richmond Park, Surrey. aged 85
General Notes:
Perhaps the most notable member of the family was Lord John Russell (afterward 1st Earl Russell), a proponent of schemes for reform of Parliament and twice prime minister in the mid-19th century. In the 20th century the family's most famous member was Lord John Russell's grandson, the philosopher Bertrand Russell (3rd Earl Russell).
Russell, John, 1st Earl Russell of Kingston Russell, British prime minister and liberal reformer. Son of the 6th duke of Bedford, Russell was born in London on Aug. 8, 1792, and was educated at Westminster School and the University of Edinburgh. He entered Parliament in 1813, and during the 1820s he was a persistent advocate of extending the franchise and granting political equality to Roman Catholics. He was paymaster general in the Whig ministry of 1830–34 and played a leading role in the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832, which liberalized the British electoral system. Russell was home secretary from 1835 to 1839 and secretary for war and the colonies from 1839 to 1841. During his first premiership (1847–52), he helped pass legislation limiting working hours in factories (1847) and establishing a public health system (1848), and ended restrictions on colonial trade by repealing the Navigation Acts (1849). His government’s efforts to prevent widespread starvation as a result of the Irish famine of 1846–47 were ineffective. Russell’s alternate support for and dissent from the government’s policies during the Crimean War caused him to lose the leadership of the Liberal party to Viscount Palmerston. As foreign secretary (1859–65) under Palmerston, he supported Italian unification and antagonized the U.S. during the American Civil War by actions that seemed to favor the Confederacy. He retired from political life after briefly heading a second ministry in 1865–66. Russell died in Richmond Park, Surrey, on May 28, 1878.
Noted events in his life were:
• He was a 1st Earl Russell of Kingston Russell.
• He was elected as Prime Minister from 1846 to 1852.
John married Frances Elliot.
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