argent lion rampant gules on chief sable 3 escallops of field Russell, sometimes seen Rushall.
I have seen several different line's of descent proposed, and originally I attempted to list them all but I realized that I could vastly simplify this page listing them in this slightly different pattern, which focuses on what I had originally listed as the second version, for which I am finding more evidence anyhow. In any event all these come together and agree as listed here for my 13th Great Grandfather on down.
Interestingly the manor of Kingston Russell was held from the king through a service originally as "marshal of the buttery", and later "to count his chessman and to put them away after a game had been played." (c. 1329). Who is the William Russell who held it c.1329? Perhaps my 16th GGUncle, William before the birth of my 16 GGrandfather William?. The manor passed through the descendents of Ralp Russell (?-1375) until it was granted in 1560 to Francis Russel, 2nd Earl of Bedford.
Another disputes the identity of Ann Russell/Rushall pointing out two Ann Russell's in the Badby parish records between 1559 and 1654. One was the daughter of William and Ann Russell, baptized on 4 Nov 1572, and the other the daughter of Thomas and Ann Russell, baptized on 18 Apr 1574, thus explaining the conflicting dates given for Ann. Given that Badby was a small village (only 86 houses) even if she is the daughter of Thomas, then it seems the line must connect back in with the line presented below.
Whatever the truth is consider anything above the herelisted 16th Great Grandfather (William) as very shaky, as one or more early heralds and or genealogists concocted a connection from Odo (listed here as my 20th Great Grandfather) to Hugh Bertrand, Lord de/du/of (Le) Rozel, attendant baron of William the Conqueror, through Two intermediary ancestors both suposedly named Hugh as well (or a Hugh and a Robert), who assumed the title of Russells of Barwick in Dorsetshire. (Source)
Another claim, a 1442 "pardon under the privy seal" describes Henry Russell of Weymouth, merchant, as Henry Gascoign, gentleman. Thus it very likely that the family is actually of Gascony, France as quit a few wine merchants from Gascony settled in Dorsetshire. Afterall this family's main primary source of mercantile income was from the wine trade with Bordeaux.
One final note: the arms on the tomb of my 10th Great GrandAunt, Countess Margaret of Cumberland at Appleby St. Lawrence is divided into eigths and has the arms of Russell, De la Tour, Muschamp, Herring, Froxemere, Wyse, Sapcote, & Semark. This would seem to strongly indicate that at the time the line of descent was understood to be William (for the Muschamp), Henry (for the Herring), and John (for the Froxemere), which in turn would indicate Theobald as the De La Tour marriage in question since the timing of Stephen's would not fit. (Semark and Sapcote both come from my 12th GGMother while Wyse comes from my 13th GGMother.)
My 24th Great Grandfather, Hugh De Russell
Born Abt. 1040 in Berwick, Dorset, England
My 23rd Great Grandfather, ? De Russell
Born Abt. 1082 in Berwick, Dorset, England.
My 22nd Great Grandfather, Robert De Russell
Born Abt. 1125 in Berwick, Dorsetshire, England. Died 1201.
7 Son's:
My 21st Great Grandfather, Odo De Russell
Born Abt. 1160 in Berwick, Dorsetshire, England
My 20th Great Grandfather, John Russell
Born Abt 1174 in Gloucestershire, England. Married 1201 to Rose Bardolph (widow of Henry De Pomeroy, dau. of Thomas Bardolf & Adela/Sybil Corbet). Died 1224.
Governor of Corfe Castle 1220/1.
4 Children:
My 19th Great Grandfather, Ralph Russell
Born Abt. 1204 in Strensham, Worcetershire, England. Married Isabel Newmarche (dau. & co-heir of James Newmarche of North Cadbury)
Alive 8 & 23 Hen.III (1224/5 & 1239/40, If I calculated that correctly)
Children:
My 18th Great Grandfather, Sir William Russell
Married Jane Peverell (dau. of Robert Peverell). Died 1310/11
Constable of Carisbroke Castle
One Child - Theobald Russell
OR
An unknown son of Ralph Russell (see above) who was in someway ancestor of Stephen, below.
My 17th Great Grandfather - Theobald Russell
married 1st Eleanor Gorges (heiress of Sir Ralph De Gorges & Eleanor who remarried Guy De Ferre). Married 2nd Eleanor De la Tour (daughter of John De la Tour). Died 1340
"Theobald Russell of Yaverland in Isle of Wight, Kingston Russell in Dorset, and Horsington in Somerset.
Four Children:
OR
An unknown son of Ralph Russell (see above) who was in someway ancestor of Stephen, below.
My 16th Great Grandfather- William Russell.
Married the daughter and heiress of Muschamp.
"Of Berwick, Swyre, Dorset."
At least one child: Henry Russell
OR
My 16th Great Grandfather, Stephen Russell, MP
Married Alice De La Tour (dau. of Hugh, granddaughter of Cecil De Blynchesfield, and heir-general of both the Blynchesfield and De la Tour of Berwick families). Died 1438.
Stephen Russell of Weymouth
MP for Weymouth in 1394/5, other sources say M.P. for Melcombe Regis (Note: Historically those two constituencies were intertwined from the 16th century, so the conflicting information is not that significant). once-served as bailiff of Weymouth.
Two Childern:
  • Jenet Russell (Abt. 1414-?), m. Eustace Whitney
  • Henry Russell
My 15th Great Grandfather, Henry Russell, MP
(Born Abt. 1401). Married Elizabeth Herring (dau. & co-heir of John Herring of Chaldon Hering the heir of the Winterbournes of Winterbourne Clenston and of the Cernes of Draycot Cerne). Died 1463/4 in Dorchester, England.
"Of Weymouth".
returned as a burgess for the borough of Weymouth (where he was a merchant) in four parliaments 1425-1442.
Deputy to the chief butler of England for the port of Melcombe 1427.
My 14th Great Grandfather, John Russell, MP
(Born Abt. 1431?). Married Alice Froxemere. Died 1505 of Berwick, Swyre, Dorset, England. Buried in the parish church of Swyre
Other source say's married Elizabeth, dau. of John Frocksmere.
MP for Weymouth 1450.
Knight of the shire for Dorset in 1472.
At least one child: James Russell (note: one version has a unnamed sibling who was actually the father of the below John, Earl Bedford)
OR
My 14th Great Grandfather, Henry Russell
For whom, see above. Some Versions skip this John Russell, which if true would lower each of the above by one generation.
My 13th Great Grandfather, James Russell of Kingston Russell
Died 1509 at Swyre, Dorset, England. Married Anne (Alice) Wyse/Wise (dau. of John Wyse of Sydenham, Dorset & Thomasine Fulford). Buried in the parish church of Swyre.
2 Children:
image from Tudor Palace My 12th Great Grandfather, John Russell, 1st Earl Bedford, KG, PC, Lord Privy Seal
Born 1485 in Kingston Russell, Dorset, England. Married Spring 1526 to Anne Sapcote ("Dowager Lady Ferningham", widow of Sir John Broughton of Toddington & Sir Richard Jerningham, d. 1559, dau. of Sir Guy Sapcote & Margaret Wolston.). Died 14 Mar 1554/5, The Strand, Midlessex, London, England. Buried Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England.
Knight of the Garter.
Succeded family 20 Jul 1505. Kntd. 2 Jul 1522; KG nom. 24 Apr 1539, inst. 18 May 1539; cr. Baron Russell 9 Mar 1539, Earl of Bedford 19 Jan 1550. Gent. the privcy chamber 1507; knight marshal, the Household 1523-7; knight of the body by 1527; sheriff, Som. and Dorset 1527-8; j.p. (j.p. = justice of the peace??) Beds., Bucks., Herts., Hunts., Northants. 1533-d., Cornw., Devon, Dorset, Som. 1539; comptroller, the Household 18 Oct 1537-9; pres. council in the west 1539; high steward, duchy of Cornw. 4 Jul 1539-d., univ. Oxf. 1543-d.; ld. warden of the stannaries 4 Jul 1539-d.; commr. coastal defenses, south-western counties 1539, relief, Beds., Bucks., London 1550; trier of petitions in the Lords, Parlts. of 1539, 1542, 1545, 1547, Mar 1553, Oc. 1553, ?Apr 1554, Nov 1544; 1d. admiral 28 Jul 1540-17 Jan 1543; 1d. privy seal 3 Dec 1543-d.; steward, manor of Stamford, Lincs. 1543-7, 1548-d.; 1d. lt. Devon, Cornw., Som., Dorset 1545, 1549-53, Bucks. 1552.
Lord High Admiral in 1540-1542.
Keeper of the Privy Seal 1547-1553.
John Russell came from a Dorset family of moderate standing whose estates had been acquired gradually during the 14th and 15th centuries from the profits of trade and the fortunes of marriage. His grandfather, another John, who broke with family tradition by making a career in the service of the crown, had been a knight of the shire for Dorset in 1472 and died in 1505 leaving a son and heir James who did not long survive him. Of John Russell's early life nothing is known for certain, but in the 17th century Thomas Fuller heard that he had been ‘bred beyond the seas’, an upbringing which would accord with his command of foreign languages.
Early in 1506 the fleet taking the Archduke Phillip of Austria and his wife Juana were caught in a storm into Weymouth Bay. Juana was proud for she was the daughter of Isabel of Castile, the patron of Columbus. Juana put on all her fine clothes, so that when her drowned body was found on the shore she might be buried as a Spanish princess should be; but she was not buried: the ship managed to creep into Weymouth, and the people sent the royal strangers to the finest house they knew, Wolfeton, the great house owned by Sir Thomas Trenchard ten miles away. Sir Thomas was at home, but he could not speak Spanish, so he sent for his kinsmen John Russell, who was living at the farmhouse Kingston Russell House at Long Bredy Dorset. John had been in Spain and could interpret, the Spaniads were so delighted with his manner that they took him to see the King. The King Henry VII made Russell a gentleman of the privy chamber. Prior to his elevation to court he was the last of a long line of successful wine importers.
Through his mother first marriage, he was brother in law to Sir Thomas Cheney, Warden of the Cinque Ports, who married Anne Broughton.
Russell's appointment as a Gentleman of the privy chamber (He was made a fully Privy Councillor in 1538 and retained as such by Edward VI) was confirmed by Henry VIII, his junior by some six years. Henry quickly selected Russell for special employment, first in the war and than in diplomacy. In 1513 he fought as a captain in the campaign in northern France and after the capture of Tournai he received an administrative post there and was knighted. He became a familiar figure in the city during its occupation, often serving as an intermediary between its council and Cardinal Wolsey and once being involved in a scheme to capture, or even to assassinate the Yorkist claimant to the throne Richard de la Pole. In 1514 he went to Paris for the marriage of Louis XII to Princess Mary and six years later he accompanied the King to the Field of the Cloth of Gold. In 1522 his valour at the siege of Morlaix (in Brittany) cost him an eye but gained him a knighthood (by the Earl of Surrey). Wolsey employed him as an agent between 1523 and 1527 in a search for alliances against Francois I and during his journeys he witnessed the battle of Pavia and narrowly escaped the sack of Rome (inc. Aug 1523 Secret Envoy to the Emperor, & Duke Charles of Bourbon, Jun-Nov 1525 to same, and Jan 1527 to The Pope & Naples). His travels came to an end shortly before he was pricked sheriff of Somerset and Dorset: the appointment may have been intended in part to reimburse him for the expenses he had incurred, for he had been obliged to dispose of some of his Dorset property.
These years were nevertheless rewarding ones for Russell: he had made his mark with both King and Cardinal, and he had married an heiress who brought him an interest estate, Chenies in Buckinghamshire, where he was to settle.
In the spring of 1529 Russell was appointed to go to the French court, but his mission was countermanded before he set out. Wolsey's position was becoming precarious and he relied on Russell as his spokesman with the King. That Russell was not compromised by the Cardinal's fall is shown by his election to the Parliament of 1529 as a knight of the shire for his adopted county: the writ for Buckinghamshire was one of those called for by the King when he was at Windsor in Aug. His Membership of this Parliament was probably not Russell's first experience of the Commons, for he may have sat earlier for a Dorset borough where his standing at court combined with his family connexions could have procured him a place. Early in 1530 he defended Wolsey before the King and in so doing incurred the wrath of Anne Boleyn, whose continuing hostility to him may have impeded his progress: of Henry VIII's marriage to Jane Seymour in 1536 he was to remark, ‘The King hath come out of hell into heaven for the gentleness of this [Queen] and the cursedness and unhappiness in the other’. In compliance with the King's request Russell doubtless sat in the Parliament which opened nine days after the marriage: its purpose, to complete the destruction of Anne Boleyn, was one which he must have applauded. It was not until then that he became a Privy Councillor. In 1532 he had gone to Calais with the King and a year later had been offered, but did not accept, the deputyship of the town.
Russell distinguished himself during the suppression of the Lincolnshire rebellion (in 1536 he was Joint Commissioner to try Insurgents in County of Lincoln) and the Pilgrimage of Grace, and as he grew closer towards Cromwell he was clearly a candidate for high office. The opportunity came with the establishment of the council in the west. The execution of the Marquess of Exeter had created a political vacuum in Devon and Cornwall which the King would not suffer to be filled by another magnate of doubtful loyalty. Russell had proved his worth, his family links with the region were an added qualification, and a patrimony reduced by sale and neglect could be augmented to match the dignity of the office. He received (in 1539) substantial grants of land in the south-west (according to one source: "Rider and Master Forester of Dartmoor Forest & Chace & Warden of Exmor Forest; Constable of Restormell Castle, & Keeper of Restormell Park; Keeper of Tiverton & Assheley Parks; Keeper of Blockonnoc Manor & Park; Steward of the Honours of Wykerlegh, South Tawton & Steele; Keeper of Lydford Castle"), the high stewardship of the duchy of Cornwall and the lord wardenship of the stannaries (both previously held by Exeter), the Garter (April) and a peerage (Baron Russell of Cheyneys). The council came into being in 1539 but failed to establish itself, perhaps because its president was often needed at court and there was no natural successor to Exeter. Yet Russell's personal ascendancy in the south-west was to remain unchallenged for the rest of his life. Russell survived Cromwell's fall, as he had done Wolsey's, and in the redistribution of offices which followed he secured the admiralty (1540-42 "Lord High Admiral of England & Ireland", also 1540- "Lord President Counties Devon, Dorset, Cornwall and Somerset", 1542- "High Steward of the University of Oxford"). Two years later Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk recommended him to succeed Sir William Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton as lieutenant in the north, but this command went to the Earl of Hertford, and Russell received another of Southampton's offices, that of lord privy seal (1543-1547 "Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal" under Henry VIII and again 1547-1553 under Edward VI and 1553 under Mary): his failure to take Montreuil, when he was called upon to campaign in 1544, suggests that he had been rightly passed over (July 1544 "captain-General of the Vanguard English Army in France" note than one source has that it was during this time that he lost his eye). He spent the late summer of 1545 in a tour of inspection of coastal defences in the south-west, but otherwise he was rarely absent from the King's side during the last years of the reign: an ambassador described him as ‘not only of great authority in the Council but also one who always eats and talks with his majesty’. In 1542 he entertained the King at Chenies, and five years later he received £500 under Henry VIII's will, of which he was an executor (or 1546?).
1545: "Keeper of Rockingham Castle" and "Lieutenant & Captain-General in the Western Counties and Wales."
John, Lord Russell and his wife, Anne, obtained the wealthy lands of Tavistock Abbey, and they renewed the lease to the Drakes in 1546.
According to Secretary Paget the King had at first meant to promote Russell in the peerage but although he suffered no loss of power under Edward VI (at the Coronation in 1547 he was "Lord High Stewart of England" and "Bearer of the Third Sword") he did not benefit from the dispersal of honours at the opening of the new reign, perhaps on account of an earlier disagreement with the Protector Somerset. On the outbreak of the Prayer Book rebellion of 1549 he was commissioned to restore order (1549 "Lieutanant of the Protector in Counties Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset"). When the rebels failed to capture Exeter, the insurgents were soon suppressed by an army of Italian mercenaries commanded by Lord Russell. He had an additional satisfaction in putting down the revolt, because among the demands of the rebels had been the restitution to the Church of Tavistock Abbey. This he was initially expected to do without adequate supplies or reserves, and until the Council met his demands he moved with caution: his dilatoriness was adversely criticized by the Protector and it was said that during the summer he ‘lived in more fear than he was feared’. Russell's strategy, perhaps influenced by his experience earlier in the north, may not have inspired confidence but the rising was suppressed and any recrudescence prevented. He was still in the west when the coup d'ιtat was staged against the Protector: Somerset called upon him and Sir William Herbert for support, but they halted at Andover whence they informed him on 8 Oct of their support for the Earl of Warwick. Their defection sealed Somerset's fate and Russell was rewarded with the earldom of Bedford and more lands in the south-west and the east midlands, including a reversionary grant of Woburn abbey. He was among those charged to attend upon the King ‘for the honourable education of his highness ... in learning and virtue’, he went abroad in 1550 to negotiate peace with the French (1550: "Chief Commissioner to make peace with France"), and in the following year he attended the discussions in London about the eucharist.
1552: "First Special Commissioner to execute Penal Laws."
In Jun 1553 he signed the device which put Lady Jane Grey on the throne and swore allegiance to her, but as soon as the Duke of Northumberland left London he quitted the Tower with other Privy Councillors and helped to proclaim Mary. Retained as a Councillor, Bedford opposed the Spanish marriage and supported the petition for an English one, but he did not long persist in this stand, rallying to the Queen's side during Wyatt's rebellion and regaining her confidence and a leading place in her counsels. She entrusted him with the embassy to conduct Felipe from Spain, and it was perhaps on his advice that Felipe landed at Southampton instead of in the west country where feeling was strong against the marriage. Was present at the wedding. Bedford was as diligent in attending the House of Lords as he was the Privy Council. He missed the last weeks of the third session (1549-50) of the Parliament of 1547 through his mission to France, and almost the whole of the second Parliament of Mary's reign while on embassy to Spain. His other notable absence from the Lords, during the Parliament of Mar 1553, is not so easily explained: whether through illness, or because he suspected Northumberland's schemes, after the first two weeks he did not attend the House until the last day of the Parliament. Presumably he was an important government spokesman, but little trace has been found of his contribution to the business of the Upper House save in the first Edwardian Parliament, when in the first session he signed the bill for the King's general pardon and in the third six others including that for the fine and ransom of the Duke of Somerset, and when he twice adjourned the Lords in the absence of Chancellor Rich.
So eminent a figure would have followed affairs in the Commons no less keenly than those in the Lords. Bedford showed a lively interest in the membership of the Commons, making use of his authority to procure the return of those amenable to himself and to the crown. Although he supported kinsmen, clients and young lawyers (especially those from Lincoln's Inn where in 1529 he had been made an honorary member), he did not disregard local interests, a policy which was to be maintained by his son Francis, 2nd Earl. The extent of his intervention can be deduced from the number of those connected with him who were returned for constituencies in the south-west during the 1540s and early 1550s. Both in 1539 and 1545 he spent some time in the area, and his hand is more in evidence in the elections to the Parliaments of those two years than on occasions when he was unable to exert such direct influence. In the case of Edward VI's first Parliament he was probably responsible for the enfranchisement of seven boroughs in Cornwall since their first Members were nearly all known to him and they were to remain in his patronage until his death. Bedford's hold on the south-west was temporarily shaken when Mary came to the throne, but once he regained her trust his authority revived and was not to be challenged.
April-July 1554: "Ambassador Extraordinary to Spain."
At the beginning of 1555 Bedford fell ill: he made his last appearance in Council on 11 Jan and his will is dated 2 Feb. He left an only son, Francis, who succeeded him in the title. He provided for his wife, son, grandchildren, kinsmen and servants. He died on 14 Mar at Russell House on the Strand and was buried with pomp six days later at Chenies where a monument was erected to his memory. In the west country his death was marked by the tolling of bells and other signs of public mourning. Several portraits of Bedford from the last 20 years of his life survive.
For his service to the crown he received: the forest and chase of Exmoor; the Abbey of Tavistock; thirty manors that had belonged to Tavistock Abbey; thousands of acres of rich fenland in Cambridgeshire when Thorney Abbey passed from the monks to the King; the Great Abbey of Woburn in Bedfordshire. Also London Covent Garden came to Russell on the death of the Duke of Somerset.
Through his wife, Anne, he obtained Chenies, and in 1539 was granted the forest of Exmoor, and also Tavistock, and thirty number of manors in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, which had formerly belonged to the abbey of Tavistock. In 1549 he received Thorney, and thousands of acres of rich fenland in Cambridgeshire when Thorney Abbey passed from the monks to the King; the abbey of Woburn, and extensive lands in the eastern counties; and in 1552 Covent Garden and seven acres of land in London, formerly the property of the Protector Somerset.
(Much of the above thanks to Tudor Palace)
See also I19679: John 1st Earl Russell * of Bedford & this Wikipedia article.
image from Tudor Palace My 11th Great Grandfather, Francis Russell, 2nd Earl Bedford, KG, PC
Born 1527 at Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England. Married 1st Abt. 1546 in England to Margaret Saint John (St. John). Married 2nd 25 Jun 1566 to Countess Rutland, Bridget Hussey (dau. of Baron John Hussey of Sleaford & Anne Grey; widow of both Sir Knight Richard Morrison of Cashiobury and Henry Manners the 2nd Earl of Rutland). Died 28 Jul 1585, Bedford House, The Strand, Middlesex, England. Buried Chenies
made a Knight by Edward VI (1547).
Knight of the Garter (1564).
Lieutenant of the Order of the Garter (1576).
Educated at King's Hall, Cambridge. He accompanied his father to the French war in 1544, and from 1547 to 1552 was member of parliament for Buckingham, being probaly the first heir to a peerage to sit in the House of Commons. He assisted to quell the rising in Devonshire in 1549 (The Prayer Book Rebellion). After his father had been created Earl of Bedford in Jan 1550, was known as Lord Russell, taking his seat in the House of Lords under this title (Baron Russell) through a Writ of acceleration (1552).
Godfather and namesake of Sir Francis Drake. The Drakes stood in good stead with the Russells, their landlords, sufficiently so for Lord Russell's son, the youth Francis Russell, to stand as godfather to Edmund's eldest son and to provide him with his Christian name.
1553-1580: "Lord Warden of the Stannaries."
1555: Suceeded as 2nd Earl of Bedford.
Russell was in sympathy with the reformers, whose opinions he shared. He was one of the peers who signed the device of King Edward VI, and was in communication with Sir Thomas Wyatt; and in consequence of his religious attitude was imprisoned during the earlier part of Mary’s reign. Being released he went into exile; visited Italy; came into touch with foreign reformers; and fought at the battle of St Quentin in 1557 ("Captain in the English Army"). Afterwards he seems to have enjoyed some measure of the royal favour, and was made lord-lieutenant of the counties of Devon, Cornwall and Dorset (and City of Exeter) early in 1558 (confirmed in Devon, Cornwall, and Exeter in 1569, confirmed in all four including Dorset in 1574). In 1555 his father died and Russell became the second Earl of Bedford.
When Elizabeth ascended the throne the Earl of Bedford, became an active figure in public life (1558: Member of Gray's Inn, Note to self: research what this is.). He was made a privy councillor (1558), and was sent on diplomatic errands to Charles IX of France (1561: "Ambassador Extrardinary to Paris.") and Mary Queen of Scots (1566: "Ambassador Extraordinary to Scotland" and "Proxy for Queen Elizabeth at Baptism of James, Prince of Scotland"). From Feb 1564 to Oct 1567 he was governor (Captain?) of Berwick and warden of the east marches of Scotland, in which capacity he conducted various negotiations between Elizabeth and Mary. He appears to have been an efficient warden, but was irritated by the vacillating and tortuous conduct of the English Queen.
1565-1569: "Lieutenant-General in Counties Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland & Durham."
In 1568, his cousin Margaret, a lady who had been Abbess of the dissolved Abbey of Tarrant, in Dorset, left to Bedford a great deal of money, palte and jewels.
When the northern insurrection (aka the Earls Rebellion) broke out in 1569, Bedford was sent into Wales ("Chief Commissioner of Musters in County Buckingham"), and he sat in judgment upon Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk in 1572. In 1576 he was president of the council of Wales (and "High Steward of Oxford"), and in 1581 was one of the commissioners deputed to arrange a marriage between Elizabeth and Francois, Duke of Anjou ("Joint Commissioner to treat with the French Ambassadors").
1584: "Warden & Chief Justice in Eyre of the Royal Forests South of Trent."
Camelford, in the duchy of Cornwall borough in the parish of Lanteglos, has been suggested as the seat Drake held in 1581. It returned two Members, and one of them was nominated by none other than the great magnate Francis Russell, Earl of Bedford, Drake's own godfather. Now for the first time perhaps, that connection was gathering its rewards. Bedford's influence was profound. He was warden of the stanneries, Lord Lieutenant of Devon and Cornwall, and controlled several parliamentary seats, all of which he assigned to friends and relatives who would assist him in promoting his particular cause in government, the Puritan faith. Sir Francis Drake satisfied Bedford on all counts. He was the son of an old family tenant; he was his godson; he was a national hero; and he was an unbridled Puritan, a patriot who cheerfully signed the Devon Instrument of Association in 1584, proclaiming unreserved support for the Queen and the Protestant succession, and who symbolized the nation's rising pride and confidence.
In 1584 Drake was elected one of the two Members for Bossiney, in Cornwall, on 28 Oct. His indenture was signed by a mere nine persons, creatures of Bedford, who controlled both the Bossiney seats, and simply presented the electors with their representative.
In 1586 came Drake's plan to create havoc on several Spanish held ports in South America and the Caribbean. As usual court and peerage were well represented. The Earls of Rutland, Shrewsbury and Bedford, seem to have invested money in the venture. Bedford, who was made a knight of the garter in 1564, was lord warden of the Stannaries from 1553 to 1580. He appears to have been a generous and popular man, and died in London on the 28 Jul 1585, of gangrene. He was buried at Chenies.
His first wife was Margaret (d. 1562), daughter of Sir John St John, by whom he had four sons and three daughters. His three eldest sons predeceased their father. His second wife was Bridget (d. 1601), daughter of John, Lord Hussey and widow of Henry Manners, Earl of Rutland.
He was succeeded as 3rd Earl by his grandson, Edward (b. 1572 - d. 1627), only son of Francis, Lord Russell.
(Much of the above thanks to Tudor Palace)
Seven Children, all from First marriage to Margaret St. John: See also I19681: Francis 2nd Earl Russell * of Bedford & this Wikipedia article.
image from Tudor Palace My 10th Great Grandfather, Francis William Russell, Lord Russell
Born 1553, Badby, Northamptonshire, England. Married 1st 15 Apr 1571 to Juliana Foster (dau. of Sir John Foster of Bamburgh). Married 2nd in Northamptonshire, England before 1572 to Ann Forester. Died 27 Jul 1585 at Hexpathgate, Windy Gail. Buried at Alnwick.
Other Sources say 2nd marriage was 1573/8 and in Badby Parish of Northampton, England.
Kntd. 28 Aug 1570; styled Lord Russell from 1584. Chamberlain, Berwick-upon-Tweed from 1575; j.p. Northumb. from c.1573 (j.p. = justice of the peace??), q. 1580 (q. = quit??), sheriff 1577; border commr. 1581; capt. Tynemouth castle from 1583.
Russell preferred the active, military life of the northern borders to a career at court. His father was at one time warden of the east march and governor of Berwick, and Russell was probably with him, though his name does not appear in the records of these parts until 1570, when he joined the Earl of Sussex's punitive expedition against the Scots, in Annandale, being knighted by the Earl at Carlisle. Three years later he distinguished himself at the siege of Edinburgh castle.
Between campaigns he may have stayed at Alnwick abbey, one of the houses of the warden of the middle marches, his friend Sir John Foster, whose daughter he married. Even to an earl's son, Foster, a formidable politician with great influence along the borders, could offer valuable patronage. In 1575 Russell was an obvious choice as chamberlain of Berwick, and in the following year, no doubt with Foster's backing, he secured the lease of part of the forfeited Neville estate in the barony of Baliol, on Tyneside.
By the '80s, Russell was well established in Northumberland, and in virtually permanent residence either at Berwick, Alnwick, or, after 1583, at Tynemouth castle, which he gained from Sir Henry Percy's custody in 1583. He visited the court early in 1582 when he was chosen to escort the Duke of Anjou to Antwerp, and he was elected to two Parliaments as knight of the shire for Northumberland, his recorded activity being his membership of the committee considering the bill for ‘the better and more reverent observing of the Sabbath Day’, 10 Dec 1584 and the subsidy committee, 24 Feb 1585. On 15 Feb 1585 he took part in a conference with the Lords on procedure.
On his return north, at the session's close, Russell occupied himself with Tynemouth castle, which he had found badly decayed. He frequently sent the Privy Council requests for ordnance and for his allowances, which had been stopped. On 27 Jul 1585, Russell accompanied his father-in-law to a meeting with some Scotch officials at Hexpathgate, on Windy Gail, during which he was shot. He died shortly afterwards, and was buried at Alnwick. The English government, prompted by Foster, claimed that the killing was premeditated and used it as a political lever to overthrow the Earl of Arran. Russell died only a few hours before his father, and the earldom passed to his son Edward, who was then only 13. In commending the young Earl to the Queen, Foster wrote of the father:
"No doubt but your Majesty lost a jewel of him, and the poor inhabitants of Northumberland had as great a loss of him as of any nobleman that ever came among them; and for his time, the like of his calling is not to be found that shall be so well thought of with poor and rich as he was."
(Much of the above thanks to Tudor Palace)
Two Children: See also I19688: Francis Lord Russell * Russell.
My 9th Great Grandmother, Ann "Mary" OR Mary Ann Russell OR Mary Anne Russell
Born in Badby, Northampton, England. Married 27 Jul 1600 to John Roote Sr. in Church of the Virgin, Badby, Northampton, England.
Some sources have dob of birth as 1579, others say 18 Apr 1574, yet others say she was Christianed before 4 Nov 1572. by 26 Feb of either 1607 or 1608 she was living in Farmington.
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