RUSSELL OF

This article appears in Volume V23, Page 869 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: RON-SAC

RUSSELL OF THORNHAUGH, WILLIAM, 1st BARON (c. 1558-1613), English soldier, was a younger son of Francis Russell, 2nd

earl

EARL

Bedford

BEDFORD

, and was educated at Magdalen College,

Oxford

. After spending a few years abroad, he went to Ireland in 158o, and having seen some service in that country he was knighted in September 1581. In 1585 he joinedthe English forces in the Netherlands, being made lieutenant-general of cavalry; in September 1586 he so distinguished himself at Zutphen that the Spaniards pronounced him " a devil and not a man "; and in 1587 he became

governor

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

of Flushing in succession to his

late

LATE

friend, Sir Philip Sidney. He differed with the estates of Holland and with his superior, Lord Willoughby de Eresby; consequently, on his own initiative, he was recalled to England in July 1588. In May 1594 Russell was made lord

deputy

DEPUTY (through the Fr. from a Late Lat. use of deputare, to cut off, allot; putare having the original sense of to trim, prune)

of Ireland in place of Sir William Fitzwilliam. He relieved Enniskillen, but his attempts to capture the insurgent leaders, Hugh O'Neill,

earl

EARL

of Tyrone, and Fiagh MacHugh O'Byrne, came to nothing. In May 1595 Sir John Norris landed in Ireland, his orders being to help the lord

deputy

DEPUTY (through the Fr. from a Late Lat. use of deputare, to cut off, allot; putare having the original sense of to trim, prune)

in his difficult task. Russell was somewhat chagrined at the choice, as he and Norris were not very good friends, but for a short time they acted together against the rebels in the N. of Ireland. Russell then led an expedition into Connaught, but soon he and Norris were at variance. Having captured O'Byrne in May 1597, Russell laid down his office and left Ireland later in the month. In 1603 he was created Baron Russell of Thornhaugh, and he died on the 9th of August 1613. In 1627 his only son Francis succeeded his

cousin

Edward

EDWARD

as 4th earl of

Bedford

BEDFORD

.
Russell's Journal of his doings in Ireland is in the Carew MSS., and many of his letters are in the British Museum. See J. H. Wiffen, Historical Memoirs of 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 Russell (1833), and R. Bagwell, Ireland under the Tudors, vol. iii. (189o).

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