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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 1866.
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politics · Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1846–1852, 1865–1866) · politician · also John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Lord John Russell, Finality John, John, Earl Russell, John Russell, Earl Russell, Russell
Born 18 August 1792 · Died 28 May 1878 · Q157259
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May you remember, that the liberty which was acquired for you by your ancestors will be required of you by your descendants: then will you agree to a temperate and timely reform, reconcile the different classes of society, and prevent a convulsion which may involve all in one common ruin.
Will this House say, "We will keep our power, keep it how we may; we regard not the petitions of the people, and are ready to abide by all the consequences of our refusal?
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Public attention spiked: 2,816 Wikipedia readers in one day, 9.9× the usual 284, with 1 article edits. Editors noted: Minister under Grey and Melbourne: 1830–1841
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Died 1878-05-28.
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Her journal records that he was "a man of much talent, who leaves a name behind him, kind, & good, with a great knowledge of the constitution, who behaved very well, on many trying occasions; but he was impulsive, very s
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
“Will this House say, "We will keep our power, keep it how we may; we regard not the petitions of the people, and are ready to abide by all the consequences of our refusal?”
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
“May you remember, that the liberty which was acquired for you by your ancestors will be required of you by your descendants: then will you agree to a temperate and timely reform, reconcile the different classes of society, and prevent a convulsion which may involve all in one common ruin.”
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
And their son Viscount Amberley in 1876, Earl Russell and Countess Russell brought up their orphaned grandchildren, John ("Frank") Russell, who became 2nd Earl Russell on his grandfather's death, and Bertrand Russell who
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Dickens remarked of Russell that "there is no man in England whom I respect more in his public capacity, whom I love more in his private capacity
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: Leader of the Opposition (1866–1868).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Party disunity again brought down his government
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1865–1866).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Russell was elevated to the peerage as Earl Russell, of Kingston Russell in the County of Dorset, and as Viscount Amberley, of Amberley in the County of Gloucester, and of Ardsalla in the County of Meath
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1859–1865).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Reversed himself and decided to free non-Anglicans of the duty of paying rates (taxes) to the local Anglican parish
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Following another short-lived Conservative government, Palmerston and Russell made up their differences, and Russell consented to serve as Foreign Secretary in a new Palmerston cabinet, usually considered the first true
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: member of the 18th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1859–1861).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: member of the 17th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1857–1859).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: Secretary of State for the Colonies (1855–1855).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: Lord President of the Council (1854–1855).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
And Palmerston's first government in 1858
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: member of the 16th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1852–1857).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Further tension arose between the two over Palmerston's gunboat diplomacy in the Don Pacifico affair, in which Palmerston sought compensation from the Greek government for the ransacking and the burning of the house of D
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
The bill was passed by the House of Commons, receiving support from the Whigs and a minority of Conservatives (including future prime minister Benjamin Disraeli)
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: member of the 15th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1847–1852).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Russell's father-in-law the Earl of Minto was dispatched on a confidential mission to Rome to seek the Pope's support for the grants plan
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Palmerston provoked a confrontation with the French government by undermining the plans of the Spanish court to marry the young Spanish Queen and her sister into the French royal family
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Queen Victoria granted Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park to Lord and Lady John
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1846–1852).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Russell's ministry introduced a programme of public works that by the end of that year employed some half-a-million but proved impossible to administer
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Russell reported that in one year more than 50,000 Irish families had been "turned out of their wretched dwellings without pity and without refuge
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Denouncing Pope Pius IX's revival of Catholic bishoprics in 1850, and supporting Italian unification during the 1860s
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: member of the 14th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1841–1847).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
The Whigs lost the general election to the Conservatives and Russell and his colleagues returned to opposition
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (1839–1841).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: member of the 13th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1837–1841).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Chose not to reform the convocation of the 'Hanging Cabinet' that decided, without agreed procedures, on the Royal prerogative of mercy in death sentences
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Russell steered a series of seven Acts through Parliament, which together reduced the number of offences carrying a sentence of death from thirty-seven to sixteen
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Introduced the Marriages Act, which introduced civil marriages in England and Wales and allowed Catholics and Protestant Dissenters to marry in their own churches
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: member of the 12th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1835–1837).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: Home Secretary (1835–1839).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: member of the 12th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1835–1835).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: member of the 11th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1832–1834).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: member of the 10th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1831–1832).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Russell entered Earl Grey's government as Paymaster of the Forces
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
As well as towards legislation limiting working hours in factories in the Factories Act 1847, and the Public Health Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Took a leading role in the repeal of the Test Acts which discriminated against Catholics and Protestant dissenters
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
While still an opposition backbencher, Russell introduced a Sacramental Test bill with the aim of abolishing the prohibitions on Catholics and Protestant dissenters being elected to local government and from holding civi
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Russell embraced the cause of parliamentary reform and he led the more reformist wing of the Whigs throughout the 1820s
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: member of the 6th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1818–1820).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Tired of the prospect of perpetual opposition, Russell resigned from Parliament
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Career landmark: member of the 5th Parliament of the United Kingdom (1813–1817).
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Russell's father was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the short-lived Ministry of All the Talents, and it was during this time that the young Russell met Charles James Fox
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Due to ill health, Russell was educated by tutors, including Edmund Cartwright
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
At the age of nine, he was sent away to school
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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell
Born 1792-08-18.
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