Individual Notes

Note for: John Russell, 1485 - 14 MAR 1554 Index

Individual Note:
John Russell came from a Dorset family of moderate standin g whose estat es had been acquired gradually during the 14t h and 15th centuries from t he profits of trade and the fort unes of marriage. His grandfather, anoth er John, who brok e with family tradition by making a career in the servi ce o f the crown, had been a knight of the shire for Dorset in 1 472 and d ied in 1505 leaving a son and heir James who did n ot long survive hi m. Of John Russell's early life nothing i s known for certain, but in t he 17th century Thomas Fulle r heard that he had been �bred beyond the sea s�, an upbring ing which would accord with his command of foreign langua ge s.

Early in 1506 the fleet taking the Archduke Phillip of Aust ria and his wi fe Juana were caught in a storm into Weymout h Bay. Juana was proud for s he was the daughter of Isabel o f Castile, the patron of Columbus. Juana p ut on all her fin e clothes, so that when her drowned body was found on t he s hore she might be buried as a Spanish princess should be; b ut she w as not buried: the ship managed to creep into Weymo uth, and the people se nt the royal strangers to the fines t house they knew, Wolfeton, the gre at house owned by Sir T homas Trenchard ten miles away. Sir Thomas w as at home, bu t he could not speak Spanish, so he sent for his kinsm en Jo hn Russell, who was living at the farmhouse Kingston Russel l Hou se at Long Bredy Dorset. John had been in Spain and co uld interpret, t he Spaniads were so delighted with his mann er that they took him to see t he King. The King Henry VII m ade Russell a gentleman of the privy chambe r. Prior to hi s elevation to court he was the last of a long line of su cc essful wine importers.

Through his mother first marriage, he was brother in law t o Sir Thomas Ch eney, Warden of the Cinque Ports, who marrie d Anne Broughton.

Russell's appointment in the privy chamber was confirmed b y Henry VIII, h is junior by some six years. Henry quickly s elected Russell for special e mployment, first in the war an d than in diplomacy. In 1513 he foug ht as a captain in th e campaign in northern France and after the captu re of Tour nai he received an administrative post there and was knight e d. He became a familiar figure in the city during its occu pation, often s erving as an intermediary between its counci l and Cardinal Wolsey and on ce being involved in a scheme t o capture, or even to assassinate the York ist claimant to t he throne Richard de la Pole. In 1514 he went to Par is fo r the marriage of Louis XII to Princess Mary and six year s lat er he accompanied the King to the Field of the Cloth o f Gold. In 1522 h is valour at the siege of Morlaix cost hi m an eye but gained him a knight hood. Wolsey employed him a s an agent between 1523 and 1527 in a search f or alliance s against Francois I and during his journeys he witness ed t he battle of Pavia and narrowly escaped the sack of Rome. H is trave ls came to an end shortly before he was pricked she riff of Somerset and D orset: the appointment may have bee n intended in part to reimburse him f or the expenses he ha d incurred, for he had been obliged to dispose of so me of h is Dorset property.

These years were nevertheless rewarding ones for Russell: h e had made h is mark with both King and Cardinal, and he ha d married an heiress who br ought him an interest estate, Ch enies in Buckinghamshire, where he w as to settle.

In the spring of 1529 Russell was appointed to go to the Fr ench court, b ut his mission was countermanded before he se t out. Wolsey's position w as becoming precarious and he rel ied on Russell as his spokesman with t he King. That Russel l was not compromised by the Cardinal's fall is sho wn by hi s election to the Parliament of 1529 as a knight of the shi re f or his adopted county: the writ for Buckinghamshire wa s one of those call ed for by the King when he was at Windso r in Aug. His Membership of th is Parliament was probably no t Russell's first experience of the Common s, for he may hav e sat earlier for a Dorset borough where his standi ng at co urt combined with his family connexions could have procure d h im a place. Early in 1530 he defended Wolsey before th e King and in so do ing incurred the wrath of Anne Boleyn, w hose continuing hostility to h im may have impeded his progr ess: of Henry VIII's marriage to Jane Seymo ur in 1536 he wa s to remark, �The King hath come out of hell into heav en fo r the gentleness of this [Queen] and the cursedness and unh appine ss in the other�. In compliance with the King's reque st Russell doubtle ss sat in the Parliament which opened nin e days after the marriage: its p urpose, to complete the des truction of Anne Boleyn, was one which he mu st have applaud ed. It was not until then that he became a Privy Councill or . In 1532 he had gone to Calais with the King and a year la ter had be en offered, but did not accept, the deputyship o f the town.

Russell distinguished himself during the suppression of th e Lincolnshi re rebellion and the Pilgrimage of Grace, and a s he grew closer towards C romwell he was clearly a candidat e for high office. The opportunity ca me with the establishm ent of the council in the west. The execution of t he Marque ss of Exeter had created a political vacuum in Devon and Co rnwa ll which the King would not suffer to be filled by anot her magnate of dou btful loyalty. Russell had proved his wor th, his family links with the re gion were an added qualific ation, and a patrimony reduced by sale and neg lect could b e augmented to match the dignity of the office. He recei ve d substantial grants of land in the south-west, the high st ewardsh ip of the duchy of Cornwall and the lord wardenshi p of the stannaries (bo th previously held by Exeter ), th e Garter and a peerage. The council ca me into being in 153 9 but failed to establish itself, perhaps because i ts presi dent was often needed at court and there was no natural suc cess or to Exeter. Yet Russell's personal ascendancy in th e south-west w as to remain unchallenged for the rest of hi s life.

Russell survived Cromwell's fall, as he had done Wolsey's , and in the red istribution of offices which followed he se cured the admiralty. Two yea rs later Thomas Howard, 3rd Duk e of Norfolk recommended him to succeed S ir William Fitzwil liam, 1st Earl of Southampton as lieutenant in the nort h, b ut this command went to the Earl of Hertford, and Russell r eceived a nother of Southampton's offices, that of lord priv y seal: his failu re to take Montreuil, when he was called u pon to campaign in 1544, sugges ts that he had been rightl y passed over. He spent the late summer of 15 45 in a tour o f inspection of coastal defences in the south-west, but o th erwise he was rarely absent from the King's side during th e last yea rs of the reign: an Ambassador described him as � not only of great author ity in the Council but also one wh o always eats and talks with his majest y�. In 1542 he enter tained the King at Chenies, and five years later he r eceive d �500 under Henry VIII's will, of which he was an executor .

John, Lord Russell and his wife, Anne, obtained the wealth y lands of Tavi stock Abbey, and they renewed the lease to t he Drakes in 1546.

According to Secretary Paget the King had at first meant t o promote Russe ll in the peerage but although he suffered n o loss of power under Edwa rd VI he did not benefit from th e dispersal of honours at the openi ng of the new reign, per haps on account of an earlier disagreement with t he Protect or Somerset. On the outbreak of the Prayer Book rebellion o f 1 549 he was commissioned to restore order. When the rebel s failed to captu re Exeter, the insurgents were soon suppre ssed by an army of Italian merc enaries commanded by Lord Ru ssell. He had an additional satisfaction in p utting down th e revolt, because among the demands of the rebels had b ee n the restitution to the Church of Tavistock Abbey. This h e was initia lly expected to do without adequate supplies o r reserves, and until the C ouncil met his demands he move d with caution: his dilatoriness was advers ely criticized b y the Protector and it was said that during the summ er he � lived in more fear than he was feared�. Russell's strategy , perha ps influenced by his experience earlier in the north , may not have inspir ed confidence but the rising was suppr essed and any recrudescence prevent ed. He was still in th e west when the coup d'�tat was staged against t he Protecto r: Somerset called upon him and Sir William Herbert for sup po rt, but they halted at Andover whence they informed him o n 8 Oct of the ir support for the Earl of Warwick. Their def ection sealed Somerset's fa te and Russell was rewarded wit h the earldom of Bedford and more lan ds in the south-west a nd the east midlands, including a reversionary gra nt of Wob urn abbey. He was among those charged to attend upon the Ki ng � for the honourable education of his highness ... in lea rning and virtue �, he went abroad in 1550 to negotiate peac e with the French, and in t he following year he attended th e discussions in London about the euchari st.

In Jun 1553 he signed the device which put Lady Jane Grey o n the throne a nd swore allegiance to her, but as soon as th e Duke of Northumberland le ft London he quitted the Tower w ith other Privy Councillors and help ed to proclaim Mary. Re tained as a Councillor, Bedford opposed the Spani sh marriag e and supported the petition for an English one, but he di d n ot long persist in this stand, rallying to the Queen's s ide during Wyatt 's rebellion and regaining her confidence a nd a leading place in her coun sels. She entrusted him wit h the embassy to conduct Felipe from Spain, a nd it was perh aps on his advice that Felipe landed at Southampton inst ea d of in the west country where feeling was strong against t he marriag e. Was present at the wedding.

Bedford was as diligent in attending the House of Lords a s he was the Pri vy Council. He missed the last weeks of th e third session (1549-50) of t he Parliament of 1547 throug h his mission to France, and almost the who le of the secon d Parliament of Mary's reign while on embassy to Spai n. Hi s other notable absence from the Lords, during the Parliame nt of M ar 1553, is not so easily explained: whether throug h illness, or becau se he suspected Northumberland's schemes , after the first two weeks he d id not attend the House unt il the last day of the Parliament. Presumab ly he was an imp ortant government spokesman, but little trace has been fo un d of his contribution to the business of the Upper House sa ve in the f irst Edwardian Parliament, when in the first ses sion he signed the bill f or the King's general pardon and i n the third six others including that f or the fine and rans om of the Duke of Somerset, and when he twice adjourn ed th e Lords in the absence of Chancellor Rich.

So eminent a figure would have followed affairs in the Comm ons no less ke enly than those in the Lords. Bedford showe d a lively interest in the mem bership of the Commons, makin g use of his authority to procure the retu rn of those amena ble to himself and to the crown. Although he supported k ins men, clients and young lawyers (especially those from Linco ln's Inn w here in 1529 he had been made an honorary member) , he did not disregard l ocal interests, a policy which wa s to be maintained by his son Francis, 2 nd Earl. The exten t of his intervention can be deduced from the numb er of tho se connected with him who were returned for constituencie s in t he south-west during the 1540s and early 1550s. Bot h in 1539 and 15 45 he spent some time in the area, and hi s hand is more in evidence in t he elections to the Parliame nts of those two years than on occasions wh en he was unabl e to exert such direct influence. In the case of Edward V I' s first Parliament he was probably responsible for the enfr anchiseme nt of seven boroughs in Cornwall since their firs t Members were nearly a ll known to him and they were to rem ain in his patronage until his deat h. Bedford's hold on th e south-west was temporarily shaken when Mary ca me to the t hrone, but once he regained her trust his authority revive d a nd was not to be challenged.

At the beginning of 1555 Bedford fell ill: he made his las t appearan ce in Council on 11 Jan and his will is dated 2 F eb. He left an only so n, Francis, who succeeded him in th e title. He provided for his wife, so n, grandchildren, kins men and servants. He died on 14 Mar at Russell Hou se on th e Strand and was buried with pomp six days later at Chenie s whe re a monument was erected to his memory. In the west c ountry his death w as marked by the tolling of bells and oth er signs of public mourning. Sev eral portraits of Bedford f rom the last 20 years of his life survive.

For his service to the crown he received: the forest and ch ase of Exmoo r; the Abbey of Tavistock; thirty manors that h ad belonged to Tavistock A bbey; thousands of acres of ric h fenland in Cambridgeshire when Thorney A bbey passed fro m the monks to the King; the Great Abbey of Woburn in Bed fo rdshire. Also London Covent Garden came to Russell on the d eath of t he Duke of Somerset.

Individual Notes

Note for: Edward L Conaway, 1 JUL 1918 - 9 MAY 1996 Index

Event:
     Type:   SSN issued
     Place:   West Virginia

Individual Notes

Note for: Denzel Gump, 14 SEP 1904 - Index

Individual Note:
Notes for Denzil "Boss" Gump:
He stole the train at Brave in 1923 & wrecked it near Blacksville, WVa

Individual Notes

Note for: Ralph Floyd Wise, 22 NOV 1898 - 3 JAN 1969 Index

Event:
     Type:   SSN issued
     Place:   Pennsylvania

Individual Notes

Note for: Edmond Fortescue, 16 JUL 1609 - BEF 1 MAR 1647 Index

Individual Note:
Governor of Charles Fort, Salcombe, Devonshire, England

Individual Notes

Note for: Lewis Watson, 1714 - 4 DEC 1745 Index

Individual Note:
2nd Earl of Rockingham

Individual Notes

Note for: Thomas Watson, 30 DEC 1715 - 26 FEB 1746 Index

Individual Note:
Thomas Watson, 3rd Earl of Rockingham was born in 1715. He was the s on of Edward Watson, Viscount Sondes and Lady Katherine Tufton. He di ed on 26 February 1745/46, unmarried.

Individual Notes

Note for: Thomas Coke, 17 JUN 1697 - 20 APR 1759 Index

Individual Note:
1st Earl of Leicester (1697�1759) was a wealthy English land-owner and pat ron of the arts. He is particularly noted for commissioning the design a nd construction of Holkham Hall in north Norfolk.

Individual Notes

Note for: John Leveson Gower, 10 AUG 1695 - 25 DEC 1754 Index

Individual Note:
1st Earl Gower (10 August, 1694- 25 December, 1754) was a British Tory pol itician, one of the first Tories to enter government in the 18th century.

Individual Notes

Note for: John James Perceval, 23 JAN 1738 - 25 FEB 1822 Index

Individual Note:
John James Perceval, 3rd Earl of Egmont (b 23.01.1738, d 25.02.1822)