Edward Russell 1652-1727

Edward RUSSELL, 1st Earl of Orford 1652-1727

Biographical Note

Born at Chiswick, Middlesex, son of Edward Russell, later 1st Duke of Bedford, and Penelope Hill. Admitted as a fellow-commoner at St John’s College, Cambridge in 1666, but in the same year entered the navy, in which he rose to become first lord of the admiralty for periods during 1694-1717. MP for Launceston 1689-90, Portsmouth 1690-5, and Cambridgeshire 1695-7. One of the ‘immortal seven’ behind the 1688 ‘Glorious Revolution’ and a key member in the Junto administration, his career was marked by high political intrigue and ambition, and he held numerous further lucrative offices. Created Baron Shingay, Viscount Barfleur, and Earl of Orford in 1697. Married his cousin Margaret Russell in 1702. He purchased from within his family an estate at Chippenham, Cambridgeshire and had other properties in London and Ugley, Essex.

Books

He had an engraved armorial bookplate (‘The Right Honble. Edward, Earl of Orford’): Franks *110.

The extent and the disposition of his books have not been established.

Sources

• Aldridge, D. D. ‘Russell, Edward, earl of Orford (1652–1727), naval officer’. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• Gambier Howe, E. R. J. Franks bequest: catalogue of British and American book plates bequeathed to the ... British Museum. London, 1903-4.
• History of Parliament