FRANCIS RUSSELL

This article appears in Volume V03, Page 619 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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FRANCIS RUSSELL , 5th duke of

Bedford

BEDFORD

(17651802), eldest son of Francis Russell, marquess of Tavistock (d. 1767), by his wife, Elizabeth (d. 1768), daughter of William Keppel, 2nd

earl

EARL

of Albemarle, was baptized on the 23rd of July 1765. In January 1771 he succeeded his grandfather as duke of

Bedford

BEDFORD

, and was educated at Westminster school and Trinity College,

Cambridge

, afterwards spending nearly two years in foreign travel. Regarding Charles James Fox as his political leader, he joined the Whigs in the

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Lords, and became a member of the circle of the prince of Wales, afterwards George IV. Having overcome some nervousness and educational defects, he began to speak in the

House

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

, and soon became one of the leading debaters in that assembly. He opposed most of the

measures

MEASURES

brought for-ward by the ministry of William Pitt, and objected to the grant of a pension to Edmund

Burke

, an action which drew down upon him a scathing attack from

Burke

's pen. Bedford was greatly interested in agriculture. He established a model farm at Woburn, and made experiments with regard to the breeding of sheep. He was a member of the

original

ORIGINAL

board of agriculture, and was the first president of the Smithfield club. He died at Woburn on the 2nd of March 1802, and was buried in the family burying-place at Chenies. The duke was never married, and was succeeded in the title by his brother, John.
See Lord Holland, Memoirs of the Whig Party (London, 1854) J. H. Wiffen, Historical Memoirs of the House of Russell (London, 1833): E. Burke,

Letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

to a Noble Lord (Edinburgh, 1837; and

Earl

EARL

Stanhope, Life of Pitt (London, 1861-1862).

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