Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford

The Duke of Bedford
The Duke of Bedford in the House of Lords, by Carlo Pellegrini, 1874
Born	16 October 1819(1819-10-16)
Died	14 January 1891(1891-01-14) (aged 71)
Title	Duke of Bedford
Tenure	27 May 1872 - 14 January 1891 (&1000000000000001800000018 years, &10000000000000232000000232 days)
Other titles	9th Marquess of Tavistock 13th Earl of Bedford 13th Baron Russell 11th Baron Russell of Thornhaugh 9th Baron Howland
Successor	George Russell, 10th Duke
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Sackville-West
Issue	George William Francis Sackville Russell Ella Monica Sackville Russell Ermyntrude Sackville Russell Herbrand Arthur Russell
Parents	Lord George William Russell Elizabeth Anne Rawdon

Francis Charles Hastings Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford ^[1]KG (16 October 1819 – 14 January 1891) was an English politician and agriculturalist.

Life

The son of Major-General Lord George William Russell and Lady William Russell, and the grandson of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, Russell was commissioned into the Scots Fusilier Guards in 1838. He was Liberal Member of Parliament for Bedfordshire between 1847 and 1872 when he succeeded to his dukedom and took his place in the House of Lords. In 1886, he broke with the party leadership of William Ewart Gladstone over the First Irish Home Rule Bill and became a Unionist.

He took an active interest in agriculture and experimentation on his Woburn Abbey estate and was President of the Royal Agricultural Society in 1880. On December 1, 1880, he was made a Knight of the Garter.

He died in 1891, aged 71 at 81 Eaton Square, London, by shooting himself as a result of insanity, while suffering from pneumonia. After being cremated at Woking Crematorium, his ashes were buried at the ‘Bedford Chapel’ of St. Michael’s Church in Chenies, Buckinghamshire.

Family

He married Lady Elizabeth Sackville-West, daughter of George West, 5th Earl de la Warr, on 18 January 1844. They had four children:

• George William Francis Sackville Russell, 10th Duke of Bedford (1852–1893)
• Lady Ella Monica Sackville Russell (1854–1936), died unmarried.
• Lady Ermyntrude Sackville Russell (1856–1927), married Edward Malet, 4th Bt.
• Herbrand Arthur Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford (1858–1940)

Bibliography

• Lloyd, E.M. & Seccombe, T. "Russell, Lord George William (1790–1846)", rev. James Falkner, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [1], <accessed 28 Feb 2006> (subscription required)

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Francis Russell

References

1. ^ The 9th Duke was known as "Hastings, 9th Duke of Bedford", the style used for example on the plaque recording his 1883 gift of the Drake statue in Tavistock

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Viscount Alford Lord Charles Russell	Member of Parliament for Bedfordshire 1847–1872 With: Viscount Alford 1847–1851 Sir Richard Gilpin, Bt 1851–1872	Succeeded by Sir Richard Gilpin, Bt Francis Bassett
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Earl of Sandwich	Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire 1884–1891	Succeeded by The Earl of Sandwich
Peerage of England
Preceded by William Russell	Duke of Bedford 1872–1891	Succeeded by George Russell

Persondata
Name	Bedford, Francis Russell, 9th Duke of
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 October 1819
Place of birth
Date of death	14 January 1891
Place of death