Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford
PC | |
---|---|
First Lord of the Admiralty | |
In office 1694 to 1699 – 1709 to 1710 – 1714 to 1717 | |
Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire | |
In office 1715–1727 | |
Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire | |
In office November 1695 – May 1697 | |
Member of Parliament for Portsmouth | |
In office March 1690 – October 1695 | |
Treasurer of the Navy | |
In office 1689–1699 | |
Member of Parliament for Launceston | |
In office January 1689 – February 1689 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 10 February 1657 Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue |
Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford, PC (1653 – 26 November 1727) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. After serving as a junior officer at the Battle of Solebay during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, he served as a captain in the Mediterranean Sea in operations against the Barbary pirates.
Russell was one of the Immortal Seven, a group of English noblemen who issued the
Russell went on to be
.Early career
Born the son of the Hon. Edward Russell, a younger son of the
Promoted to captain on 10 June 1672, Russell was given command of the fifth-rate HMS Phoenix and then transferred to the command of the fourth-rate HMS Reserve in the Mediterranean, in operations against the Barbary pirates in February 1675, then to the command of the third-rate HMS Defiance in December 1677. He then moved to the third-rate HMS Swiftsure in March 1678 and then to the fourth-rate HMS Newcastle in August 1680.[2] In 1683 he ceased to be employed, as all of the members of the Russell family had fallen into disfavour with the King, after the discovery of Lord Russell's connection with the Rye House Plot.[2]
Senior command
Russell was one of the Immortal Seven, a group of English noblemen who issued the Invitation to William, a document asking William, Prince of Orange, to depose King James II in June 1688. Based in the Netherlands, he served as the prince's secretary during the planning of William's invasion of England and subsequent Glorious Revolution in November 1688.[2]
Russell was elected
Russell was elected Member of Parliament for
In the Autumn of 1690, Russell blamed the Dutch for the failure of the allies to enforce the blockade of France and was forced to stand down as a Lord Commissioner in January 1691.
Following a disagreement with the Earl of Nottingham, Russell resigned as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy in December 1692. Admirals Henry Killigrew, Ralph Delaval and Cloudesley Shovell were put in joint command of the fleet in January 1693. Following the disastrous attack on the Smyrna merchantmen at the Battle of Lagos in June 1693, all three admirals were dismissed from their joint command and Russell resumed command of the fleet in November 1693.[3]
Russell became First Lord of the Admiralty and Senior Naval Lord[5] in the First Whig Junto in May 1694 and took a fleet out into the Mediterranean in June 1694, becoming the first English naval commander to spend the Winter at Cádiz (rather than sailing his squadron home in the autumn). He was elected Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire in 1695 and was created Baron Shingay, Viscount Barfleur and Earl of Orford on 7 May 1697.[8] He faced allegations of having misappropriated funds from the maintenance of the fleet, to spend on his private estates in 1698.[9] The accusations went no further and he left office as First Lord of the Admiralty, as Treasurer of the Navy and as Senior Naval Lord, when the First Whig Junto fell from power in May 1699.[6] He commissioned the building of Orford House at Ugley in Essex in 1700.[10]
Russell returned to office as First Lord in the coalition Godolphin–Marlborough ministry in November 1709 but left his post when the Tory-dominated Harley ministry came to power in October 1710.[3] He was appointed for a third time as First Lord in the Whig Townshend ministry in October 1714 and having been appointed Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire on 27 September 1715, left his post again when that ministry left office in April 1717.[6][11] He died at Covent Garden in London on 26 November 1727 and was buried in the Russell vault at St Michael's Church in Chenies.[2]
Family
In November 1691, Russell married his cousin, Lady Margaret Russell, youngest daughter of the 5th Earl of Bedford (later the 1st Duke of Bedford); they had no children.[2] They lived from the time of their marriage until Russell's death at 43 King Street, Covent Garden.[12][13]
References
- ISBN 9781108036092. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
- ^ required.)
- ^ a b c "Edward Russell". History of Parliament. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ^ A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely. Vol. 10. 2002. pp. 370–374.
- ^ a b Rodger, p. 34
- ^ a b c d "Sainty, J. C., Lord High Admiral and Commissioners of the Admiralty 1660–1870, Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4: Admiralty Officials 1660–1870 (1975), pp. 18–31". Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ^ Parry, p. 103
- ^ Russell, p. 99
- ^ Gorton, p. 808
- ^ Historic England. "Orford House (1221630)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ^ "No. 5368". The London Gazette. 27 September 1715. p. 2.
- ^ "The Piazza: Notable private residents in the Piazza". British History Online. Institute of Historical Reseacrh, University of London. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- ^ "Survey of London: Volume 36, Covent Garden". British History Online. Institute of Historical Reseacrh, University of London. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
Sources
- Gorton, John (1830). A general biographical dictionary: containing a summary account of the lives of eminent persons. Whittaker, Treacher & Co. OCLC 776199633.
- Parry, John Docwra (1831). History and description of Woburn and its abbey, etc. London, Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. OCLC 32255781.
- ISBN 0900963948.
- Russell, Lady Rachel (1826). Letters of Lady Rachel Russell, Manuscript in the Library at Woburn Abbey. J. F. Dove.
External links
- Edward Russell Three Decks
- Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 49. London: Smith, Elder & Co.