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John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford

John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, KG, PC, FRS (30 September 1710 – 5 January 1771) was a British Whig statesman and peer who served as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1757 to 1761. A leading member of the Whig party during the Seven Years' War, he negotiated the 1763 Treaty of Paris which ended the conflict. Bedford was also an early promoter of cricket and a patron of the arts who commissioned numerous works from prominent artists, most notably Canaletto.[1][2][3]

The Duke of Bedford
The Duke of Bedford by Thomas Gainsborough
Lord President of the Council
In office
9 September 1763 – 12 July 1765
MonarchGeorge III
Prime MinisterGeorge Grenville
Preceded byThe Earl Granville
Succeeded byThe Earl of Winchilsea
British Ambassador to France
In office
4 April 1762 – 1 June 1763
Preceded byVacant
The Earl of Albemarle recalled due to the Seven Years' War
Succeeded byThe Earl of Hertford
Lord Privy Seal
In office
25 November 1761 – 22 April 1763
MonarchGeorge III
Prime MinisterThe Duke of Newcastle
The Earl of Bute
George Grenville
Preceded byIn Commission
The Earl Temple, 5 October 1761
Succeeded byThe Duke of Marlborough
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office
3 January 1757 – 3 April 1761
MonarchsGeorge II
George III
Preceded byThe Duke of Devonshire
Succeeded byThe Earl of Halifax
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
In office
12 February 1748 – 13 June 1751
MonarchGeorge II
Prime MinisterHenry Pelham
Preceded byThe Duke of Newcastle
Succeeded byThe Earl of Holderness
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office
27 December 1744 – 26 February 1748
MonarchGeorge II
Prime MinisterHenry Pelham
Preceded byThe Earl of Winchilsea
Succeeded byThe Earl of Sandwich
Personal details
Born
John Russell

30 September 1710
Streatham, Surrey, England
Died5 January 1771(1771-01-05) (aged 60)
Woburn, Bedfordshire, England
Resting placeChenies, Buckinghamshire
Spouses
(m. 1731; died 1735)
(m. 1737)
ChildrenJohn Russell, Marquess of Tavistock
Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock
Caroline Spencer, Duchess of Marlborough
Parent(s)Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford
Elizabeth Howland
Quartered arms of John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, KG

Early life edit

He was the fourth son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham, Surrey. Known as Lord John Russell, he married in October 1731 Diana Spencer, daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland; became Duke of Bedford on his brother's death a year later.

Having lost his first wife in 1735, he married, secondly, in April 1737, to Lady Gertrude Leveson-Gower (died 1794), daughter of John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower. In 1749, John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, was made a Knight of the Order of the Garter.

Early political career edit

In the House of Lords he joined the Patriot Whig opposition hostile to the Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole, took a fairly prominent part in public business, and earned the dislike of George II. When Carteret, now Earl Granville, resigned office in November 1744, Bedford became First Lord of the Admiralty in the administration of Henry Pelham, and was made a privy councillor. He was very successful at the admiralty, but was not equally fortunate after he became Secretary of State for the Southern Department in February 1748. Pelham accused him of idleness and he was constantly at variance with his colleague The Duke of Newcastle.

Newcastle, who had previously admired The Earl of Sandwich, Bedford's successor as First Lord of the Admiralty, for his forthright and hardline views, had increasingly begun to distrust him and his relationship with Bedford. Newcastle engineered the dismissal of both of them, by sacking Sandwich in June 1751. Bedford resigned in protest, as Newcastle had calculated, allowing him to replace them with men he considered more loyal personally to him. During his time in the post, he was accused of spending far too much time at his country estate playing cricket and shooting pheasants.

Cricket edit

Bedford was very keen on cricket. The earliest surviving record of his involvement in the sport comes from 1741 when he hosted Bedfordshire v Northamptonshire & Huntingdonshire at Woburn Park. The combined Northamptonshire & Huntingdonshire team won. Bedford arranged the match with his friends George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (Northants) and John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (Hunts).[4] A few days later, there was a return match at Cow Meadow, Northampton, and the combined team won again.[5][6]

By 1743, Bedford had developed Woburn Cricket Club into a leading team that was able to compete against London. The team was prominent in 1743 and 1744 but, after that, there is no further mention of it.

Seven Years' War edit

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland edit

Instigated by his friends, he was active in opposition to the government, becoming the leader of a faction named after him, the Bedford Whigs. After Newcastle's resignation in November 1756, Bedford became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the new government led by William Pitt and the Duke of Devonshire. He retained this office after Newcastle, in alliance with Pitt, returned to power in June 1757.

In Ireland, he favoured a relaxation of the penal laws against Roman Catholics, but did not keep his promises to observe neutrality between the rival parties, and to abstain from securing pensions for his friends. His own courtly manners and generosity, and his wife's good qualities, however, seem to have gained for him some popularity, although Horace Walpole says he disgusted everybody (but the word "disgusting" then had a much wider range of meanings than it has today, and at its mildest meant simply "reserved").

He oversaw the Irish response to the threatened French invasion in 1759, and the landing of a small French force in northern Ireland. In March 1761, he resigned from this office.

Peace negotiator edit

Having allied himself with the Earl of Bute and the party anxious to bring the Seven Years' War to a close, Bedford was noticed as the strongest opponent of Pitt, and became Lord Privy Seal under Bute after Pitt resigned in October 1761. The cabinet of Bute was divided over the policy to be pursued with regard to the war, but the peace faction prevailed, and, in September 1762, Bedford went to France to open formal negotiations for peace.

He was considerably annoyed because some of the peace negotiations were conducted through other channels, but he signed the Peace of Paris in February 1763. Amongst other gains Britain received Canada from France and Florida from Spain. Resigning his office as Lord Privy Seal soon afterwards, various causes of estrangement arose between Bute and Bedford, and the subsequent relations between the two men were somewhat virulent.

Grenville ministry edit

 
Bedford was a patron of Canaletto and commissioned a number of works from him including this view of Venice.

The duke refused to take office under George Grenville on Bute's resignation in April 1763, and sought to induce Pitt to return to power. A report, however, that Pitt would only take office on condition that Bedford was excluded, incensed him and, smarting under this rebuff, he joined the cabinet of Grenville as Lord President of the Council in September 1763. His haughty manner, his somewhat insulting language, and his attitude with regard to the regency bill in 1765 offended George III, who sought in vain to supplant him, and after this failure was obliged to make humiliating concessions to the ministry. In July 1765, however, he was able to dispense with the services of Bedford and his colleagues, and the duke became the leader of a political party, distinguished for rapacity, and known as the Bedford party, or the Bloomsbury gang.

During his term of office, he had opposed a bill to place high import duties on Italian silks. He was consequently assaulted and his London residence was attacked by a mob. He took some part in subsequent political intrigues, and although he did not return to office, his friends, with his consent, joined the ministry of the Duke of Grafton in December 1767. This proceeding led "Junius" to write his "Letter to the Duke of Bedford," one of special violence. Bedford was hostile to John Wilkes, and narrowly escaped from a mob favourable to the agitator at Honiton in July 1769.

Children edit

 
Bedford by Joshua Reynolds during the Seven Years' War.

Child of John Russell and his first wife Lady Diana Spencer:

  • John Russell, Marquess of Tavistock (died at birth 6 November 1732)

Children of John Russell and his second wife Hon. Gertrude Leveson-Gower:

Death edit

His health had been declining for some years, and in 1770 he became partially paralysed. He died at Woburn on 5 January 1771, and was buried in the Bedford Chapel at St. Michael's Church, Chenies, Buckinghamshire. His sons all predeceased him, and he was succeeded in the title by his grandson, Francis. Francis suffered heavy financial losses, and began the development of Bloomsbury on the old Bedford Estate.

The duke held many public offices: lord-lieutenant of Bedfordshire and Devon, Colonel of the East Devon Militia, and chancellor of the University of Dublin among others, and was a Knight of the Garter. Bedford was a proud and conceited man, but possessed both ability and common sense. The important part which he took in public life, however, was due rather to his wealth and position than to his personal taste or ambition. He was neither above nor below the standard of political morality of the time, and was influenced by his duchess, who was very ambitious, and by followers who were singularly unscrupulous.

He served as the twelfth Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1765 to 1770.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Russell, John (1710–1771)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  2. ^ G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910–1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume II, page 82-84, volume VIII, page 500.
  3. ^ Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes (Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), volume 2, page 1871.
  4. ^ Maun, pp. 106–107.
  5. ^ Maun, p. 106.
  6. ^ Waghorn, Cricket Scores, p. 27.

Bibliography edit

  • Brown, Peter Douglas. William Pitt, Earl of Chatham: The Great Commoner. George Allen & Unwin, 1978.
  • Maun, Ian (2009). From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750. Roger Heavens. ISBN 978-1-900592-52-9.
  • Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730–1773). Blackwood.

External links edit

  Media related to John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford at Wikimedia Commons

Honorary titles
New office President of the Foundling Hospital
1739–1771
Succeeded by
Vacant
Title last held by
The Duke of Kent
Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire
1745–1771
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Devon
1751–1771
Succeeded by
Vacant
Title last held by
Theophilus Fortescue
Vice-Admiral of Devon
1761–1771
Vacant
Title next held by
The Earl Fortescue
Political offices
Preceded by First Lord of the Admiralty
1744–1748
Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for the Southern Department
1748–1751
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
1757–1761
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Privy Seal
1761–1763
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord President of the Council
1763–1765
Succeeded by
Diplomatic posts
Vacant
None due to Seven Years' War
Title last held by
The Earl of Albemarle
British Ambassador to France
1762–1763
Succeeded by
Academic offices
Preceded by Chancellor of the University of Dublin
1765–1771
Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Preceded by Duke of Bedford
1732–1771
Succeeded by

john, russell, duke, bedford, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jsto. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources John Russell 4th Duke of Bedford news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message John Russell 4th Duke of Bedford KG PC FRS 30 September 1710 5 January 1771 was a British Whig statesman and peer who served as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1757 to 1761 A leading member of the Whig party during the Seven Years War he negotiated the 1763 Treaty of Paris which ended the conflict Bedford was also an early promoter of cricket and a patron of the arts who commissioned numerous works from prominent artists most notably Canaletto 1 2 3 His GraceThe Duke of BedfordKG PC FRSThe Duke of Bedford by Thomas GainsboroughLord President of the CouncilIn office 9 September 1763 12 July 1765MonarchGeorge IIIPrime MinisterGeorge GrenvillePreceded byThe Earl GranvilleSucceeded byThe Earl of WinchilseaBritish Ambassador to FranceIn office 4 April 1762 1 June 1763Preceded byVacantThe Earl of Albemarle recalled due to the Seven Years WarSucceeded byThe Earl of HertfordLord Privy SealIn office 25 November 1761 22 April 1763MonarchGeorge IIIPrime MinisterThe Duke of NewcastleThe Earl of ButeGeorge GrenvillePreceded byIn CommissionThe Earl Temple 5 October 1761Succeeded byThe Duke of MarlboroughLord Lieutenant of IrelandIn office 3 January 1757 3 April 1761MonarchsGeorge IIGeorge IIIPreceded byThe Duke of DevonshireSucceeded byThe Earl of HalifaxSecretary of State for the Southern DepartmentIn office 12 February 1748 13 June 1751MonarchGeorge IIPrime MinisterHenry PelhamPreceded byThe Duke of NewcastleSucceeded byThe Earl of HoldernessFirst Lord of the AdmiraltyIn office 27 December 1744 26 February 1748MonarchGeorge IIPrime MinisterHenry PelhamPreceded byThe Earl of WinchilseaSucceeded byThe Earl of SandwichPersonal detailsBornJohn Russell30 September 1710Streatham Surrey EnglandDied5 January 1771 1771 01 05 aged 60 Woburn Bedfordshire EnglandResting placeChenies BuckinghamshireSpousesLady Diana Spencer m 1731 died 1735 wbr Lady Gertrude Leveson Gower m 1737 wbr ChildrenJohn Russell Marquess of Tavistock Francis Russell Marquess of Tavistock Caroline Spencer Duchess of MarlboroughParent s Wriothesley Russell 2nd Duke of Bedford Elizabeth HowlandQuartered arms of John Russell 4th Duke of Bedford KG Contents 1 Early life 2 Early political career 3 Cricket 4 Seven Years War 4 1 Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 4 2 Peace negotiator 5 Grenville ministry 6 Children 7 Death 8 See also 9 References 10 Bibliography 11 External linksEarly life editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources John Russell 4th Duke of Bedford news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message He was the fourth son of Wriothesley Russell 2nd Duke of Bedford by his wife Elizabeth daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham Surrey Known as Lord John Russell he married in October 1731 Diana Spencer daughter of Charles Spencer 3rd Earl of Sunderland became Duke of Bedford on his brother s death a year later Having lost his first wife in 1735 he married secondly in April 1737 to Lady Gertrude Leveson Gower died 1794 daughter of John Leveson Gower 1st Earl Gower In 1749 John Russell 4th Duke of Bedford was made a Knight of the Order of the Garter Early political career editIn the House of Lords he joined the Patriot Whig opposition hostile to the Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole took a fairly prominent part in public business and earned the dislike of George II When Carteret now Earl Granville resigned office in November 1744 Bedford became First Lord of the Admiralty in the administration of Henry Pelham and was made a privy councillor He was very successful at the admiralty but was not equally fortunate after he became Secretary of State for the Southern Department in February 1748 Pelham accused him of idleness and he was constantly at variance with his colleague The Duke of Newcastle Newcastle who had previously admired The Earl of Sandwich Bedford s successor as First Lord of the Admiralty for his forthright and hardline views had increasingly begun to distrust him and his relationship with Bedford Newcastle engineered the dismissal of both of them by sacking Sandwich in June 1751 Bedford resigned in protest as Newcastle had calculated allowing him to replace them with men he considered more loyal personally to him During his time in the post he was accused of spending far too much time at his country estate playing cricket and shooting pheasants Cricket editBedford was very keen on cricket The earliest surviving record of his involvement in the sport comes from 1741 when he hosted Bedfordshire v Northamptonshire amp Huntingdonshire at Woburn Park The combined Northamptonshire amp Huntingdonshire team won Bedford arranged the match with his friends George Montagu Dunk 2nd Earl of Halifax Northants and John Montagu 4th Earl of Sandwich Hunts 4 A few days later there was a return match at Cow Meadow Northampton and the combined team won again 5 6 By 1743 Bedford had developed Woburn Cricket Club into a leading team that was able to compete against London The team was prominent in 1743 and 1744 but after that there is no further mention of it Seven Years War editFurther information Great Britain in the Seven Years War This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources John Russell 4th Duke of Bedford news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Lord Lieutenant of Ireland edit Instigated by his friends he was active in opposition to the government becoming the leader of a faction named after him the Bedford Whigs After Newcastle s resignation in November 1756 Bedford became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the new government led by William Pitt and the Duke of Devonshire He retained this office after Newcastle in alliance with Pitt returned to power in June 1757 In Ireland he favoured a relaxation of the penal laws against Roman Catholics but did not keep his promises to observe neutrality between the rival parties and to abstain from securing pensions for his friends His own courtly manners and generosity and his wife s good qualities however seem to have gained for him some popularity although Horace Walpole says he disgusted everybody but the word disgusting then had a much wider range of meanings than it has today and at its mildest meant simply reserved He oversaw the Irish response to the threatened French invasion in 1759 and the landing of a small French force in northern Ireland In March 1761 he resigned from this office Peace negotiator edit Main article Peace of Paris 1763 Having allied himself with the Earl of Bute and the party anxious to bring the Seven Years War to a close Bedford was noticed as the strongest opponent of Pitt and became Lord Privy Seal under Bute after Pitt resigned in October 1761 The cabinet of Bute was divided over the policy to be pursued with regard to the war but the peace faction prevailed and in September 1762 Bedford went to France to open formal negotiations for peace He was considerably annoyed because some of the peace negotiations were conducted through other channels but he signed the Peace of Paris in February 1763 Amongst other gains Britain received Canada from France and Florida from Spain Resigning his office as Lord Privy Seal soon afterwards various causes of estrangement arose between Bute and Bedford and the subsequent relations between the two men were somewhat virulent Grenville ministry edit nbsp Bedford was a patron of Canaletto and commissioned a number of works from him including this view of Venice The duke refused to take office under George Grenville on Bute s resignation in April 1763 and sought to induce Pitt to return to power A report however that Pitt would only take office on condition that Bedford was excluded incensed him and smarting under this rebuff he joined the cabinet of Grenville as Lord President of the Council in September 1763 His haughty manner his somewhat insulting language and his attitude with regard to the regency bill in 1765 offended George III who sought in vain to supplant him and after this failure was obliged to make humiliating concessions to the ministry In July 1765 however he was able to dispense with the services of Bedford and his colleagues and the duke became the leader of a political party distinguished for rapacity and known as the Bedford party or the Bloomsbury gang During his term of office he had opposed a bill to place high import duties on Italian silks He was consequently assaulted and his London residence was attacked by a mob He took some part in subsequent political intrigues and although he did not return to office his friends with his consent joined the ministry of the Duke of Grafton in December 1767 This proceeding led Junius to write his Letter to the Duke of Bedford one of special violence Bedford was hostile to John Wilkes and narrowly escaped from a mob favourable to the agitator at Honiton in July 1769 Children edit nbsp Bedford by Joshua Reynolds during the Seven Years War Child of John Russell and his first wife Lady Diana Spencer John Russell Marquess of Tavistock died at birth 6 November 1732 Children of John Russell and his second wife Hon Gertrude Leveson Gower Francis Russell Marquess of Tavistock 27 September 1739 22 March 1767 Lady Caroline Russell c January 1743 26 November 1811 married George Spencer 4th Duke of MarlboroughDeath editHis health had been declining for some years and in 1770 he became partially paralysed He died at Woburn on 5 January 1771 and was buried in the Bedford Chapel at St Michael s Church Chenies Buckinghamshire His sons all predeceased him and he was succeeded in the title by his grandson Francis Francis suffered heavy financial losses and began the development of Bloomsbury on the old Bedford Estate The duke held many public offices lord lieutenant of Bedfordshire and Devon Colonel of the East Devon Militia and chancellor of the University of Dublin among others and was a Knight of the Garter Bedford was a proud and conceited man but possessed both ability and common sense The important part which he took in public life however was due rather to his wealth and position than to his personal taste or ambition He was neither above nor below the standard of political morality of the time and was influenced by his duchess who was very ambitious and by followers who were singularly unscrupulous He served as the twelfth Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1765 to 1770 See also editElizabeth Wrottesley niece References edit Russell John 1710 1771 Dictionary of National Biography London Smith Elder amp Co 1885 1900 G E Cokayne with Vicary Gibbs H A Doubleday Geoffrey H White Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden editors The Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom Extant Extinct or Dormant new ed 13 volumes in 14 1910 1959 reprint in 6 volumes Gloucester U K Alan Sutton Publishing 2000 volume II page 82 84 volume VIII page 500 Charles Mosley editor Burke s Peerage and Baronetage 106th edition 2 volumes Crans Switzerland Burke s Peerage Genealogical Books Ltd 1999 volume 2 page 1871 Maun pp 106 107 Maun p 106 Waghorn Cricket Scores p 27 Bibliography editBrown Peter Douglas William Pitt Earl of Chatham The Great Commoner George Allen amp Unwin 1978 Maun Ian 2009 From Commons to Lord s Volume One 1700 to 1750 Roger Heavens ISBN 978 1 900592 52 9 Waghorn H T 1899 Cricket Scores Notes etc 1730 1773 Blackwood External links edit nbsp Media related to John Russell 4th Duke of Bedford at Wikimedia Commons Honorary titlesNew office President of the Foundling Hospital1739 1771 Succeeded byLord NorthVacantTitle last held byThe Duke of Kent Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire1745 1771 Succeeded byThe Earl of Upper OssoryPreceded byThe Earl of Orford Lord Lieutenant of Devon1751 1771 Succeeded byThe Earl PoulettVacantTitle last held byTheophilus Fortescue Vice Admiral of Devon1761 1771 VacantTitle next held byThe Earl FortescuePolitical officesPreceded byThe Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham First Lord of the Admiralty1744 1748 Succeeded byThe Earl of SandwichPreceded byThe Duke of Newcastle Secretary of State for the Southern Department1748 1751 Succeeded byThe Earl of HoldernessePreceded byThe Duke of Devonshire Lord Lieutenant of Ireland1757 1761 Succeeded byThe Earl of HalifaxPreceded byThe Earl Temple Lord Privy Seal1761 1763 Succeeded byThe Duke of MarlboroughPreceded byThe Earl Granville Lord President of the Council1763 1765 Succeeded byThe Earl of Winchilsea and NottinghamDiplomatic postsVacantNone due to Seven Years WarTitle last held byThe Earl of Albemarle British Ambassador to France1762 1763 Succeeded byThe Earl of HertfordAcademic officesPreceded byThe Duke of Cumberland Chancellor of the University of Dublin1765 1771 Succeeded byThe Duke of Gloucester and EdinburghPeerage of EnglandPreceded byWriothesley Russell Duke of Bedford1732 1771 Succeeded byFrancis Russell Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title John Russell 4th Duke of Bedford amp oldid 1183038159, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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