Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
If you would like to write a summary for this topic, email phil [at] gyford [dot] com
Wikipedia
Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, KG (c. 1527 – 28 July 1585) was an English nobleman, soldier and politician and godfather to Francis Drake.
[edit] Life
[edit] Early life
He was educated at King's Hall, Cambridge and accompanied his father, John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, to sit in the House of Commons. He represented Buckinghamshire in parliament in 1545-47 and 1547-52. In 1547 he was appointed High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. He assisted to quell the rising in Devonshire in 1549, and after his father had been created Earl of Bedford in January 1550, was known as Lord Russell, taking his seat in the House of Lords under this title in 1552.
Russell was in sympathy with the reformers, whose opinions he shared, 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 visited Italy, came into touch with foreign reformers. He led the English contingent fighting for Philip II of Spain, then England's King Consort, at the Battle of St. Quentin in 1557.
[edit] Elizabeth
When Elizabeth ascended the throne in November 1558 the Earl of Bedford, as Russell had been since 1555, became an active figure in public life. He was made a privy councillor, and was sent on diplomatic errands to Charles IX of France and Mary, Queen of Scots.
From February 1564 to October 1567 he was governor of Berwick and warden of the east marches of Scotland, in which capacity he conducted various negotiations between Elizabeth and Mary. Bedford represented Elizabeth as her ambassador at the baptism of Prince James on 17 December 1566 at Stirling Castle, and was guest of honour at the subsequent banquet and masque. He appears to have been an efficient warden, but was irritated by the vacillating and tortuous conduct of the English queen. When the northern insurrection broke out in 1569, Bedford was sent into Wales, and he sat in judgment upon the Duke of Norfolk in 1572.
In 1576 he was president of the council of Wales, and in 1581 was one of the commissioners deputed to arrange a marriage between Elizabeth and François, Duke of Anjou. Bedford, who was made a Knight of the Garter in 1564, appears to have been a generous and popular man, and died in London. He was buried at the family chapel next to Chenies Manor House, the family estate which he had made his principal home and where he had entertained Queen Elizabeth in 1570.
[edit] Marriage and issue
His first wife was Margaret St John (Bletsoe, Bedfordshire, 1533 - 27 August 1562), daughter of Sir John St John (great-grandson of Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso) and Margaret Walgrave, by whom he had four sons and three daughters:
- Anne Russell (1548–1603), married Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick
- Edward Russell, Baron Russell (1551–1572), married Jane Sybilla Morrison of Cashiobury, without issue
- John Russell, Baron Russell (c.1553–1584), married Elizabeth Cooke, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke and Anne FitzWilliam. They had one son, Francis (died young), and two daughters which included Hon. Anne, Countess of Worcester, wife of the 1st Marquess of Worcester.[1]
- Francis Russell, Baron Russell (c.1554 – 27 July 1585), married Juliana Foster and had issue, including Edward Russell, 3rd Earl of Bedford, and Mary Ann Russell, wife of John Roote, and had issue
- William Russell, 1st Baron Russell of Thornhaugh (c.1557–1613)
- Elizabeth Russell (d. 1605), married William Bourchier, 3rd Earl of Bath
- Margaret Russell (1560–1616), married George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland.
His second wife was Bridget (d. 1601), daughter of John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford, twice widowed. He was succeeded as third Earl by his grandson, Edward (1572–1627), only son of Francis, Lord Russell (c. 1550–1585).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ David Nash Ford. Royal Berkshire History, Nash Ford Publishing, 2001. Elizabeth Cooke
- tudorplace.com.ar Accessed October 27, 2007
- thepeerage.com Accessed October 27, 2007
- Richardson, Douglas, Kimball G. Everingham, and David Faris. Plantagenet Ancestry A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Royal ancestry series. Baltimore, Md: Genealogical Pub. Co, 2004. Accessed October 28, 2007
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Francis Bryan | Custos Rotulorum of Buckinghamshire bef. 1547–c.1578 | Succeeded by Lord Grey de Wilton |
| Preceded by The Earl of Bedford | Lord Warden of the Stannaries 1553–1580 | Succeeded by Sir Walter Raleigh |
| Preceded by Unknown | Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall 1584–1585 | Succeeded by Sir Francis Godolphin Sir William Mohun Peter Edgcumbe Richard Carew |
| Vacant
Title last held by
The 2nd Earl of Bath |
Lord Lieutenant of Devon 1584–1585 | Succeeded by The 3rd Earl of Bath |
| Preceded by Unknown | Lord Lieutenant of Dorset 1584–1585 | Succeeded by The Marquess of Winchester |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by The Earl of Sussex | Justice in Eyre south of the Trent 1584–1585 | Succeeded by The Earl of Leicester |
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by John Russell | Earl of Bedford 1555–1585 | Succeeded by Edward Russell |
| Baron Russell (writ in acceleration) (descended by acceleration) 1553–1581 | Succeeded by John Russell | |
| Preceded by John Russell | Baron Russell 1584–1585 | Succeeded by Edward Russell |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Bedford, Francis Russell, 2nd Earl Of |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | 28 July 1585 |
| Place of death | |